Qualifying the buyer
Is this bid real, or just a fishing expedition?
The short answer
Check three things: the document type, the advertising record, and the money. A request for information is explicitly not a buy. A formally advertised solicitation with a named contract term, an evaluation section, and an award schedule usually is. And a scope with no identified funding source, no incumbent contract expiring, and no reference to a budgeted line is worth a question before it is worth a week.
Not every non-purchase is bad faith. Agencies legitimately conduct market research, test feasibility, and prepare for a future budget cycle. The mistake is responding to that with a full proposal effort priced as though an award were imminent.
On this page
The document type tells you most of it
California uses defined acquisition methods, and formal competitive solicitations such as an RFP or IFB sit at specific dollar thresholds and follow a documented process. A request for information, a sources-sought notice, or a market survey is a different instrument with a different purpose.
Read the title and the introduction carefully. If the document does not describe an award, a contract term, or an evaluation method, you are probably not looking at a purchase.
Advertising and timing are evidence
State solicitations subject to advertising are published in the California State Contracts Register, and bid opportunities must generally be advertised for at least ten working days before the bid due date. Solicitations are not supposed to be released before that publication.
A properly advertised opportunity with a full schedule — question deadline, addendum window, due date, evaluation period, anticipated award — represents real procurement staff time already committed. That is a meaningful signal.
Follow the money and the calendar
Look for the funding signals: a stated contract value or not-to-exceed amount, a term with option years, references to a grant or budget authority, and an incumbent contract that is expiring. Public expenditure data will often show whether the agency has actually been buying this category.
A scope with none of those, released in the last weeks of a fiscal period, is worth exactly one written question: is funding identified and approved for this contract.
Respond in proportion
The correct response to genuine market research is a short, cheap, well-targeted submission that positions you for the real solicitation later. The incorrect response is a full proposal.
Ask, in writing, whether the agency anticipates issuing a competitive solicitation and on what timeline. The answer is often given plainly, and it costs you nothing to ask.
Use this without buying anything
Is this a real, decision-ready opportunity?
Work through these against the official document. Six or seven confirmed is a genuine competition. Three or fewer means treat it as research and cap your effort accordingly.
- The document is a formal solicitation, not an RFI or market survey
It describes an award, a contract, and an evaluation — not just a request for capability information.
- It was published in the buyer's official portal or register
For California state opportunities, that generally means the California State Contracts Register through Cal eProcure.
- There is a complete schedule with an anticipated award date
Question deadline, addendum window, due date, evaluation period, and award. A schedule that stops at the due date is incomplete.
- The evaluation method and criteria are stated
You can tell how a winner will be chosen and roughly what each factor is worth.
- There is a contract term, a value, or a not-to-exceed amount
Some indication of size. A scope with no money attached anywhere is a question, not an opportunity.
- A named buyer contact will answer written questions
A designated contact with a working question process means staff time is already committed.
- The agency has actually bought this category before
Check published expenditure and award records. A first-ever purchase in a category is not disqualifying, but it changes the odds and the timeline.
None of these guarantee an award. Agencies cancel solicitations for real reasons — funding changes, reorganizations, or receiving no responsive bids from responsible bidders.
RFI, sources sought, and pre-solicitation
What procurement people call this
The instruments you are trying to distinguish have names: a request for information or sources-sought notice gathers market intelligence, a pre-solicitation or intent notice signals a coming purchase, and an IFB, RFQ, or RFP is the actual competition.
Learning to identify the instrument in the first thirty seconds is one of the highest-return habits in public bidding, because it changes how much of your week the document deserves.
Verified September 1, 2026
Check these before you act
Statutes, manuals, and portals change, and the current solicitation always controls over anything written here.
Related questions
Should we ever respond to an RFI?
Yes, briefly and strategically. It is a low-cost way to be visible before requirements are finalized, and it is sometimes an opportunity to comment on requirements while they can still change. Just do not price it like a proposal.
Can a real solicitation still be cancelled?
Yes. Buyers cancel and re-bid, including when competition produces no responsive bids from responsible bidders. Cancellation is not evidence that the opportunity was never real.
What if the response window is very short?
Short windows have a floor for advertised state opportunities — generally at least ten working days of published notice before the bid due date. A window at the floor for a complex scope is a competitive signal worth weighing.
How do I check whether the agency actually buys this?
California publishes state expenditure data through Open FI$Cal, including downloadable files. Past spending in the category is one of the cheapest pieces of qualification research available.
Where to go next
Go deeper
RFQ, IFB, and RFP differences in CaliforniaWhat each solicitation type commits the buyer to, and how the response effort should differ.
See the proof
Annotated sample decision memoA fictional worked example showing how a Chase, Verify, or Pass call is written down and sourced.
If you want help
Free bid/no-bid scorecardSeven evidence questions and a private first-pass result. Nothing is stored or sent.
This page is general business information, not legal, procurement, certification, tax, or compliance advice. The current official solicitation, its addenda, and the buyer’s instructions control.
One opportunity, one written decision
Want a second pair of eyes on one live opportunity?
The $199 Bid-Fit Audit reviews one identified California state, local, utility, education, or special district opportunity against its official documents and returns a written Chase, Verify, or Pass recommendation with the open questions named.
Keep going
Other questions from the same week.
Competitive read
Is this bid written for the company that already has it?
Read a solicitation for signals that the requirements were shaped around one vendor, and learn which signals are worth a question, a protest, or a pass.
Pricing research
How do I find out what the agency paid last time?
Use published expenditure data, award records, and public records requests to price against evidence instead of guessing at a government buyer's budget.
The bid decision
Should my company bid on this RFP?
Decide whether to bid using disqualifiers first, then a weighted fit score, with a printable worksheet you can fill in for one opportunity today.