Approved sources and everyone else
Bids2Bank keeps two kinds of supplier apart. A supplier counts as "DLA-approved" there only through DLA's approved-source list for the exact item 1. Companies found by web search that show the part number or NSN on their site are never called approved 2.
Supplier research marks a web-found site as listed only when it is the website that an approved source's CAGE registered in SAM.gov 3. An approved CAGE printed on a dealer's page is not enough, because a dealer's page often shows the manufacturer's CAGE 4.
When Bids2Bank drafts a request to a supplier outside the approved-source list, it asks whether they can supply one of the approved parts, new, with traceability to the approved source 5.
Asking for a price that holds
Bids2Bank's supplier quote request asks how long the quote is valid 6. It also asks whether the item is new and unused, and which traceability documents the supplier can provide 7.
Your own DIBBS quote has a validity period too: the batch-quote profile records "Days quote valid" 8, and on a solicitation of type I Bids2Bank checks that it is at least 90 unless the bid type is BW or AB 9.
Sending requests and reading replies
Supplier outreach suggests asking DLA's approved sources joined to your own supplier list by CAGE 10. Its e-mail asks the supplier to fill in a unit price, quantity, lead time in days ARO and a quote number 11.
Only replies an editor confirmed are compiled, and the best value per item is the lowest confirmed unit price 12. The daily automation sends nothing to DLA 13.
Worked example. Contractor A finds two approved sources and one web-found distributor for an item. It asks all three for a price valid 90 days, confirms the lower approved-source reply after checking the part number, and keeps the distributor's offer only if it comes with traceability to an approved source.
Indented paragraphs are invented worked examples. Tool links open Bids2Bank and need a free account.