I'm getting ready to buy curriculum for next year and was wondering what wonderful resources you might have that I don't know about!  I'm currently planning to buy through Rainbow Resource and Amazon.  Amazon is actually better priced on a few things.  I also want to get some of the chunky workbooks from Sam's Club or Costco just for variety and a break from the same day to day for the kids.  Where you you get your things?

Edie

I get the majority of my new stuff at Rainbow Resource.  I typically order enough for free shipping, or go in with other local HS'ers to reach the minimum.  Unfortunately for me, I live in IL, where they are, so I have to pay state sales tax.  But their prices are usually the best.

I use Amazon for non-curriculum type stuff - supplemental things.

Lately I've been using www.homeschoolclassifieds.com for used stuff and I've hit the jackpot for buying and selling.  I love that they have a wanted list there - many people have seen my listings and offered me stuff.  I do the same before I list - I check to see if the item is on someone's wanted list.

For books/DVD's I LOVE www.libraryanded.com They sell wholesale to HS'ers.  While they have a lot of Christian materials, they also have a lot of secular (with notes for Christians who may want to know about an evolutionary slant, etc).  For instance, they currently have a lot of History Channel & A&E Channel DVD's.  Their e-mail newsletters with the sale prices make their already very low wholesale prices even better -  sometimes 90% off of retail.  I tag books they have here with the L&ER price so I can decide if I want to buy it new from them, or go ahead and keep it on my WL.

I also shop at our local HS yearly curriculum swap, and I own a Yahoo Group for swapping HS'ing items locally/regionally.  That helps for bulky things that are a pain to ship.

I'm also the list owner for my main curriculum's Used Materials Yahoo Group.  Since I approve all messages, I get the benefit of first dibs :-).  I'm also on a couple of other YG's for used HS'ing items.

Then I have a lot of online subscriptions, also - both free and paid.

I buy stuff from Rainbow Resource, Hewitt Homeschooling (I like their high school literature program), eBay (when I find the right deal!), Amazon (ditto), and occasionally Vegsource.com (www.vegsource.com/homeschool/).  Vegsource is really busy to look at, but if I'm searching for a particular book, I just use Explorer's "find on this page" tool (under the Edit tab) to help me sift through the postings.  I also try not to miss the local used curriculum sales at the end of the school year.  A couple of the co-ops near me have small ones, and one of the homeschool support groups has a huge one every June.  Good times! :) 

here's a tip for searching on Vegsource - use ctrl+f   and a little box will appear and you can type in you what you want to look for.  Otherwise it can be overwhelming it is such a busy site

For those who like VegSource (it's soooo visually distracting for me I can't use it), you might look at HomeschoolClassifeds.com 

I love the site's wanted list.

JC

Thanks for the cnt + f tip about vegsource! I never knew that.  I buy almost everything off of homeschoolclassifieds.com .  (My user name is nohermanv . )  I can sometimes also find good deals at vegsource.com & amazon.com. 

I make my order directly from the publisher if possible.  I am a big proponent of small business.  Some of my favorites:  Peace Hill Press, My Father's World, Veritas Press.

I had shipping problems once with Rainbow Resource and even though they did apoligize and I did receive my materials, I am hesitant to use them again. 

I don't buy any used materials online because I've heard many stories of people getting burned that way.

This year I will have the opportunity to attend a hs conference, so I will likely make many purchases there.

I have good luck with rainbow resource, homeschoolclassifieds, and the boards at welltrainedmind.com.  Veg source is too distracting for me, but thanks to the tip, I might have to try again.  I also really like homeschoolsupercenter.com.  The selection isn't really extensive but I love their prices and they have always shipped everything right away.

bump

Homeschool conferences I attend (various vendors there which have catalogs that I don't buy through mail from though), HS used curriculum sales/swaps. Rainbow Resource, Amazon and of course PBS. I am sometimes tempted by stuff in Timberdoodle catalog and espec when I view their damaged items. Also sale and swap board on The Well Trained Mind site (sells stuff not even recommended in TWTM). No longer use eBay or VegSource (as VS years ago banned everyone with my ISP from making posts on their site and I've not been back there).