SpicyPeanut Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 So I just lost a bid on Little Hands to Heaven on ebay :-( Which is fine. I've done a lot of ebaying in my day... I bought my wedding dress on ebay and it worked out beautifully. However, I worry about ebay when buying curriculum. I'm pretty picky about books and what not and since I'm on the first of what I'm hoping is a few little peanuts, (DD I mean), I'd like stuff that is reusable to be in the best condition possible so it might last a while, or at least be easy to resell. I've been burned on ebay regarding other things, but my DH will be unhappy if I waste money on curriculum that is in bad shape KWIM? Anyway... anyone do the ebay thing regularly with success? Where else might I find used curriculum in good condition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Often at amazon, the TM and the student manual are listed separately. With weird OOP sets where I'm nervous about getting a matching set I often resort to eBay, because people usually list all of the set together. Otherwise I prefer other vendors for curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaya Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I've done really well with eBay, mostly just math curricula. I know what I'm looking for and message the seller a million questions so everything's in writing incase they send me the wrong book. Also stay away from any seller with low starting bid but high shipping. If the item needs to be returned, you will not be refunded shipping fees which often makes it not worth shipping the item back for refund. And when you really want to win the auction, use auctionsniper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have been burned on every curriculum buy/sale I have done on ebay. My dh banned ebay of any kind after the last disaster. Books never arrived in condition stated. I am fortunate to have an excellent homeschool store with a huge used book section near by. I have often thought to have you guys tell me what you need, I go get it for you, and ship it out. Not charging you anything for the service, of course. I know the owner will also do this. Anyone want the phone number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I buy used here on the WTM classifieds. I have looked but never bought at homeschoolclassifieds.com. There is a local used book store that trades in used curriculum and I have gotten a few good buys there. I think I bought on Ebay once. I buy other stuff on Ebay, but curriculum seems to sell for outrageously high prices and I really prefer to "know" who I'm buying from. Buying from WTM members that have been here for years, feels like buying from a friend or neighbor. I've never been burned here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 With eBay''s buyer protection, I think eBay is no-risk for the buyer; you aren't happy, you get your money back. I do not think eBay is a good gig for a seller anymore because eBay allows dishonest buyers to rip of sellers, so that's why I don't sell the anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I've never had any major problems with buying or selling on eBay, although most of the stuff has not been curriculum. (My biggest beef is sellers who refuse to provide positive feedback until after the buyer has given positive feedback, so if I ever did have to complain about a product, it wouldn't effect them with their thousands of feedbacks, but then they'd trash me and it would effect because I only have a few hundred feedbacks. Once a buyer has paid, she/he has no further obligation, so the seller has no business postponing feedback. I will actually pay more for an item to avoid purchasing from those feedback blackmail sellers.) I guess it's the luck of the draw though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruby Rose Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Between all the fees and shipping cost it is a bad deal for sellers. I have things I'm selling/have sold recently and the fees and shipping cause me to have to price my items really low. Even Media Mail is about $4 for 1 textbook. Sucks! I've purchased books without issue. I'm currently waiting on 2 to arrive now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruby Rose Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Ps I've purchased several things from the classified ads on here with great success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have been burned on every curriculum buy/sale I have done on ebay. My dh banned ebay of any kind after the last disaster. Books never arrived in condition stated. I am fortunate to have an excellent homeschool store with a huge used book section near by. I have often thought to have you guys tell me what you need, I go get it for you, and ship it out. Not charging you anything for the service, of course. I know the owner will also do this. Anyone want the phone number? So far, I have only purchased one (1) of the textbooks DD needed on eBay, but it was a true bargain. The eBay Seller was very honest in his description and at the time we bought it, the same Science textbook, in the same condition, from an Amazon Seller would have been approximately USD$40 more. He is a great eBay Seller, in a small city in Louisiana. DD is using that textbook now... I look, once a day, on Amazon and on eBay, for the textbook DD will need for the next Science course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJosMom Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have had nothing but positive experiences when making purchases on eBay, including having the wrong book sent. The seller was most gracious and handled the problem beautifully. DH advises transactions only with highly rated sellers, so that's what I've done (He's the tech person. I