Frustrated with used curriculum pricing...

[AngelBee]

How can people sell used stuff for the same as new minus shipping??? Am I missing something? :(

 

I am so frustrated not being able to find good deals. I am especially having trouble finding TOG and MFW stuff at a good price.

 

Seriously....some TOG books....after looking for HOURS....are more used than to get them on amazon! I don't understand how people are coming up with the pricing.

 

Am I a cheapskate because I expect it to be about 50% off if you already used it in your school????

 

Thanks for letting me vent. :D

[stripe]

Sometimes it's better to buy new.

[AngelBee]

Sometimes it's better to buy new.

 

I know! I would NEVER pay almost the same price for used items.

 

I have a large household to put wear and tear on the items. I might as well get brand new and pay 20.00 more. :lol:

[AngelBee]

What really boggles my mind......people are buying these overpriced packages!!! I don't get it!

[SailorMom]

Priced as new seems silly,,,, but if the items are in perfect or "like new" condition, then I don't think they have to go down to 50%. I would think 70% would be the high end of normal for anything used.....

[kwickimom]

How can people sell used stuff for the same as new minus shipping??? Am I missing something? :(

 

I am so frustrated not being able to find good deals. I am especially having trouble finding TOG and MFW stuff at a good price.

 

Seriously....some TOG books....after looking for HOURS....are more used than to get them on amazon! I don't understand how people are coming up with the pricing.

 

Am I a cheapskate because I expect it to be about 50% off if you already used it in your school????

 

Thanks for letting me vent. :D

 

It depends...we used HOD Preparing and I took really good care of my books and they were all pretty much only read once. Most of the books could pass for brand new. There is no way I was going to sell this for 50% off with one year of use for one child when everything looks almost new. You also have to factor in paypal fees.

 

I am willing to pay up to 75% of a new price for a curriculum that is barely used or like new.

 

I do check Amazon and the for sale boards before pricing, and if my books are very used or old 9or show wear I do go to 50% but it really depends on what it is.

Edited May 17, 2012 by kwickimom
typo

[AngelBee]

Priced as new seems silly,,,, but if the items are in perfect or "like new" condition, then I don't think they have to go down to 50%. I would think 70% would be the high end of normal for anything used.....

 

Most of these are more than 70% too.

 

I finally had my husband look. I thought my lack of sleep was causing my math to freak out! :lol:

 

Nope.....just really bad deals. :D

[AngelBee]

It depends...we used HOD Preparing and I took really good care of my books and they were all pretty much only read once. Most of the books could pass for brand new. There is no way I was going to sell this for 50% off with one year of use for one child when everything looks almost new. You also have to factor in paypal fees.

 

I am willing to pay up to 75% of a new price for a curriculum that is barely used or like new.

 

I do check Amazon and the for sale boards before pricing, and if my books are very used or old 9or show wear I do go to 50% but it really depends on what it is.

 

May be I am cheap. I think I factor in the wear and tear my family will do on the curriculum and then would rather get it new if the discount is small.

 

Honestly though.....most of the sets for HOD, MFW, and TOG are literally like 10-15% off new.

 

I finally broke and purchased HOD Beyond new cause I couldn't justify paying so much for a set someone already schooled with for a year.

[mom24cuties]

Have you tried amazon? Sometimes I can find new stuff on there for the same price someone is selling it for used.:glare:

[AngelBee]

Any suggestions of where to find cheaper sets? I do not even mind water marks, wrinkles, etc.....as long as it is 100% usable.

[AngelBee]

Have you tried amazon? Sometimes I can find new stuff on there for the same price someone is selling it for used.:glare:

 

Yeah.....I have started looking piece by piece. Just so time consuming. :(

[woolybear]

Was it any of my stuff? :001_huh: I just posted some things today. Just tell me if I am overpriced. :)

 

I do know what you mean, though. I always figure when something is priced close to new, might as well buy new and then you can usually return it if you need to. Otoh, with shipping costs going up, sometimes it's hard to make it worth selling it online.

