Organizing a Used Curriculum Sale

Posted by LisaV | 0 comments

In June, my friend and I organized a Used Curriculum Sale for our local home education network. She recently assumed the Monthly Meeting Coordinator position, while I became the building liaison since the meetings will be held at my church. We decided June would be a great month for a Used Curriculum Sale, as most families have completed their school year and are looking for curriculum for the next academic year. It turned out we were right.

In addition to selecting a central location for our book sale, we needed to find sellers, advertise the sale to buyers, and keep our homeschool group’s advisory team and church leadership apprised of our plans. We decided on a Friday morning, 9 to noon, time-frame with sellers setting up their tables at 8:30.

My friend made signs directing traffic to the sale and we advertised on our homeschool group’s website, Facebook, Craig’s List, and at our church through a bulletin insert. There was lots of word-of-mouth advertising, and we met many new and veteran homeschoolers.

She and I set up tables on a Wednesday night after church, with a large table available for each seller. She created name cards and information sheets for each table, while I printed off name tags for each seller. The vendors selected their table on a first-come, first-served basis, filling up two rooms with books galore. Music was piped through our church’s sound system, kind of like muzak with a Christian twist. We turned the thermostat to a comfortable 72.

In the end, we had 19 sellers signed up for the event, a fair number of shoppers, and a morning of exchanging curriculum from one family to another. I was surprised at the amount of free stuff being given away and was able to find general science curriculum for my eighth grader for free. I also found ancient history from Beautiful Feet for my sixth grader and Easy Grammar Plus for a future year. Though I only sold $3.25 worth of material, I did depart with a magnet board that I did not want to bring home!

Other sellers took away more than I did. At the table next to mine, my friend sold a box of Pre-K Sonlight curriculum for $70, which was a great deal for both buyer and seller.

At the end, we packed our unsold curriculum back in boxes and took them home or to Goodwill. Tables were put away and floors were swept. The music was turned off and the money was put in our pockets. Our thoughts turned to our next event, a Kickoff Meeting for our homeschool group in September. We’ll be back to school before you know it. I think that for all of us, parents included, the learning never ends. Have a great school year!

Lisa Van Dong has been teaching her two sons since 2004 and attempts to incorporate study, work, service, and play into their homeschooling days. She takes an eclectic approach to homeschooling and enjoys reading, writing, editing, and essential oils. Lisa blogs publicly at Pockets of Time and privately at Scooter and B.