Orders

All orders for materials to be used on your Capstone project need to go through the Capstone office. This ensures that BYU purchasing policies are followed, and allows the office staff to manage the challenges of getting orders placed and received.

NOTE: In order to have access to the online Capstone Purchasing system, you must score at least 90% on the Capstone Purchasing Exam available on Learning Suite. You can take the exam as many times as you would like.
Please refer to the Capstone Purchasing Qualification Exam page for more information.

Please use the following procedures to use your project budget to order materials for your project. Some materials can be purchased from on-campus sources without placing an order (see On-campus Purchases).

All Capstone team orders are started by completing a Capstone Order Request, by clicking on “New Order” at byucapstone.byu.edu/dashboard. The specific information added to the Order Request depends on the type of order to be placed. There are three types of Capstone orders:

  1. Online Orders, where the order will be placed by the Capstone staff by visiting a website and entering order information. Online orders can be placed at both distant stores (e.g. Amazon) and local stores (e.g. Home Depot). The key characteristic of online orders is that the order is placed on a website.
  2. Phone Orders, where the order will be placed by the Capstone staff by speaking to a sales representative over the telephone. Phone orders are only used when neither an online order nor a shop at store order is available.
  3. Shop at Store Orders, where a Capstone team member will visit a store, select the items and go to the service desk, where the store clerk should contact the Capstone office to request a credit card number for the purchase.

In addition to the Order Type, Shipping Method must be determined when an Order Request is placed. There are four Shipping Methods available on the Order Request form:

  1. Ground, which is the cheapest and usually takes 2-7 days, depending on the distance.
  2. 2nd Day, which is the best combination of speed and cost. Capstone has an Amazon Prime account, so 2nd Day shipping is free on Prime-eligible Amazon orders.
  3. Ship to Store, which is often used as a free and relatively quick shipping method by vendors that have both online and physical stores, such as Walmart and Home Depot.
  4. In-Store Pickup, which is used for Shop at Store orders and some online orders that offer to hold an item for pickup.

If you need another shipping method such as Freight or Next-day Air, you will enter it in the “Additional Instructions” box on the Order Request.

NOTE: If you are purchasing from a source other than an established business (such as from eBay or a private individual), special purchasing requirements will apply. Please work with the Capstone office before committing to purchase from such a source.

The process for placing a Capstone Order Request is as follows:

NOTE: For Shop at Store orders with a nominal total cost, it is not necessary to fill in detailed information about the items to be purchased. It is sufficient to indicate the type of materials to be purchased and an approximate total cost. Please estimate a little high, because your purchase CANNOT exceed your estimate.

NOTE: If the order total from a single vendor is $3,500 or more, the Capstone office will make a purchase request from University Purchasing. Purchasing will then create a purchase order and order the materials from the vendor. Allow ten days to two weeks for a large order to be placed through University Purchasing; shipping time will then be added. Please make your large purchases early to avoid delays on your project.

NOTE: Reimbursements are NOT allowed for purchases from online or phone vendors. See Reimbursement, the last resort for instructions about when reimbursements are allowed and how to obtain them.

Screen capture of online order request.