am clueless.) I have not sold anything on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm37 Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I used to go to ebay quite a bit, but now just use Amazon for everything. I am really picky about condition, too. I just decided to buy new, keep things as nice as possible (meaning absolutely no writing in books), and then sell for 50%. It didn't work out well for me to keep curriculum to use with younger kids because editions change quite often. It then becomes hard to match up the consumables to the editions you have. I have been listing my items on here for the last few years. No fees! I haven't tried out the new classified section. I guess everyone lost their feedback when it changed? Maybe I am not understanding that correctly. The only thing I sold last year was from contacting a board member directly. I am getting ready to clean house as I am in my last year of homeschooling. Hoping the classifieds are pretty easy to use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I swore off eBay for some time because of two bad transactions in a row as a buyer, but I'm back now. Normally I sell most of my books on Amazon, but I wanted to move some lots of books this summer. And it's gone well, no hitches at all. I got more than I expected from the first batch, have more up now, and will list the last sets next week. I should get enough to put in a large RR order that will finish my 2014-2015 curriculum and hopefully allow me to get a few 2015-2016 items. Buying though? I haven't see anything there curriculum-wise that I've wanted to buy. I can get the same on Amazon used or with other sales and discounts with less chance of problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I just picked up Ombibus i (Veritas Press) for $32 delivered. I am still waiting for it to arrive, but I am really hopeful. At roughly 1/3 of new retail, it was worth the risk of buying used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 With eBay''s buyer protection, I think eBay is no-risk for the buyer; you aren't happy, you get your money back. I do not think eBay is a good gig for a seller anymore because eBay allows dishonest buyers to rip of sellers, so that's why I don't sell the anymore And with PayPal being part of eBay and them ALWAYS taking the buyer's word for it, there's literally no way for a seller to prove theft. eBay won't listen to the seller at all. A buyer got a $1000+ MacBook Pro for free this way from my brother and his husband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have had mixed results. The times I have gotten things in poorer condition than I expected, I read through the ads again afterwards and realized that the seller had not been explicit about things being in great condition. I should have been a more careful buyer in those cases. I think it happened twice. A couple of books were readable, but had water damage (which I would NEVER have even sold a book in that condition) once, and the other time there was something sticking a couple of pages of the teacher's guide together - not a big deal, but I would have liked to have known because it just made the whole thing seem dirty to me. Generally, if I am attentive and careful, I have been happy. Last time I tried to buy the seller pulled out after I had won the auction, and that really soured me. There was no recourse - the seller just decided they didn't get enough for it and made up excuses about why they couldn't ship it to me. I wasn't out money, but time. Oh, and there is no way for me to leave negative feedback about the seller, because they could totally destroy my reputation, whereas my comments are so small compared to their overall reputation it would do very little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikiSC Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I've had mostly good experiences with purchasing curriculum on eBay. One must be very careful with price. I've seen people pay more than retail plus shipping! I want to try out the classifieds on here. I don't know why, but it seems more trustworthy. Lol. I started using some of the FB groups with very mixed results. I guess you have to be careful anytime you buy used. We have a homeschool consignment store that's very well stocked. The prices are higher than eBay but you can actually see the condition and you save on shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesswoody5 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I've gotten some amazing deals on Ebay. Last year I scored the Song School Latin complete set, CD, DVD, TM and Student manual (unused) for next to nothing. I have gotten all of my "big" books on Ebay, the complete versions of Pooh, Madeline, Curious George, Beatrix Potter, etc. for pennies. Kingfisher encyclopedia and Usborne for less than $10 each. Atlases, evan moor books are almost always cheaper, and a lot of homeschooling books. I search for title of book, author and then ISBN number. I've also gotten some great deals on "used" books from Amazon, but you can email the seller in both cases to be sure you're getting what you think you're getting. You have to compare prices, though. Sometimes the NEW books are cheaper on Rainbow Resource or CBD! Also: if you aren't happy, SEND IT BACK and get your money back! I'm such a people pleaser that I have a hard time with this... but you'll be miserable the rest of the time you need to use it, remembering the bad deal you got. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnbacademy Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Ever since eBay changed the selling policies, I stopped selling. I prefer the Homeschool Classifieds used curriculum site. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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