September  2004 Homeschool Views Logo








Ask-a-Mom
“Where is the best place to find used curriculum online?” This is one of our most common questions and I know how important (and how hard) it can be to stay on a budget. I’ve organized the top seven internet sites by their organization, description of their products, and over all user-friendliness.

EBay

*Positives: Great Descriptions of items, easy to use search options, and you’re able to ask questions from the sellers, Ebay also has a guarantee that will cover a small percentage of your money lost in a bad transaction . . . and of course the prices can’t be beat!


     *Negatives: You have to compete in an auction and sometimes you don’t win the item of your choice . . . and sometimes you end up bidding more than you planned in order to win; you also have to trust the seller to ship the items to you in a timely manner, you also have to trust that the items are as advertised, and more often sellers will only accept payments from PayPal.


     *Note:I personally have had NO problems with EBay, but be sure to read their buyer's checklist to be sure you are aware of how to shop smart and effectively.


Half

*Positives:Great descriptions of items, sellers are mostly all professionals, easy to use search options, you’re able to ask the sellers questions, not an auction place, and of course the prices!


     *Negatives: You have to trust the seller that the items are as advertised, and you have to trust that the seller will ship your items in a timely manner.


Amazon

*Positives:Great Descriptions of items, sellers are mostly all professionals, easy to use search options, you’re able to ask the sellers questions, not an auction place, great prices, and their great Safe buying guarantee!


     *Negatives: You have to trust the seller that the items are as advertised, and you have to trust that the seller will ship your items in a timely manner.


Veg Source

*Positives:You’re buying from a fellow homeschooler, you can ask the seller questions, and they have a wide variety of homeschool items.


*Negatives: The entire process is less user-friendly than Amazon or EBay, their search options are a bit more confusing, you have to trust the seller that the items are as advertised, and you have to trust that the seller will ship your items in a timely manner.


Academic Books Services

*Positives:If you’re looking for a specific item, this site will be helpful and the prices look good.


*Negatives: The entire process is less user-friendly than Amazon or EBay, their search options are NOT at all user-friendly, there are NO descriptions offered, and unless you know the title or author of a specific text book or resource, this is not the place for you.


Abe Books

*Positives:If you’re looking for a specific item, this site will be helpful and the prices look good.


*Negatives: The entire process is less user-friendly than Amazon or EBay, their search options are NOT at all user-friendly, there are NO descriptions offered, and unless you know the title or author of a specific text book or resource, this is not the place for you.


Teaching Tots to Teens

*Positives:Homeschooler to Homeschooler, it's easy to ask the seller questions, and it’s entirely made up of educational materials.


*Negatives: Their search options are NOT user friendly. Also, it’s an email Yahoo group so it’s hard to sift through all the topics if you’re looking for something specific, and you also have to request membership to the group (with a small waiting period) before you can shop there.


     Happy Homeschooling!

     KristiKristi Hagen


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