Sunday, July 27, 2008

Buy Used Homeschool Textbooks - wikiHow

Here's the page I created at wikiHow last week. I wanted to see how the "embed article" feature worked.



How to Buy Used Homeschool Textbooks


from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Are you looking for a way to save money on homeschool curriculum? Follow these tips to locate and buy used homeschool textbooks.

Steps


  1. Decide what curriculum you want to use for each each child you are homeschooling. Make sure you consider every subject you will teach.
  2. Make a list of the specific items you need for each subject and child. Include workbooks, lesson plans, answer keys and extra items, like math manipulatives and flash cards.
  3. Write down the publisher, title, edition and level of each item you want to purchase.
  4. Check the retail price of each item and decide how much you want to spend.
  5. Check thrift stores, garage sales, homeschool group sales and used book stores to see if they have the used homeschool textbooks you need.
  6. Search online message boards and websites that carry used homeschooling curriculum.
  7. Evaluate the products' condition. Find out if the materials have any missing or damaged pages.
  8. Find out the seller's payment and shipping terms, and ask for alternate arrangements, if necessary.
  9. Purchase your materials and await their arrival.
  10. Leave positive or negative feedback for the seller in order to help other buyers decide whether or not to make a purchase.


Tips


  • Most popular used homeschooling programs sell for 50-80% of retail price.
  • Set up a free PayPal account so you can make purchases online without giving your credit card information to the seller.
  • Purchase items like textbooks and lesson plans as a set in order to avoid buying similar items that don't go together.
  • View similar items in person before buying online to make sure you really want them.
  • Some curriculum publishers have internet message boards where you can buy and sell used versions of their curriculum.


Warnings


  • Avoid buying products that aren't on your list just because they're a good deal.
  • Consider the costs of shipping and handling when deciding whether or not to make a purchase.
  • Ask the seller about his or her return policy.


Related wikiHows




Sources and Citations





Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Buy Used Homeschool Textbooks. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.



It needed a little tweaking, but all in all, not bad. I love wikiHow because it makes it easy to put useful information into article format. (Notice I emphasized the word "useful".)

I also love wikiHow because it seems to rank well with Google!

Here's more info about my experience with wikiHow.

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