Vendors are asked to follow these guidelines when working with SCELC:
Allow SCELC to process library orders, invoices, and renewals.
Orders must be processed by SCELC in order for libraries to qualify for consortial pricing and licensing. Invoices are sent to and paid by SCELC. Subscription renewals are coordinated and communicated by SCELC. These procedures are detailed below under “Ordering, invoicing, and renewal procedures.”
Clearly state direct and discounted pricing.
The consortial pricing offered to our libraries must be discounted significantly off the direct-to-library price. SCELC covers our operating costs with a surcharge on the fully discounted price billed to the library, so the combined SCELC price plus surcharge must always provide a discount as compared to a library’s direct cost. Our surcharge is communicated to libraries alongside offer pricing and on SCELC order forms.
FTE-based pricing models are strongly preferred.
FTE-based pricing is the most successful model for SCELC, especially when those FTE tiers address the 80+% of our libraries that serve less than 5,000 student FTE. For detailed information and statistics on SCELC institutions, visit About Our Libraries.
Avoid participation-level and first year discounts.
These discouraged marketing devices prevent our libraries from receiving accurate quotes or result in large price increases. Instead, we suggest free trial access, demonstrations of your product, and permanent deep discounts for early adopters to generate interest.
Establish a standard subscription term.
Annual subscriptions to your product can begin on the 1st of any month between July and March. All SCELC libraries’ subscriptions should have the same standard term and renew on the same date.
Extend monthly prorating to new subscribers.
Orders initiated after the standard subscription term begins are prorated on a monthly basis, generally from four (4) to fifteen (15) months to align with the standard subscription term end date. This grants new subscribers access to your resource on the first day of the month after they order it. We calculate the monthly rate based on the cost of an annual term.
Negotiate a single consortial license with SCELC.
SCELC prefers to sign one license on behalf of all our libraries. When the second SCELC library subscribes to your resource, we review your license vis a vis the SCELC Contract Points and will initiate the negotiation process. Institution-specific amendments or order forms/agreements are usually signed by SCELC as well.
Keep SCELC up-to-date with product pricing and content.
SCELC uses this information to provide accurate quotes to libraries. The pricing you provide SCELC should have a fixed expiration date and be updated annually. Changes to resource content and features should be communicated to us as well.
Ordering procedures
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The vendor should notify SCELC to process any orders that qualify for a SCELC discount ASAP. If this is your first order, you’ll need to request the link to complete our vendor information form.
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Upon notification of an order or intent to order (whether from the vendor or directly from the library), SCELC will send the library a final quote (including SCELC fees as a separate line item) within three business days.
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Once the library confirms the order, SCELC will typically invoice the library within 1-2 weeks.
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SCELC will notify the vendor of the order confirmation within 3 business days of receipt. Order notification from SCELC will include: Institution, Product, FTE, Term Start ,Term End, Cost, Institutional Contact Name | Email | Phone and Institutional IP Range (and additional information as needed).
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If the vendor needs an order form to be signed, SCELC prefers to sign it on behalf of the library. Please send order forms to invoices@scelc.org.
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The vendor should always invoice SCELC as the "bill to", with the library as the "ship to". SCELC will pay the invoice on receipt as long as we have already received confirmation from the library.
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The vendor should send an activation notice or request for further information to the library’s order contact with a cc: to invoices@scelc.org within 1 week of receipt of the order confirmation from SCELC.
Bill to addresses:
- SCELC, 5161 Lankershim Blvd, Suite 250 (2-126), North Hollywood, CA 91601
- invoices@scelc.org