Verified Products Portal – GSA Advantage! is a mess. Not enough product photos, unverified part numbers, COO all over the place. The inmates (Vendors) are running the asylum. GSA polices the bad data between vendors and sometimes communicates with Manufacturers (or suppliers). It is difficult for the GSA to not choose sides in “He said / She said” battles over Advantage disputes. It is too much work to make Advantage as good as Amazon.
Solution: Verified Products Portal (VPP)
The VPP is a pail of the Federal Marketplace Strategy, GSA’s plans to modernize and simplify the buying and selling experience for customers, suppliers, and acquisition professionals.
Implementation of the Verified Products Portal will protect against supply chain risks and decrease a buyer’s risk of purchasing counterfeit or otherwise non-compliant products. Purchasing counterfeit items poses a large risk to our customers, and can have negative impacts such as a voided manufacturer warranty. VPP implementation means buyers can purchase with increased confidence that the product is legitimate. Implementation will also decrease the burden on industry associated with managing Letters of Supply.
Learn about what GSA Advantage is and how it helps GSA Vendors sell to the government.
GSA Interact Post: Implementation of Verified Products Portal & Impacts to Letter of Supply
Check out the GSA VPP Dashboard for yourself.
VPP Implementation: MAS Contractor/Offeror Q&A read this to bring yourself COMPLETELY up to speed on where the VPP is at in the roll-out, and how it will effect your business.
VPP Manufacturer and Wholesaler Fact Sheet is for Manufacturers to learn about the new changes
How Will VPP Impact GSA Vendors?
GSA (VPP) - Deep Dive ...
Opinion
This will be a trade-off.
- GSA Vendors will lose control of their product lines, and that control is handed over to the Manufacturers.
- Distributors & Dealers will be eliminated in VPP cases, but will still be used in non-VPP cases (Manufacturer opt-out or non-participation).
- Manufacturers will have near-full control over their products on GSA Advantage.
- GSA Advantage images, COO, Descriptions, and other data will be more uniform and better.
- The Letter of Supply requirement will go away for VPP Manufacturers
FAQ’s
What is the Verified Products Portal (VPP)?
This is a new manufacturer-facing portal where participants can provide authoritative product content and supplier authorization information. This content is provided by manufacturers or their authorized partners. This content will include data elements such as, but not limited to:
- Supplier Authorization Details
- Authorized resellers (“vendors”)
- Product lines
- Doing Business As (DBA)
- Product Category Details
- Product brand name
- Manufacturer part number (MPH)
- Product Details
- Descriptions, including if the product is remanufactured
- High and low resolution product images
- Features
- Supply Chain Attributes
- Country of Origin (COO)
- Energy Star Labels
- Pricing Information (optional)
- Threshold for which the authenticity of the product is questionable
- Date of upcoming price increases
How does VPP implementation impact Letter of Supply (LoS) requirements?
If you offer commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products and your proposed products come from a manufacturer who provides supplier authorization data in the VPP, then you no longer need to submit an LoS for those products.
Does GSA intend to make VPP mandatory? Wili the LoS requirement be fully removed eventually?
No, VPP participation is optional for manufacturers. The LoS requirement will remain for those offering products not produced by VPP participants.
Will existing contract holders be required to submit updated LOS?
As long as your existing Lo S is current/accurate, there is no need to submit a new one in response to the solicitation refresh.
What if my products come from a wholesaler?
The VPP is currently capturing supplier authorization information from manufacturers who directly manage authorization programs. If the manufacturer of your products is participating in VPP, you will need to be listed by that manufacturer, regardless of whether or not your products come from a wholesaler.
Will the VPP apply to services offered?
No, VPP only collects data for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products.
How will the VPP impact GSA Advantage?
GSA will utilize VPP data to augment vendor catalogs with manufacturer provided content similar to the way GSA currently uses master data sources to offer an “Additional Description” field to customers on Advantage. GSA intends to make this connection to Advantage by the end of fiscal year (FY) 21.
Will the VPP replace the Schedule Input Program (SIP?)
No. The VPP is a manufacturer-facing portal for product details and supplier authorization content. The VPP is not intended for MA S contractors to use for managing their catalog data.
GSA is developing the Common Catalog Platform to offer a modern replacement to SIP that integrates with contracting processes. You can go to the Catalog Management Interact page to learn more.
Do you qualify for GSA?
