Cooperative Purchasing FAQ
Below are answers to some frequently asked questions regarding WiLS’ Cooperative Purchasing service. If your question is not answered here, please email .
Do you accept credit card payments?
What kind of payments do you accept?
Who do I send my check to?
What are the costs of participating in WiLS’ Cooperative Purchasing program?
In addition to the discounted price of the subscription, what are the other benefits?
When do I need to decide if I’m renewing or not?
Can I include more than one database subscription/vendor on a single PO?
Who do I send my purchase order to?
How do I cancel a subscription?
Q: Do you accept credit card payments?
A: We do not accept credit card payments for database subscriptions. This isn’t a philosophical or technical issue: it’s, frankly, a monetary issue. Every time we accept a credit card for payment, we have to pay an average of 2.93% in processing fees. While this may not sound like a lot, if our service fee is 5% of a subscription, we would be paying almost ⅗ of our service fee in credit card processing fees. Losing that much revenue would mean that we could not sustain our staff to provide these services to you…..and we don’t think that’s a good thing for the community overall.
Q: What kind of payments do you accept?
A: We accept checks and ACH Electronic Payments. Please contact Coop Info for our ACH payment info at .
A: If paying by check, checks can be made out and sent to WiLS at our mailing address (1360 Regent Street #121, Madison, WI 53715) unless you are ordering from a “Direct Discount” vendor: https://sprinkles.wils.org/services/cooperative-purchasing/direct-discounts/.
Q: What are the costs of participating in WiLS’ Cooperative Purchasing program?
A: WiLS provides its Cooperative Purchasing services through MyWiLS. An annual subscription to MyWiLS is $199/year, regardless of the size of your institution. For each subscription managed by WiLS, and regardless of the discounted amount negotiated by WiLS, we typically add a 5% service fee, which is capped at a total of $1000. Our goal is to save you money; if the cost of the subscription through WiLS is more expensive than it would be directly, we will notify you and suggest that you order directly from the vendor.
Q: In addition to the discounted price of the subscription, what are the other benefits?
A: WiLS Cooperative Purchasing service includes management for the entire lifecycle of a purchase. WiLS requests and sets up product trials, negotiates prices, reviews user licenses to get the best possible terms for subscribers, and provides access and technical support facilitation. In addition, your purchases through WiLS increase our negotiating power with vendors, helping other members of the library community save money on their subscriptions to those products.
Q: When do I need to decide if I’m renewing or not?
A: Most vendors will terminate access the day your renewal is supposed to start, unless you’ve sent in your response to WiLS. Some vendors allow access for up to 15 days after your renewal starts, but will then terminate access if WiLS has not received the order. It’s best to let WiLS know whether or not you are renewing at least 15 days before your subscription starts, just to be safe.
Q: Can I include more than one database subscription/vendor on a single PO?
A: Yes! You can include all of your databases on one purchase order or multiple purchase orders – whatever is easiest for you!
Q: Who do I send my purchase order to?
A: Unless you are ordering from a “Direct Discount” vendor, please make all purchase orders out to WiLS. Purchase orders can be sent via email (), fax (608-237-2358), or USPS mail to our mailing address (1360 Regent Street #121, Madison, WI 53715).
Q: How do I cancel a subscription?
A: Typically, you have until the “Needs Response By” date in MyWiLS to cancel a subscription, which is usually two weeks from the start date. If you need to cancel a subscription that has already been confirmed and the state date has passed, we will make every effort to work with the vendor to cancel and refund the remaining term, but we cannot guarantee it. Submitting an order or confirming a subscription renewal is a commitment for purchase between a WiLS member and the vendor. Read more in our Cooperative Purchasing Subscription Cancellation Policy.