[KarenNC]

People must be willing to pay it or the market wouldn't support the higher prices. I will go up to about 70% depending on condition, how readily available it is at that price and how badly I want something. If it's purely supplemental (say I want something in hardcopy so that I don't have to print off worksheets, outline maps, etc), I'm not likely to go above 50% and likely not even that. If it's a specialty or unusual curriculum (and I often have these because I want secular materials), any savings may be preferable to none. I am highly unlikely to go as high as 50% for a book with considerable wear, pages used, etc unless it is really hard to find otherwise, and I won't buy anything I know is from a smoking environment as the smell is impossible to get out of paper and makes us sick.

 

I absolutely had to laugh at a used curriculum sale last week. My daughter spotted a paperback copy of "The Hunger Games" that was unmarked, so I asked the price. "$20." I said no thanks and put it back down. "How about $15--it's new." I then pointed out that the price printed on the back of the book for a brand new copy was $8.99! "Oh, well, $7." No thanks, it's $5 on Amazon with free shipping. I also didn't look at anything else she had on her table. Had she started at $7, I might have considered it simply in order to buy locally and have it in hand immediately, but either she had no idea how to price things or was trying to cash in on a fad. I guess she's in good company, though, as there are three sellers on Amazon listing that same book for, respectively, $430, $500 and $500 (and one of the $500 is listed as "acceptable").

Edited May 17, 2012 by KarenNC

[stripe]

Paypal fees are pretty small. I think postage is a bigger issue. Especially on small items.

 

$15 book

Costs $4 to ship

74c fees

Leaving $10.26 (68% of money collected)

 

$100 book package

Costs $7-12 to ship

$3.20 fees

Leaving $85-90 (85-90% of money collected)

 

I don't think it's worth it to buy or sell most of those cheap items because you really can't ship for less than $3. Better to buy used from a store, where you have easier communication, guarantees, and easier ordering. Most people won't buy a used item for more than amazon is selling new. Esp now so many people have prime.

[mrs.m]

Any suggestions of where to find cheaper sets? I do not even mind water marks, wrinkles, etc.....as long as it is 100% usable.

 

Do you have a local homeschool group? I post what I want to our email group and buy it locally. No shipping and I can see it before I buy it! Sometimes my friends have loaned stuff to me so I didn't have to purchase. I also go to the local swap/sale in June.

[coffeefreak]

Priced as new seems silly,,,, but if the items are in perfect or "like new" condition, then I don't think they have to go down to 50%. I would think 70% would be the high end of normal for anything used.....

 

Paypal fees are pretty small. I think postage is a bigger issue. Especially on small items.

 

$15 book

Costs $4 to ship

74c fees

Leaving $10.26 (68% of money collected)

 

$100 book package

Costs $7-12 to ship

$3.20 fees

Leaving $85-90 (85-90% of money collected)

 

I don't think it's worth it to buy or sell most of those cheap items because you really can't ship for less than $3. Better to buy used from a store, where you have easier communication, guarantees, and easier ordering. Most people won't buy a used item for more than amazon is selling new. Esp now so many people have prime.

 

:iagree:

Sometimes, I didn't use what I'm selling, but then I justify my price by saying, "New, never used." I think you have to look at it from the seller's point of view. There are people willing to save ANY amount, and HOD does not offer free shipping (at least they didn't the last time I checked). So, If a seller kept her books in great condition, putting them away as soon as they were done, no writing in the TG etc, then she is well within her rights to knock $10-20 off and try to sell it. It will still be $30-40 off HOD price once you figure in shipping and taxes, and someone is willing to pay for that. They get a "Like New" curriculum, and they still get $30-40 off. Win/Win

 

HTH!

Blessings!

Dorinda

[Crimson Wife]

Am I a cheapskate because I expect it to be about 50% off if you already used it in your school????

 

That's an arbitrary discount. Yes, used should cost less than new but if it's in good condition and a high-demand item, then maybe it'll be more like 85-90% of new. If an items costs more than you're willing to pay, then just wait to see if the seller comes down in price.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

n m

[Loving&Learning]

I totally understand your frustrations. There are times that I wonder for those people who are willing to pay those prices if they have figured out what they want, assume that they can't afford to buy them new so they don't even check the new price and just wait for someone to list them on the forum and assume that it's a good deal because they are buying them second hand. There are times that their listing price + shipping is more than I would pay for some places that offer free shipping. We have the Prime account through Amazon (not for long since my DS is almost out of diapers), so I can get many items cheap through them. I have also checked out Sonlight because many of their items qualify for media mail and shipping is for media mail through them if you spend $25. There are occasionally some good deals, so I keep watching. The problem is that they do go fast.

