A blanket purchase agreement, or BPA, is one of the quietest ways to build steady federal revenue. It brings no press release, no single large award, and no guaranteed money — but a BPA with an agency that buys what you sell, repeatedly, can turn into a stream of orders that lasts for years. The firms that hold BPAs did not stumble into them. They held the right underlying contract, they were visible to the right buyers, and they responded when the agency asked for a BPA. This guide explains how to get a BPA with a federal agency: what a BPA is, the two main kinds, how BPAs are established, how orders flow under them, and the practical steps that put your firm in position to win one.
It is written for a small business that already sells, or wants to sell, to the federal government. If you do not yet hold a GSA Schedule contract, that is where this story starts — because most BPAs are built on the Schedule. Read our guide on how to get on GSA Schedule first, and our comparison of the GSA Schedule vs the open market to understand why the Schedule is the usual foundation.
BPA Basics: What You Are Actually Winning
A BPA is an agreement, not a contract. It sets the terms — prices, delivery conditions, and ordering procedures — under which an agency will buy a category of goods or services from you over a set period, usually up to five years. No money changes hands when the BPA is established, and the government promises to buy nothing. The value of a BPA is the position it gives you: when the agency needs something covered by the agreement, it places a call, or order, against the BPA instead of running a fresh procurement.
A BPA can be single-award, with one vendor, or multiple-award, with several vendors who then compete for individual calls. Multiple-award BPAs are the more common form for services, because agencies want competition on each call. Single-award BPAs are more common for simple, standard supplies where the price is the whole question. Either way, your job after the award is the same: respond to calls quickly, quote well, and deliver.
GSA Schedule BPA vs Agency BPA
There are two main kinds of BPA, and the difference decides what you need before you can pursue one. The first, and by far the most common, is the GSA Schedule BPA. An agency establishes it with one or more holders of a GSA Schedule contract, for items or services on that Schedule. The BPA prices are based on the Schedule prices, usually with a further discount negotiated in return for the agency’s volume. The ordering procedures follow the simplified rules of FAR Part 13, which makes calls fast and light. This is the BPA a small firm is most likely to win, and it is the focus of this guide.
The second kind is a BPA established against an agency’s own contract rather than a Schedule contract. These are less common and less standardised, and the rules depend on the underlying contract. They also exist in a related form: a BPA established by GSA itself, on behalf of all agencies, for a government-wide category. A GSA-wide BPA can be a large prize, because every agency can order from it, but it is also a bigger competition with more established holders.
How BPAs Are Established
An agency establishes a BPA when it expects to buy the same things repeatedly and wants to simplify the process. The contracting officer identifies the requirement, checks which Schedule holders offer it, and issues a request for a BPA — often through GSA eBuy, the online system where agencies post requests to Schedule holders, or through SAM.gov. The request describes the category, the estimated volume, the period, and what the agency wants from holders: pricing, discounts, delivery terms, and sometimes a short capability statement.
Holders respond with a quote. For a Schedule BPA, the response is usually short: your Schedule pricing for the items, the discount you will offer under the BPA, and any terms the agency asked for. The agency evaluates the responses on price and on the factors it stated — which may include past performance, delivery speed, or socioeconomic status — and establishes the BPA with one or more holders. The whole process is far lighter than a contract competition: there is no full proposal, no lengthy evaluation, and no months-long wait.
Agencies also establish BPAs without a public request, by approaching Schedule holders they already buy from. That is the quieter route, and it is why relationships matter. An agency that has bought from you three times through individual Schedule orders, and has been happy each time, may simply ask you to agree a BPA so the next orders are easier. You cannot apply for that kind of BPA; you earn it by delivering well on the orders that come before it.
How the Call and Order Process Works
Once a BPA is in place, ordering is straightforward. When the agency has a need covered by the BPA, the ordering official places a call against it. For a single-award BPA, the call goes to you directly, and you deliver against it. For a multiple-award BPA, the agency usually asks the holders for a quote on that specific call, evaluates the quotes — normally on price, and sometimes on delivery time or a short technical note — and places the call with the winner.
