If you were offered a free membership to a service that would give you a discount on your next printer/copier, would you take it?
I’m guessing 99.9% of you said “Of course!” to that question. However, since seemingly nothing in life is free, you’re probably wondering: “What’s the catch?”
While you might believe it’s too good to be true, there is actually a membership offered free of charge (most of the time) that can give you special pricing on your next office machine, as well as other relevant supplies or services to your industry. It’s called cooperative purchasing, and many people don’t know about its benefits.
Cooperative purchasing organizations are rampant and readily available to businesses in the state and local sector, higher education, non-profits, healthcare, religious institutions and more, but how they do work? What are the different options out there? How do you qualify for one?
That is what we will go over in this blog. Because our goal for almost 40 years as a local print vendor is to help consumers get the most out of their office printing equipment while not having to break the bank to do it.
Before we can talk about the different cooperative purchasing services and how to know if you’re eligible for them, let’s begin by discussing what cooperative purchasing is and how it works:
What Is Cooperative Purchasing?
Cooperative purchasing involves members of a certain industry, like education or government, coming together to negotiate as a collective unit with their suppliers to achieve lower costs.
“Traditionally, purchasing cooperatives help their members lower their costs by aggregating their collective purchasing power, thus keeping them competitive with larger competitors,” according to Purchasing Cooperatives.
In basic terms, cooperative purchasing helps organizations negotiate lower prices for the goods and services they use or resell. This means they can offer businesses special pricing and discounts on products.
They’re also beneficial for governmental entities, like schools, that are required to go out for a certain number of bids to achieve the best contract possible for the product or service they are getting.
In most cases, if you’re a member of a cooperative organization, you can use pre-negotiated contracts by the organization that has already been pre-bid so you don’t have to go out yourself and get the required bids.
To reap the benefits of cooperative purchasing services and see if you qualify for special pricing, you need to become a member of a cooperative purchasing organization, like TIPS or Provista.
How do you know if you are eligible to become a member of a cooperative purchasing organization? And what are the different kinds of organizations?
What Are the Different Types of Cooperative Purchasing Services?
There are many different kinds of cooperative purchasing services, and they can be organized by industry.
Some of the common industries where cooperative purchasing exists include:
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State and Local Governments
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School Districts
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Religious Organizations
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Non-Profit Organizations
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Healthcare Organizations
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Specialized associations such as the American Bar Association
These are certainly not the only industries where cooperative purchasing is available, and just because a cooperative purchasing organization is marketed for a specific industry doesn’t mean you won’t qualify for membership if you’re not in that industry.
Let’s go over some specific cooperative purchasing organizations you can become a member of so you can see in further detail the options you have:
7 Different Types of Cooperative Purchasing Organizations
Below are seven different organizations that offer cooperative purchasing services that you can choose to become a member of if you meet the criteria.
However, there are other organizations besides the ones on this list that you can choose from, so if you don’t find that these seven organizations are a fit, there may be another organization that is.
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TIPS Purchasing Cooperative
TIPS Purchasing Cooperative, or the Interlocal Purchasing System, is a cooperative purchasing organization that is primarily designed for the education sector.
According to their website, some of TIPS’ benefits include:
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Access to competitively procured contracts with vendors
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Savings of time and financial resources necessary to fulfill bid requirements
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Assistance with purchasing process by qualified TIPS staff
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Access to pricing based on a “national” high-profile contract.
A TIPS membership is free but requires an Interlocal Agreement. You can sign up and learn more about the requirements on TIPS’ “Membership” page.
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Provista
Provista is a cooperative purchasing organization that is largely built for the healthcare industry.
They aim to provide discounts on medical supplies and offer a robust portfolio of contracts, including for the categories of ambulatory surgery, long-term care, pharmaceutical and clinics and diagnostic centers.
You can inquire about becoming a member on Provista’s “Become a Member” website page.
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Omnia
Omnia is a public sector cooperative purchasing organization that is the “largest and most experienced organization in procurement and supply chain management,” according to their website.
The industries they primarily serve are below:
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Public sector, such as state and local government, higher education and K-12.
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Nonprofit organizations of all sizes.
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Private sector, including enterprise corporations, Fortune 1000 companies and manufacturing.
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Multifamily housing for owners and operators of conventional and affordable housing, senior housing or capital projects and development.
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Private equity firms.
Go through Omnia’s “Contact Us” page to reach out to them if you’re interested in becoming a member.
Some of the industries Omnia serves, courtesy of their website:
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Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR)
DIR is a cooperative purchasing program designed mostly for state and local government, education and other public entities.
