How to sell parts to the government

The basics

A handful of terms cover most of what you'll see on a solicitation. None of this is legal advice — always read the actual solicitation for its specific requirements.

• NSN (National Stock Number) — the 13-digit code that identifies a specific part across the entire federal supply system. Every solicitation, award, and price on this site is organized by NSN.
• FSC (Federal Supply Class) — the 4-digit category a part belongs to (the first four digits of its NSN), grouping similar items like o-rings, bearings, or fasteners.
• Solicitation / RFQ (request for quote) — the government's public notice that it wants to buy a quantity of a part by a certain date. Suppliers respond with a price and delivery quote.
• Award — the solicitation's outcome: which supplier won, at what price and quantity.
• CAGE code — a five-character ID assigned to a company that does business with the U.S. government, used to identify suppliers on solicitations and awards.
• AMSC / competition — the Acquisition Method Suffix Code, which signals whether a part is open to any qualified supplier or restricted to sources the government has already approved (sole-source). Open parts are generally the easier ones for a new supplier to break into.
• Set-aside — a solicitation reserved for a category of business, such as a small business or a socio-economic program, rather than open to all bidders.

What you need to bid

In general terms — the specifics depend on the item and the buying agency, so treat this as an orientation, not a checklist to submit on:

• A free registration in SAM.gov, the government's system of record for contractors, which issues your Unique Entity ID (UEI) and is where your CAGE code gets tied to your business.
• The ability to actually meet the part's specification and any quality requirements the solicitation calls out — drawings, material certs, inspection standards, and so on.
• A quote submitted through the solicitation's own channel, before its closing date. Most Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) solicitations are posted and bid through DLA's DIBBS bid board at dibbs.bsm.dla.mil.

How to use NSN Explorer to find and win work

1. Browse open demand by your category. Start at Open Demand and drill into the Federal Supply Classes you can make or source.
2. Filter to what you can actually win. Narrow by closing-soon, open competition (rather than sole-source), and the quantities you can supply.
3. Open a part to see the specs and price history. Every NSN page shows past purchases and prices, so you can quote with a sense of where the market has actually cleared — not a guess.
4. Click through to the official record to bid. Every solicitation links straight to its DIBBS record, where you submit your actual quote.
5. Sign up for alerts so you don't miss the next one. Tell us your categories and we'll email you when a new RFQ opens.