[AngelBee]

This is why I don't buy used curriculum any more, and I usually don't try to sell stuff unless it is local. Also, I am so totally over trying to keep my books, TMs, etc, in 'unused' condition just so someone can lowball me on a resell. When we buy books now we USE them -- write in, highlight, star, break/cut off bindings (gasp!), the whole nine yards -- then I feel perfectly at ease donating or giving away. We've gotten our money's worth and someone else gets free books. That's a win/win. :D

That's where I am now. :)

[AngelBee]

Was it any of my stuff? :001_huh: I just posted some things today. Just tell me if I am overpriced. :)

 

I do know what you mean, though. I always figure when something is priced close to new, might as well buy new and then you can usually return it if you need to. Otoh, with shipping costs going up, sometimes it's hard to make it worth selling it online.

 

:grouphug: It wasn't your stuff. :) Nothing even on here. I've been checking other hot selling spots.

[AnaShoo]

I've been turned off by this, too. Here's one huge factor for me, too - why would I pay for this book that I have never seen by someone I've never met who assures me it's "like new"? I just don't trust that. Even on Amazon, where I have far more resources if the transaction goes bad, I sometimes am not thrilled with the condition a used book arrives in.

 

So, that price reduction is not just about the condition of a book - it's about the risk you are taking buying it directly from someone. Clearly, people are fine with this, but I've already had to swallow a bad transaction (thankfully, it was only ten bucks), and I'm not eager to repeat that.

 

So, I'm with you - I think people are crazy to price it like that. I would be willing to pay close to new, though, if I was buying it IN PERSON and had a chance to hold it.

[justLisa]

I once sold my MUS items on ebay. They just didn't work, but looked brand spankin new minus 5 pages from early in one of the books which of course I listed. I was so taken back and almost embarrassed by how much they sold for. It turns out they they were out of stock on their website at that time, but it's not like I was TRYING to make profit LOL! I have given away hundreds of dollars worth of curriculum that didn't work out. I don't think I'd list things for more than half of new, but mostly because if it's something I don't need, I just want the space on m y shelf more than I want the $$.

 

ETA: I always wonder what I should list my AAS packets that are SEALED. And also several other SM books that we didn't use. I mean they are actually sealed, so 50% seems kind of low? I only recently realized there was a for sale board here

[coffeefreak]

:grouphug: It wasn't your stuff. :) Nothing even on here. I've been checking other hot selling spots.

 

AH! I have to chime in here and say, I think there is a lot more trolling out there on the other used curriculum spots than here. I had a lady argue with me when I turned down her offer on one of those sites. I had a WTB add and she contacted me. It was obvious she didn't know squat about curriculum or pricing, and I really think she's a used book seller using those sites for profit. That's fine and all, but she was EXTREMELY offended when I told her I would only pay X amount for it in Like New Condition. I do a lot of buying and selling on those sites, but I'm much more leery than I am here.

[mommymilkies]

I have been a little put off lately, too. Most listings I've seen (not necessarily here-but around the net) are even more expensive than buying things new! I just don't get that. I mean, sometimes pricing accidents happen, but it's almost everything lately.

[AngelBee]

I have been a little put off lately, too. Most listings I've seen (not necessarily here-but around the net) are even more expensive than buying things new! I just don't get that. I mean, sometimes pricing accidents happen, but it's almost everything lately.

 

This is what I have been seeing too. Makes me wonder if people are trying to take advantage of newbies. :(

 

They assume they are buying used....it HAS to be cheaper than new. But in many cases...it is not so.

 

I think it is kind of cocky to sell something....like TOG print for 20.00 off what you paid.

 

I mean really??? So...you "paid" 20.00 to school your children for a year?

