How should assorted or mixed lots be coded?

Put plainly, at the broader level that genuinely covers the mix, rather than at the level of one item inside it under UNSPSC, managed by the United Nations Development Programme since 1 January 2025. Published bidder guidance notes there is no code for assorted cut flowers, and the honest answer is the broader cut flowers class. The sections below work through what that means for assorted lots in practice.

A working note on assorted lots

• remember that at the broader level that genuinely covers the mix, rather than at the level of one item inside it
• remember too that published bidder guidance notes there is no code for assorted cut flowers, and the honest answer is the broader cut flowers class
• watch out because a mixed lot coded as one of its items misdescribes every other item in the lot
• quote assorted lots only with its version and managing body attached

Finding the shelf for assorted lots

Think of assorted lots as occupying one shelf position defined by the claim that at the broader level that genuinely covers the mix, rather than at the level of one item inside it. Published bidder guidance notes there is no code for assorted cut flowers, and the honest answer is the broader cut flowers class. That position decides which families a buyer searches when looking for assorted lots and which reports will count it. A mixed lot coded as one of its items misdescribes every other item in the lot. A shelf position for assorted lots that is roughly right is still wrong for reporting, because reports add shelf positions for assorted lots together without asking how rough they were.

From broad shelf to assorted lots

To narrow toward assorted lots, start broad and ask at each pair whether at the broader level that genuinely covers the mix, rather than at the level of one item inside it still holds. Published bidder guidance notes there is no code for assorted cut flowers, and the honest answer is the broader cut flowers class. Each yes moves the reading one level finer, and each no sends the reader back to a neighbouring pair for assorted lots. A mixed lot coded as one of its items misdescribes every other item in the lot. That loop for assorted lots, repeated patiently, is the whole method, and there is no shortcut version of it for assorted lots that stays reliable.

Where assorted lots goes wrong in practice

With assorted lots, the error to watch for is a mixed lot coded as one of its items misdescribes every other item in the lot, set against the fact that at the broader level that genuinely covers the mix, rather than at the level of one item inside it. Published bidder guidance notes there is no code for assorted cut flowers, and the honest answer is the broader cut flowers class. Errors of this kind with assorted lots survive because the resulting code still looks valid, with the right number of digits and a plausible title for assorted lots. Only a check against the current codeset wording for assorted lots exposes them, which is why checking is a habit rather than a one-off task.

Before moving on from assorted lots, run one last check: does the claim that at the broader level that genuinely covers the mix, rather than at the level of one item inside it still hold in the current codeset wording for assorted lots? Published bidder guidance notes there is no code for assorted cut flowers, and the honest answer is the broader cut flowers class. A mixed lot coded as one of its items misdescribes every other item in the lot.

What assorted lots rewards, in the end, is the reader who remembers that at the broader level that genuinely covers the mix, rather than at the level of one item inside it and who still checks the current UNDP codeset before acting on it. A mixed lot coded as one of its items misdescribes every other item in the lot. Shared codes for assorted lots only stay shared while readers keep checking them, and this guide is one small part of that maintenance for assorted lots.