Low Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA):

GLOSSARY Low Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA):

Gov to English translation: The low price bidder is going to win

What is LPTA: Let’s say the government is buying laptops, and they get six bids at six different price points. Under LPTA the government will open up the lowest priced offer, and if the laptops meet the governments the requirements in the RFP that bidder wins, and the other five don’t even get looked at it

Why you care: There are a couple implications of LPTA

First, if you provide a premium product or service, you probably won’t win since somebody else has optimize their business to sell at the lowest price possible
Second, LPTA can be good for new vendors since there is less subjectivity in the evaluation, and by extension, the value of customer, insight and connections is lower
Third, under LPTA you just need to be compliant. If the government’s requirements don’t make sense or if there’s a better way to meet their needs that’s not your business. In LPTA your only job is to figure out the cheapest way to meet the requirements in the solicitation and bid the lowest price
Fourth, because the award decision is so heavily price based most companies will squeeze their profit margins to bring their total price down

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