Agencies saved an average of at least 8% when buying office supplies through GSA’s blanket purchase agreements, one of the government’s showcase initiatives for strategic sourcing.

In a report to Congress, GSA estimated the savings on BPAs compared with buying through GSA schedules. The report covered June 2010 through August 2011, approximately the first year after GSA awarded the second round of BPAs. Fifteen vendors, 13 of them small, were awarded BPAs.

GSA said savings on the BPAs averaged 86% when compared with retail prices. The Government Accountability Office said those figures might be overstated, but GAO auditors concluded that the BPAs do provide substantial savings.

“Additional savings are expected as more government agencies participate in the (BPA) initiative and further leverage the government’s buying power,” GAO said in its Dec. 21 report. The auditors found that the government was still buying the majority of its office supplies in small quantities from retail stores.

GSA said it negotiated additional price cuts when it exercised options on the BPAs last year. In addition, the agency said GSA schedule vendors are dropping their prices on office supplies to meet competition from the BPAs.

Several of the largest buyers of office supplies found similar savings from using the BPAs. The Air Force and Navy planned to direct all their office supply purchases to the BPAs. The BPA vendors offer volume discounts.

Obama administration officials have cited the office supply BPAs as a shining success story for strategic sourcing. GSA said it is using lessons learned from the initiative to design strategic sourcing plans for other commodities, most recently printers and copiers.