Calls are normally small and fast. The agency issues a call document stating the items or services, the quantity, the delivery date, and the price, and you confirm and deliver. Payment follows the normal federal process, and the call is recorded against the BPA. Over the life of the BPA, these calls add up: a BPA that produces ten small orders a year at a few thousand dollars each is a meaningful revenue stream, and one that produces larger service calls can be a substantial part of a small firm’s business.
Steps to Position Your Firm for a BPA
Getting a BPA is a sequence, and each step builds on the one before it. Here is the order that works for most small firms:
Step 1: Hold a GSA Schedule contract in the right category. Without it, you are not eligible for a Schedule BPA. Make sure your Schedule covers the services or products the agency buys, with the right Special Item Numbers, and that your pricing is competitive. A Schedule contract with the wrong category is no help at all.
Step 2: Find the agencies that buy your category through BPAs. Use GSA eBuy and SAM.gov to see which agencies post BPA requests in your field, and use USAspending to see which agencies have actually spent money with BPA holders in your category. Make a short list of three to five agencies and learn how each one buys.
Step 3: Win individual Schedule orders first. The fastest route to a BPA is a record of good deliveries to the same agency. Respond to Schedule requests on eBuy, deliver well, and make sure the contracting officer knows your name. A firm with three clean deliveries to an agency is a far more credible BPA candidate than a stranger with a polished capability statement.
Step 4: Watch for BPA requests on eBuy and SAM.gov. Set up searches for your category and check them every day. BPA requests move fast and the response window is short. When one appears for an agency on your list, respond the same day if you can.
Step 5: Respond with a sharp, honest quote. Offer your best sustainable discount, state your delivery terms clearly, and keep the response short. Do not pad it with marketing material the agency did not ask for. The contracting officer is comparing prices and terms, not reading brochures.
Step 6: Deliver on every call, and keep the record. Your performance on calls is what gets the BPA renewed, and it is the evidence you will cite when the next BPA opportunity appears. Track every call: value, date, delivery time, and any feedback from the agency.
Pricing Under a BPA
Pricing is where many firms go wrong on a BPA, because the decision you make at establishment lasts for the life of the agreement. The agency will ask for a discount off your Schedule prices, and the temptation is to offer a deep one to win. Resist it. Work out your real costs first — including the Industrial Funding Fee, which is built into Schedule pricing — and then decide the deepest discount you can offer on every call for five years without losing money. Our guide on how to price a government contract bid covers the costing discipline you need before you quote anything.
Mistakes to Avoid
The most common mistake is chasing a BPA before you are ready — applying for a Schedule BPA without a Schedule contract, or responding to a BPA request in a category your Schedule does not cover. The response will be rejected, and you will have spent the time for nothing. Check eligibility first, every time.
The second mistake is offering a discount you cannot sustain. A BPA lasts up to five years, and a discount that looks generous in year one can become a loss in year three when your costs have risen. Price the discount for the whole period, and remember that you can always offer a deeper discount on a single call, but you cannot raise your BPA price once it is set.
The Bottom Line
Learning how to get a BPA comes down to a simple sequence: hold a GSA Schedule contract in the right category, build a record of good deliveries with the agencies that buy your services, watch for BPA requests on eBuy and SAM.gov, and respond with a sustainable price. A BPA is not a windfall — it is a channel, and its value depends entirely on the orders that flow through it. Pursue the BPAs your target agencies actually use, price them so you can profit for five years, and treat every call as the audition for the next one. Done that way, a BPA can become one of the steadiest sources of revenue in a small federal business.
Related Guides
How to Get a BPA: Start With the Schedule, Then Win the Call
If you are starting from zero, learning how to get a BPA means working in order: win the Schedule first, then win individual orders from the agencies you want a BPA with, then watch for the BPA request. Start with our guide on how to get on GSA schedule, then study how Federal Supply Schedules vs BPAs work so you know which vehicle you are actually chasing.
Once you know how to get a BPA, the work shifts to winning the calls: watch SAM.gov for BPA requests in your category every day and respond with a sharp, honest quote. The firms that win a BPA are the ones that bid selectively, deliver on every call, and ask for feedback after every loss — then use it to win the next one.