Mogster Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I keep reading great things about The Great Courses. I went to see if they had a particular course which I knew my son would be interested in. The cost of this course is almost $700!!?? Is there something about gaining access to these which I am not aware of (coupon code, discount, library loan?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I only buy their courses when they are deeply discounted, which is frequent. I think they rotate the courses that are on sale. Our library has a few too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 My library carries some of them and I buy when they are deeply discounted. They have sales fairly frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I am pretty sure that every course goes on sale once a year. 70% discount is not uncommon, and sometimes there are deeper discounts. We've bought several courses and have never, ever, paid list price. Our public library system also has many of the courses so we get them that way too. The trouble we have is that the lending period is too short, so we rarely get to watch an entire course. But I also use the library copies as a way to preview courses to see if they work for us and if something is really good we'll purchase when it's on sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BibleBeltCatholicMom Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Our library lets us renew as many times as we need as long as someone hasn't requested the item. You might ck on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Every course goes on sale at least once a year. And some courses can be found used on amazon, I had good luck finding several I wanted. I have never paid full price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Our library lets us renew as many times as we need as long as someone hasn't requested the item. You might ck on that. Ours has a limit on the number of renewals, even without requests. But the GCs are pretty popular so there often are requests for them. I just re-request right away and hope for the best. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 You just have to wait for it to go on sale. The Teaching Company has about the best marketing scheme I've ever seen. I've bought so many of their courses "just in case" because it's on sale now and I don't know when it will go on sale again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Could you check it out on your card then reserve on a kids card? If you set up an account you will get frequent sale emails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbk mama Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 They seem to have sales MULTIPLE times a year. I am on their emailing list and I get notified at least every month about 70% off courses (which courses are on sale vary). I purchased when the ones I wanted were 80% off (and then with coupon codes I got even more off). Get on their mailing list (use a junk email account though, because they send out a lot of emails - I just counted and they sent 22 emails about sales in the month of Sept.! :tongue_smilie:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I agree with getting on their mailing list, because they will send codes that you can use for an additional percentage off the sale prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I agree with getting on their mailing list, because they will send codes that you can use for an additional percentage off the sale prices. And if you get on their mailing list, you can get a catalog from them every other day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Inter library loan, if your own library doesn't have it. Also, it usually isn't worth getting the DVD. The audio for most of the courses is just fine. Kind of depends on which one you're interested in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Also, it usually isn't worth getting the DVD. The audio for most of the courses is just fine. Kind of depends on which one you're interested in. :iagree: mostly. Some courses are very heavy on visuals but most are not (in my experience, anyway). The audio gives greater flexibility. We listen a lot in the car. The website gives information on how best to decide between audio and video for a particular course - or used to. Some are only available one way or the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Also, it usually isn't worth getting the DVD. The audio for most of the courses is just fine. Kind of depends on which one you're interested in.We're currently going through our first course with them (medieval history) and ds likes the video even though it is mostly just the lecturer, um, lecturing. He does insert some pictures now and then. We are also using some of their audios, which are also good but I think ds likes having the visual there as well.. So it might depend on the student as well as the course. When I bought mine they were on deep discount plus I did a google search for available further discount codes and got a bit more off from that.. So you can really save a lot. I'm left wondering a. How much it costs them to produce these courses and b. how much money they end up making off them, kwim? I assume they must be doing well financially given the constant cycle of discounting, it just makes me wonder what's going on over there, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Not when you buy them used! :tongue_smilie: Check out the swap section of these boards. Also, Homeschool Classifieds, or Amazon used. What about homeschoolers in your area -- do you have a buy/sell classifieds section for the local group, or used curriculum sales? I have found DVD sets for as low as $35 (includes shipping). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 :iagree: mostly. Some courses are very heavy on visuals but most are not (in my experience, anyway). The audio gives greater flexibility. We listen a lot in the car. The website gives information on how best to decide between audio and video for a particular course - or used to. Some are only available one way or the other. I often get them as audio downloads. But in audio format, you can at least on Apple devices, change their file type to podcast and then listen to them at twice the rate they normally play. Although they talk faster, you don't get any chipmunk problems at that speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachnut Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I am bombarded with catalogs and sales emails. I love their courses and own more than a dozen, but have never, ever paid full price. I've bought 1 or 2 used on Amazon and the rest with coupon codes via catalogs & email. I've found the email coupon codes usually (but not always) give me the greatest deal. However, last year I received a Christmas season sales catalog that offered incredible discounts, and I bought quite a few courses for as low as $9.95. I have started tracking the prices (via a simple spreadsheet) for courses I want to buy, and when I see that the sale is lower than the lowest price I've seen in the last year, I buy it. The key is to NOT buy it when you need it, but buy it when it's something you really want and it's offered at a huge discount. (I made the mistake of buying "Superstar Student" for $39.99 because I NEEDED it right then and there, but I know I've seen it on sale for about $19.99. It KILLED me to pay that much, even though it wasn't full price.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I often get them as audio downloads. But in audio format, you can at least on Apple devices, change their file type to podcast and then listen to them at twice the rate they normally play. Although they talk faster, you don't get any chipmunk problems at that speed. Whoa -- thanks for that tip! I didn't realize I could speed them up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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