 

I don't get it....:001_huh:

[Samiam]

I figured if I used a curriculum that I purchased, than I got 100% of my value for it. If I don't need it anymore, then I don't need it sitting in my house, so I price my stuff to SELL. I often price it lower, 50% or so, because even if that is all I get from it, it's still means I only paid 50% for it myself.

 

There's only a few curriculums that I've sold for a bit more, because they hold their value, like Teaching Textbooks.

 

I don't get those that try to sell at near-new prices, even if the stuff is near new. I've seen listings where I could get it for $1.00-$4.00 more brand new from Amazon.

[mommymilkies]

Paypal fees are pretty small. I think postage is a bigger issue. Especially on small items.

 

$15 book

Costs $4 to ship

74c fees

Leaving $10.26 (68% of money collected)

 

$100 book package

Costs $7-12 to ship

$3.20 fees

Leaving $85-90 (85-90% of money collected)

 

I don't think it's worth it to buy or sell most of those cheap items because you really can't ship for less than $3. Better to buy used from a store, where you have easier communication, guarantees, and easier ordering. Most people won't buy a used item for more than amazon is selling new. Esp now so many people have prime.

 

I agree. I use paperbackswap for my cheaper books to be passed on. I try to price my things for the current going price. I search the archives on here, homeschoolclassifieds, and amazon for what the fair price is. I don't mind buying something used for just a couple of dollars off new. It helps another homeschooling mom and saves me a couple bucks. But I have had some very bad experiences lately, so I think I'll buy mostly new next year. I do think it's funny to see SO many prices that are ridiculously high vs. a new product, though. And I usually go buy amazon prices for that comparison since so many people use amazon or have prime.

[kalanamak]

as there are three sellers on Amazon listing that same book for, respectively, $430, $500 and $500 (and one of the $500 is listed as "acceptable").

 

I'm a cynic. I thought those wildly high books on Amazon were money laundering.

[ThreeBlessings]

I do agree condition matters. I personally don't mind paying up to 70% + media mail shipping for something new and unused or like new. Most things though I won't even consider buying unless they are about 50% + cost of media mail shipping. It is how I sell, so it is how I'd buy. :)

[mytwomonkeys]

i totally stopped selling stuff. i just give it away now. it's too expensive to pay for the gas to get to the post office, boxing it up, paying for postage, etc. it's completely not worth my while. honestly, i understand why people charge more. it's really expensive nowadays.

[KarenNC]

I'm a cynic. I thought those wildly high books on Amazon were money laundering.

 

Could be. I hadn't thought all that much about it other than the posters were crazy.

[stripe]

I'm a cynic. I thought those wildly high books on Amazon were money laundering.

I think they're computer pricing gone horribly wrong? I've seen some in print books for about $10, that are listed used by someone for hundreds of dollars. I've also seen used books on amazon by a third party seller for MORE than their new price, or for one penny less.

 

I've sold some things to people for almost what I paid for new. This was before amazon prime though! I appreciated it but wasn't sure why they agreed, but I figured I'd try. I have also sold a few used books, inc an old college textbook, on half.com.

[Mommy22alyns]

i totally stopped selling stuff. i just give it away now. it's too expensive to pay for the gas to get to the post office, boxing it up, paying for postage, etc. it's completely not worth my while. honestly, i understand why people charge more. it's really expensive nowadays.

 

 

I have to agree. I've been trying to move a ton of stuff here and people seem to want it for free. :glare: I'm inclined to take it to the used bookstore and wash my hands of it.

[DarlaS]

I'm a cynic. I thought those wildly high books on Amazon were money laundering.

 

:iagree:

[DarlaS]

i totally stopped selling stuff. i just give it away now. it's too expensive to pay for the gas to get to the post office, boxing it up, paying for postage, etc. it's completely not worth my while. honestly, i understand why people charge more. it's really expensive nowadays.

 

I don't sell much any more either.

 

My prices are also based directly (in addition to condition) on how much I want to get rid of an item. Usually I do check used prices on amazon--but I won't necessarily go lower.

