18F Is Testing Micro-Purchase Auctions

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10471677" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10471677</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10570069" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10570069</a>

Am I understanding this correctly? Someone was awarded $350 to add 19 lines of CSS?<p>The auction&#x2F;requirements: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;micropurchase.18f.gov&#x2F;auctions&#x2F;6" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;micropurchase.18f.gov&#x2F;auctions&#x2F;6</a> The code change: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;cwarden&#x2F;micropurchase&#x2F;commit&#x2F;9e0f896023c671753eb870e7c677d56d8f3df365" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;cwarden&#x2F;micropurchase&#x2F;commit&#x2F;9e0f896023c6...</a><p>I should sign up! Looks like the other auction&#x2F;requirements are more involved though.

It&#x27;s interesting that this time around the bids didn&#x27;t bottom out at the min. All but one are in the $300-$500 range. The first time they tried this the winning bid was one (1) dollar[1].<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;18f.gsa.gov&#x2F;2015&#x2F;11&#x2F;06&#x2F;micro-purchase-lessons&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;18f.gsa.gov&#x2F;2015&#x2F;11&#x2F;06&#x2F;micro-purchase-lessons&#x2F;</a>

Great marketplace! Now why is it so damn hard to sign up to do government contracts on this crappy website?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sam.gov&#x2F;portal&#x2F;SAM&#x2F;##11#1" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sam.gov&#x2F;portal&#x2F;SAM&#x2F;##11#1</a>

Can anyone explain why an otherwise very forward-looking, user-experienced focus got stuck with an incomprehensible name like &quot;18F?&quot;