What You Need to Know to Purchase a Homeschool Curriculum on EBay

I have purchased homeschool curriculum on eBay a few times and each time I learn something new to look out for. All of my purchases were worth it, but now I know how to get even more product for my buck.

• First, decide ahead of time what homeschool curriculum you plan on using. Don't change your mind after looking at some offers for a different curriculum that appears cheaper. That curriculum might be something you don't know anything about. You want a curriculum that meets your child's needs and caters to their style. You may save $30 with an alternative curriculum, but you will pay for it in the long run if it your child doesn't respond to it.

• Second, read the fine print. I use the Lifepac curriculum for a couple of subjects and found out that some eBay auctions only sold pieces of the Lifepac. Buying all the pieces separately ends up costing you more than if you bought the item brand new from the company itself. You also want to make sure if the auction says "whole Lifepac curriculum kit" that it also contains the teacher's manual. You can buy the teacher's manual from someone else, but the shipping costs make it almost not worth it.

• Third, check the shipping costs. There is no excuse for excessive shipping costs because Homeschooling curriculum's can be shipped via media mail legally. Media mail costs are really low so the seller shouldn't have much to pay for shipping the books to you.

• Fourth, make sure the materials aren't written in. Used curriculum are fine if the work-pages are not written on. You also want to make sure that no pages are missing. You can email the seller and ask if it isn't written in the description. I bought a set once that had some missing pages. That description of "some" ended up being a lot in real life and I ended up having to buy a brand new workbook from the company that published that particular curriculum.

• Finally, decide ahead of time what your highest bid will be and don't go over it no matter how tempted you are. If you can't get a good deal on a used curriculum then you are better off buying a new one.

Tips:

Check the seller's rating, comments, and how many sales they have made to make sure you are dealing with a legitimate seller.