[abrightmom]

i totally stopped selling stuff. i just give it away now. it's too expensive to pay for the gas to get to the post office, boxing it up, paying for postage, etc. it's completely not worth my while. honestly, i understand why people charge more. it's really expensive nowadays.

 

:iagree: unless I have a set or a valuable item. It isn't worth the hassle.

[boscopup]

It's probably a mix of things:

 

1) Economy is slow, so people are trying to get the most money for their goods that they can.

 

2) Some people don't check prices before buying things... this is a good reminder to teach this to your kids every single time you buy anything. :D

 

3) Shipping prices are ridiculous, and people are trying to cover that in their prices.

 

4) Buyer may have purchased somewhere that prices higher and not bothered to check for a lower price.

 

#2 and #4 is basically people not thinking, which is common these days. :glare:

 

There are some curricula known for higher used prices. AAS tends to sell very well. I never would buy a used AAS level because you really weren't saving much, but it was good for me when I sold the whole lot. :D (though I think I priced it reasonably... definitely not 50% off, but it wasn't THAT close to retail either). Then other curricula don't sell well at all. I basically had to sell CLE Reading for the cost of shipping. I just couldn't get the thing out of my house! The reader was almost brand new. We'd only used the curriculum for 3 weeks, but I just couldn't sell it. I gave up and practically gave it away. That's fine though. It's out of my house. Made room for more curriculum. ;)

 

When I buy curriculum, I do not factor in any expectation of being able to sell it, and I think that may also be a problem for some people - they expect to resell and recoup money so they can use that money to turn around and buy more curriculum, and thus they try to price it as high as they can. I understand some people have to do that, but just saying it explains some of the higher prices.

 

For used books, I usually just do Amazon. I've had good experiences with them. Most of the books I get in "good" or "very good" condition pretty much look new, never read. You might have different results if you're looking for an OOP book, especially older ones. Old books are going to look... old. No real way around that.

[Hunter]

I refuse to pay much for used materials. There is too much risk. I buy most of my used materials from Amazon, rather than here, because of the guarantee. It's not a rare event for items to get lost in the mail. I had a pricey item from an Amazon seller disappear in Florida, to never resurface. The item had a tracking# and two 1/2 months later had never been scanned again.

 

I especially won't pay high prices with personal paypal. It amazes me when a seller tells me what a good deal it is. Nothing is a good deal if there is no guarantee it will arrive!

 

Mostly I just buy piddly stuff here, that doesn't surface at Amazon. Sometimes I look for badly damaged items, so I can get a good look at the materials and try them out before investing in a new copy.

 

And every once in awhile, I just choose to live dangerously :-0 With no rhyme or reason as to why I made the purchase :-0

[nellecv]

I get why some individual items are high to make up for shipping cost, but I don't get the package "deals." If I am going to buy your entire SOTW set off you, I'm saving you shipping costs. So how come I see these packages for 10% off?

[heidirenata]

This is what I have been seeing too. Makes me wonder if people are trying to take advantage of newbies. :(

 

They assume they are buying used....it HAS to be cheaper than new. But in many cases...it is not so.

 

I think it is kind of cocky to sell something....like TOG print for 20.00 off what you paid.

 

I mean really??? So...you "paid" 20.00 to school your children for a year?

 

I don't get it....:001_huh:

 

I do think a lot of used book dealers try to take advantage of less informed newbies but it's also possible they only check/compare their listing prices to a big clearinghouse like amazon which doesn't always carry all the homeschool curriculum available and therefore it looks like there is limited supply and they price accordingly. Honestly until I really had some homeschooling experience I didn't know where to buy curriculum so I was willing to pay more just to get what I wanted.

Shipping is a huge factor. As a seller I'm simply not willing to let go of some books if I have to take a 40%-50% loss on a like new item simply because of shipping I would rather wait or sell them locally. As a buyer I when I need it I need it. If I have to pay full price Oh well, it happens but if I can save 10% great! I have yet to have a bad buying experience so I suppose I'm due. I generally don't buy used on amazon because with prime what I save on shipping pays the difference between used and new and with Rainbow Resource I always buy over their $150 limit so my shipping is free.

