Homeschool Buyers Co-op Reviews

The Homeschool Buyers Co-op can offer some nice discounts, but you have to be careful. The percentage of discount that’s shown is not always what you get. For example, I received an email which said in one place the discount was 50%, in another place it said 46%. When I actually went to the publisher’s website and compared prices, it was 39%. There are also separate fees, which can cause trouble in order processing, especially if using paypal. An additional automated paypal order is placed for the co-op fee, which doesn’t allow you to choose your payment method. If you have more than one payment method linked to your paypal account, I don’t recommend using paypal to pay for orders through the co-op. And before you order through the co-op, go to the publisher’s website and check the prices and discounts they have. It may be more advantageous to order direct, especially if you’re buying for more than one child or would rather pay monthly than yearly. I’m not saying it’s not worth it to join the co-op, because it is, especially with the discount choice feature mentioned above. The review page for the products is very helpful and informative also. Just be careful.

In my opinion, everyone who homeschools should have a free subscription to the Homeschool Buyers Co-op! It’s free to join, so you have nothing to lose. You can get notice of special group buys, special purchases, FREE items, trials, and access to their e-book store (you can pay for discounts there, too).

Not only does HSBC bring you great deals on many different homeschool curricula and online sites, but they also have FREE classifieds, a field trip list, special member discounts to a variety of stores and magazines.

Before you purchase any online access subscription, or even a printed curriculum or audio-visual item, always check with HSBC first to see if you can get a member discount. You can also choose what level of discount you’re willing to pay. Say there are five levels of discounts for an item: 10% off, 20%, 30%, 40% & 50%. If you cannot spend more than 50% of the “retail” price, then when you “purchase” an item, you can say you will not buy it unless it gets down to that price. If HSBC only gets enough members purchasing for the 40% discount, your order will not go through. Or you have the option of still purchasing for the 40% off. Not all group buys have this feature, as it depends on the publisher, but very many do.

I couldn’t homeschool on the budget I have without the help of HSBC!