Entry #0003 · USAspending

999 Offers for a Cable Tray

A $325 GSA delivery order for a cable management tray lists 999 offers received. The government uses 999 as a placeholder value.

Part of GOV422, a catalog of errors we find in federal procurement data.

GOV422
Unprocessable entity
#0003
Record detail
"number_of_offers_received"
invalid value: "999"
"total_obligation"
"$325.32"
"description"
"UNDER DESK CABLE MANAGEMENT TRAY"
"award_type"
"Delivery Order"
"source"
"USAspending"
GSA placed a $325.32 delivery order for an under-desk cable management tray and reportedly received 999 offers. That's roughly 3 vendors per dollar. In reality, the government uses 999 as a default placeholder when the actual number of offers isn't recorded. I got 999 offers but validation ain't one.

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