How to bid on DIBBS, from registration to your first quote

DIBBS, the DLA Internet Bid Board System, is where the Defense Logistics Agency posts requests for quotes (RFQs), requests for proposals and invitations for bids, and where vendors answer them. Plan for at least ten days to get set up, because the last registration step waits on a postcard.

1. Register in SAM.gov

DIBBS needs an active SAM.gov registration, and your CAGE code is issued at the end of it. DIBBS takes your company name and address from SAM.gov and will not let you edit them; make changes in SAM.gov and DIBBS picks them up in its daily update.

2. Register your CAGE in DIBBS

1. Open DIBBS, accept the terms and choose Vendor Registration.
2. Enter your CAGE code and confirm the mailing address. If it is wrong, stop and have the SAM.gov Federal Service Desk correct it first.
3. Name the Super User. Each CAGE has exactly one, and only that person can change the account or add users.
4. Enter the PIN that DIBBS emails to the Super User.
5. Request the postcard with your Physical Address Verification Number. It takes about ten days to arrive, and registration cannot continue until you enter it.
6. Accept the user agreement, set a password and three challenge questions, fill in your supplier defaults and submit.

Your Super User ID is your CAGE code followed by 01. Other staff get accounts 02 to 99.

3. Choose your notifications

The supplier defaults let DIBBS email you new solicitations that match your federal supply classes, NSNs or approved manufacturer CAGE codes, up to 3,000 values of each. Quotes are valid for 90 days unless you change it. Award notices go only to the primary email address, so keep that one current.

4. Find RFQs worth quoting

DLA posts about 2,000 RFQs each business day. FedQuote's daily list shows them with plain category names, set-aside badges and the award method, and each NSN page keeps the past award prices and approved sources from earlier solicitations. Read the solicitation PDF before you price anything: it names the part numbers DLA will accept, the unit of issue and the procurement history.

5. Submit the quote on DIBBS

Quotes on automated solicitations must be entered on DIBBS; DLA does not consider automated quotes sent by other electronic means. The automated evaluation only looks at quotes that meet the solicitation exactly, entered as a bid without exception. How DLA awards RFQs covers what that means.