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Have you ever attended HEAV’s Used Curriculum Sale? If not, you are in for quite an experience!
The Used Curriculum Sale is great for shopping and finding great deals, but even more, it can be a great way to get rid of your own used materials!
I’ve never sold items at the HEAV Used Curriculum Sale before, so I hit up one of my good friends, HEAV blogger Kyndra of Homeschooler on the Edge, for advice!
TIPS FOR THE USED CURRICULUM SALE:
1.Start now! If you’ve been letting those piles of “old curriculum” build up, it’s time to start getting organized! I keep a bin in the basement where I’ve been storing items as we get done with them. When we finish with a book, I have one of the kids run it down and put it in the bin right then.
And puh-lease, keep on top of everything from here on out! Last year, because of our move, I put off dealing with clearing out used items, and then, when you add the fact that we changed our entire curriculum plan midway through the year — that one bin has turned into more than three full bins!
Because I have so much to deal with, I’m going to start with some local group curriculum sales, which will hopefully slim this down to a more manageable amount. I’m not so sure it will all fit into my car for the drive down!
Kyndra, my resident Used-Curriculum-Sale-extraordinaire, gave me these tips:
2. She suggests that you sort and enter your items into the UCS system one box at a time, and be sure to put the books back in your box in order, which will make putting on labels later much easier.
The barcoding system is now open, so you can even get started now, and get this out of the way!
And print your labels with a good quality printer!!
3. You are going to want to start early! If you have a whole bunch of stuff, it will drive you crazy.
4. READ THE INFORMATION ON HEAV’S WEBSITE THOROUGHLY! Make sure you read all the details and about the self-addressed envelope!
5. My biggest stressor is always pricing. How do figure out what is a fair rate? Kyndra suggested that searching the Internet (such as Amazon) for fair market value, and then price between 50-75% of that price – depending on the shape your item is in.
By the way, there is a different Friday price and Saturday price! So if it is an item that you absolutely don’t want to take home, or are planning to donate it anyway, then consider pricing the Saturday rate.
6. Plan on being there for a while! (Which I can definitely attest to! Last year I went by, “just to see what’s there,” and ended up emerging three hours later!) If it’s possible to bring a buddy, it can be helpful, because they can help you look or watch your stuff while you continue to shop!
Once you’re in the room, HEAV has a fabulous organizational system, and the line to pay goes pretty quickly.
7. How can you get the best deals?? By VOLUNTEERING of course! When you register, you will get a golden ticket that will let you get in early!!!
HEAV is great about helping you find the best volunteer opportunity for you, even if you have any physical issues. Working the UCS though, does involve some physical labor. (Dads, this is a great way YOU can support your homeschool family and help the score the good deals! They are always looking for manual labor!!
So, what are your success tips for the Used Curriculum Sale?
Sign up for my HEAV Convention Pass Giveaway!! HEAV’s convention is June 11-13th this year!
Yes, you can win a pass so you can attend HEAV’s convention for free! (Leaving more money to spend on stuff! WAHOO!) Optional Programs are not included, and if you have already registered and you win, HEAV will credit you for the amount of the free pass! This giveaway ends March 15, so sign up now!
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I love the used sale. I have gotten lots of great deals.
Another thing is BE FRIENDLY to all those there, those shopping as well as the workers. I have heard people saying I’m looking for X book, not to me but to a friends, and knew I’d just seen it, I would tell them. This happened several years back and it was a young high school student looking for a book. I had picked up several trying to decide which one I wanted. I had just put it back and told her it was there. She was SO happy to get it. AND now I see her EVERY year, since she works at the register there. It is fun to say hi and see how she is doing.
Thanks for the tips! I sold a few things later year, mostly books that I didn’t mind donating. This year will be a little more challenging. I can only ever make it to the convention on Friday, but this year I have some more expensive items that I don’t necessarily want to donate if they don’t sell. I think I’m going to try labeling them for pickup and then give them Friday to sell. If they don’t sell, then I’ll pick them up and try again another year or another place. I’m excited about trying to unload a few things that I changed my mind about (we decided to do Spanish instead of French) to clear out space for buying some new things.
I can’t wait for the convention! I’ve already started a list of things I want to get there. I usually make a spreadsheet of booth, what item I want to buy or look at there, and how much it would cost me to buy it online. So then I know whether an item is actually discounted at the convention, whether I save on shipping, etc.
These are great tips! Thanks for the giveaway.
What a blessing it would be to win!
Sorry if I commented twice! What a blessing it would be to win! And wonderful tips!
I love the used curriculum sale. I am going to purge and try to sell enough this year to cover what I buy…LOL. Thanks for the tips.
I love the USC sale!! I did learn agter the first year to wear comfortable shoes and bring address labels.
great tips!!!
Great tips!
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