Homeschooling parents tend to pay more for the books and other homeschooling related material because they buy them as individuals. Any vendor who is allowed to sell a larger volume will be happy to give a discount to the bulk purchaser. To take advantage of this many homeschooling families have founded Homeschool Buyer Co-ops, to combine their purchasing power and get better discounts.
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How does the process work?
A member of the homeschool buyer co-op is assigned the task of getting in touch with various educational publishers and homeschooling curriculum providers. The member will then negotiate a discount based on the volume of sales. This deal will then be placed before the other members of the homeschool buyer co-op. The number of members who want to buy the material are confirmed and they will pick up the educational material at a lower rate than when they buy the materials from a shop.
Group Buy Discounts
Some publishers can also offer added discounts on higher group buys. For instance while the homeschool material is offered at a discount of 20% initially to all members, the discount may rise to 30% if more than 20 purchasers are found. In case there are more than 50 purchasers for the same material then 40% discount may be offered and so on. Based on the increasing volume, the discount will also increase. This is the same reason why school districts get good discounts on educational material. The same principle of higher sales volume applies.
How can you become a member of a Homeschool Buyer Co-op?
There are a number of homeschool buyer co-ops in operation today and it is easy to find one which suits your needs using homeschool forums or websites. You can even find some communities on social media websites like Facebook. While the membership requirements are different in each group, most of them offer free memberships as long as you participate in the group buys and allow everyone to benefit from the higher discount values. Some sites may expect you to pay a minimal fee to become a member as well. This will need to be checked out before you join a homeschool buyer co-op.
Article Inspiration: About Homeschooling
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