I know lots of people who only use free resources so my thought is if someone can buy TOG or similar and keep it in pristine condition and resell for 90% of their cost, more power to them, because the next person can sell at 80-90% and so on and so forth, eventually the price goes down. There are lots of people like me whose schoolbooks never show much more than a bit of shelf wear.

[heidirenata]

I get why some individual items are high to make up for shipping cost, but I don't get the package "deals." If I am going to buy your entire SOTW set off you, I'm saving you shipping costs. So how come I see these packages for 10% off?

I'm not so sure this applies to Sonlight but I know with like FIAR the cost of a "package" is in relation to how hard it is to procure all the items yourself especially if some are OOP or hard to come by.

[Kathryn]

I don't get the prices that are either really close to new or the same as new on a discount site like Amazon or Rainbow. Obviously, some people buy it, but I would rather get new at that price. I understand that you may have paid full price from the publisher and you want to get that back, but I'd rather pay the same price and get new if I don't know the condition. I know PayPal and shipping eat into profit, but that's a hit you take to sell online.

 

A local mom set up a used curricula board on Facebook. It started with just a few moms and after just a few months we are up to hundreds in our city.

[heidirenata]

I know PayPal and shipping eat into profit, but that's a hit you take to sell online.

 

 

:iagree:and that's why most are choosing to sell more, locally (plus it's greener :)). HOWEVER then it becomes a supply and demand issue. If less used curriculum is being offered online then the prices will be higher, simple economics.

Edited May 17, 2012 by heidirenata
for typo

[kewb]

I try to price my stuff at 50% off but I have had people low ball me off of that. I have found this past year that people want like new for a couple of $$ more than free. It is very frustrating. I am selling my stuff so I can get the $$ to buy next years stuff.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Sometimes the sets are almost brand new. A lot of the literature based programs don't work for some families and they are just trying to sell without losing all their money. They may have only used it a month or two and 85% of the books are brand new.

I don't want to give away expensive curriculum that is in very good condition either. It is a lot about supply and demand. Any time that a publisher has limited selling of their products to in-house, then you are going to have only their price to look at for guides and in-house material. I know in those cases that I never look and check other prices for the individual books that go with them. I always sell by taking 25% off the publisher's price for the set, then if that doesn't sell I move it to 40% off. If it doesn't sell at 40% off, then I box it up and put it away until the fall or spring (school beginning or ending) and try again the next year.

I did find that certain times of the year you can ask more and receive more on curriculum than during slow times. I would say that this is that time of year when everyone is curriculum buying so there is high demand. You can ask more when you know there are a lot of people looking right now. You will probably find cheaper prices mid-summer and mid-winter. Early fall (back to school) and early spring (tax time) will probably not be good times to get good deals.

[Candid]

there are three sellers on Amazon listing that same book for, respectively, $430, $500 and $500 (and one of the $500 is listed as "acceptable").

 

I'm a cynic. I thought those wildly high books on Amazon were money laundering.

 

I've always thought they were price gougers. I've noticed that when my curriculum has a book go out of print, all the used copies will be astronomical until they pick a new replacement book. I always hope for a quick pick.

[kalanamak]

I've always thought they were price gougers. I've noticed that when my curriculum has a book go out of print, all the used copies will be astronomical until they pick a new replacement book. I always hope for a quick pick.

 

How do you gouge when several copies are for sale for a penny plus shipping?

[alisoncooks]

I've always thought they were price gougers. I've noticed that when my curriculum has a book go out of print, all the used copies will be astronomical until they pick a new replacement book. I always hope for a quick pick.

 

I've heard on another forum that these astronomically high Amazon prices are due to certain business/sellers using software to keep their wares competitively, yet profitably priced. Things inch up and up, pricewise, and if they don't keep a close look-out, sometimes items end up ridiculously priced.

[kolamum]

I think with the rising cost of curriculum people are raising the price of their former stuff to have more towards the new stuff. It's as maddening as overseas shipping fees. :lol:

 

Have you tried HomeschoolReviews.com they sell used curriculum & I usually find good deals there. Ebay, but they don't seem to have what I need/want lately. ;) Also, some curriculums have yahoo groups for selling off the used stuff since many message boards don't like them to do that anymore. ;)