Buying Used Curriculum

One way to save money on buying curriculum is to buy it used. Many homeschool conventions and larger homeschool groups have used curriculum sales. Sometimes you can find listings for homeschool items on Craigslist. Every now and then you can even find curriculum at yard sales. Of course the Internet has several places to find used curriculum such as Ebay, Amazon, and Half.com. There are some things you should be cautious about when buying used curriculum.

• Know how much the item costs brand new and what you think is a fair price to buy it used. One of my biggest problems buying on Ebay is that people are bidding more for a used item than what you can buy it for new. Either they don't know their prices, or they catch "auction fever" and bid until they win. I am not going to pay the same price for something used that I can buy brand new from the company. I put in my maximum bid and do not o back and check the auction until it is over.


• Be aware of the condition of the item. If it is something you want to use for more than one child you probably don't want to buy something that is already starting to wear out. It might be better in the long run to spend the extra money and buy new.


• If you are at a used curriculum sale check it out thoroughly before you buy. At a homeschool convention book sale I bought a handwriting book that was labeled new. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it since it said it was new but when I got home and looked over my purchase the first 15 pages were torn out. I was NOT happy, but if I would've checked it over better I would have never bought it in the first place.


• It's never a good deal if it is something you are not going to ever use. Many times I have been at a book sale and found things that were such good deals I couldn't pass them up. More often than not those items sat on a shelf taking up space until I found someone who wanted them or donated them to a book sale.


• Be aware of what kind of home the books are coming from especially if you have allergies. If it doesn't say from a smoke free pet free home, ask.


• If you are buying one piece at a time like a Teacher's Guide separate from a Student Guide, make sure they are the same edition or they might not be compatible.