Buying Goods or Services

Baylor Marketplace

Baylor Marketplace features the University's online catalog with preferred University suppliers. Shopping the Marketplace is similar to shopping online, and offers many benefits:

• Access to multiple approved suppliers, products, and centrally located catalogs. Using a marketplace supplier means no need to obtain quotes, complete supplier registration, or negotiate contracts
• Easy to identify and place orders for contracted items
• The best prices negotiated on historical and forecasted University usage
• Required approvals automatically routed
• Electronic ordering and invoicing are completed automatically in Ignite
• Supplier performance is monitored by Procurement and Payment Services

The Marketplace may be accessed by selecting Purchase Requisitions in Ignite’s Procurement module.

Other Preferred Suppliers and Strategic Contracts

Preferred suppliers & strategic contracts are contracts with suppliers that have been selected through a competitive process and the terms are secured at the best value in these agreements. If a supplier, good, or service is not in the Marketplace; we encourage you to search the list of current contracted suppliers to verify if an agreement is available. 

PREFERRED AND CONTRACTED SUPPLIERS

*Please note the agreement number for the desired contract; it will need to be added in the Non-Catalog Request to ensure you receive the agreement benefits. 

Competitive Bid Requirements

If there is no preferred supplier or strategic contract for the goods or services needed, a bid may be necessary. The table below provides a brief summary of university guidelines.

Competitive Bid Thresholds

• For purchases with a potential value of $10,000 or less
  • Competitive quotes are not required
  • There must be no preferred or strategic supplier available and the quote must be commercially reasonable
• For purchase with a potential value between $10,000 and $25,000
  • Department must obtain three (3) or more quotes
  • Must be no preferred or strategic supplier available and requisition must well define need and specification
  • A purchase order is required
• For purchases greater than $25,000 but less than $100,000
  • Procurement Services must obtain three (3) or more quotes
  • Must be no preferred or strategic supplier available and requisition must well define need and specification
  • A purchase order is required
• For purchases greater than $100,000
  • Formal request process required 
  • Contact the appropriate Category Manager. 

*An order may not be split to circumvent the competitive bid requirements 

**All purchases are subject to Baylor’s Procurement Policy. In the event of a conflict between this table and the policy, the policy shall prevail. It is the purchaser’s responsibility to be familiar with the policy. 

Sole Source Purchase

A purchase may not be required to be competitively bid because the nature of the purchase satisfies specific criteria. A sole source justification is appropriate if only one supplier can provide a needed good or service, in the event of a public emergency which cannot permit delay, a federal awarding agency or pass-through entity expressly authorizes, the item is needed for trial use or testing or, after soliciting several sources, competition is determined inadequate. To be exempt from any purchasing requirements because of the sole source, a Sole Source Justification must be completed and attached to the requisition. 

In order to justify a sole source purchase, one or more of the following criteria must be substantiated in support of the justification:

(1) Compatibility with existing equipment.  This justification may be used if the goods or services are being purchased to directly interface with or attach to equipment of the same manufacturer, and no other manufacturer's goods will correctly interface with existing equipment.

(2) Compatibility for instructional purposes.  This justification may be used if the goods are being purchased to supplement existing equipment in a classroom.  The goods must match the existing equipment and is being purchased to provide uniformity for instructional purposes.

(3) Compatibility for research.  This justification may be used if the main purpose for acquiring equipment or supplies is to replicate specific experiments, using the exact goods that produced the original results.  You may also use this justification if you are collaborating with another researcher and can show that identical goods are required to fulfill your part of the research grant or contract.

(4) Only one supplier can be identified to supply compliant goods or services.  In limited cases, only one supplier may exist to provide particular goods or services.  When providing a justification based on the availability of one supplier, the goods or services must be defined in generic terms.  Specifying patented products or processes, when not necessary to meet functional requirements, is not acceptable as a sole source justification.  Justifications can be accepted more readily by providing information regarding attempts to locate other suppliers, such as letters, information quotations, or telephone contacts.

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FORM

Purchasing Cards

Baylor Purchasing Cards (P-Cards) are University-liability credit cards issued in the names of authorized, trained individuals to purchase certain eligible goods and services in support of the university. Only eligible direct business expenses may be charged; personal purchases are strictly prohibited. All transactions must be supported by a detailed business purpose and proof of purchase documentation and reconciled in Ignite Expense. Improper use of the card, including use for personal purchases, may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

P-Cards may be used in limited circumstances where a purchase is within the limits of the card program and a purchase order is impractical. Please see the Purchasing Card Policy for more detailed information.