They have over 700 contracts on an array of products and services, but one of their chief specialties is in IT Solutions and Services, including Cloud Services, Deliverables-Based IT Services (DBITS) and Information Security, among others.
Take a look at the “Explore DIR Contracts” to sift through the different contracts offered by DIR.
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Vizient
Vizient is another healthcare-heavy cooperative purchasing organization that focuses on supply chain assurance and reigns as the largest member-owned healthcare company in the U.S, according to their website.
They improve and manage spending practices by offering greater access to inventory like medical supplies and essential drugs while also offering strategies for growth in areas such as clinical operations and quality of care.
Read through Vizient’s “Member” page to learn more about the benefits and the process of becoming a member.
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Catholic Purchasing Services (CPS)
Catholic Purchasing Services is a cooperative purchasing organization that primarily serves non-profit, 501(c)(3) religious institutions (not just Catholic).
They offer negotiated discounts on many different kinds of supplies, such as school supplies and furniture from brands like Staples and B&H.
Take a look at CPS’ website to learn more about the discounts available for the products and services that you may be interested in.
Some of the suppliers on the CPS Marketplace, courtesy of their website:
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American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)
ASAE is made up of over 45,000 members and mainly serves the association and nonprofit community in being a marketplace for ideas, tools and resources for the association profession.
Their goal is to provide solutions to the association community that will help them grow, save time and money and simplify the business of running an association.
Read ASAE’s Membership page to learn more about what they offer and what it takes to become a member.
3 Important Things to Be Aware of When Using Cooperative Purchasing
There are a few things you need to keep in mind if you’re looking to become a member of a cooperative purchasing organization. Let’s go over the three main ones in detail:
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You Need to Become a Member Before Working With Your Vendor
The first thing to be aware of with cooperative purchasing is you need to become a member of an organization before working with a vendor.
If you want to work with a vendor to purchase the product you’re seeking, such as a new printer, then you have to be an existing member in order to get the benefits.
Pro tip: Get your membership in advance, so that you qualify for special pricing right away and don’t have to wait to get approved by the cooperative purchasing organization. If you're not a part of an organization before purchasing the product you want, the delivery time of the product may be slowed by your impending membership status.
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Some Products & Services Offered by Vendor Are Not Available on Certain Contracts
The next thing you need to be aware of when working with both a cooperative purchasing organization and a vendor is the vendor you’re using may not have certain negotiated contracts available.
For instance, if you wanted a white Ford pickup truck with a V8 engine, but the only pre-negotiated contract the car dealership you’re buying from had to use was for a blue Ford pickup with a V6 engine, you wouldn’t be able to get the special pricing on the product you wanted because it was not available.
This can happen because when a cooperative purchasing organization negotiates contracts with a vendor, they don’t always include every product or service the vendor sells.
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Not All Vendors Have Access to Negotiated Contracts
The last thing you need to be aware of is, that although you might be a member of a cooperative purchasing organization, the vendor you are working with may not be able to use it because they aren’t represented by the organization you’re a member of.
If you’re a member of a cooperative purchasing organization, make sure the vendor your using has the contract you want and tell your vendor all the organizations you’re a part of so the vendor can come back with the best contract option from your memberships.
Which Cooperative Purchasing Organization Is Right for You?
Becoming a member of a cooperative purchasing organization comes with plenty of benefits and membership is usually free.
However, your business must meet the organization’s qualifications of admission in order to become a member. If you look through the different organizations on this list, the qualifications will vary.
So, it’s helpful to search around and look at your options before becoming a member of one. To narrow down your search, simply look for cooperative purchasing organizations that align with your industry.
If you’re a pharmaceutical company or hospital, you would want to look at organizations like Vizient or Provista. If you’re a religious organization, then the Catholic Purchasing Services, TIPS or DIR would be a good place to start.
If you’re a state or local governmental entity, you will have plenty of options for membership, including most of the ones that were listed in this blog.
And lastly, just because an organization brands itself as a “healthcare” or “public sector” association doesn’t mean you won’t be able to qualify for its benefits if you’re in a different industry.
Do your research and find the organization that you align with most. Because if you’re a company that qualifies for a cooperative purchasing organization and membership is free, all you have to gain are the benefits offered at the organization you choose.
Our goal at Strategic Technology Partners of Texas is to inform you of all the ways you can get the best office printing equipment in place for your company—at the best price.
Cooperative purchasing services are just one of the resources you can utilize to make your print environment, and overall work environment, more efficient, and more importantly, cost-effective.
Read our blog on how to get the best price for your printer/copier to learn more about the ways you can save before purchasing an office machine.
