FAQs

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Subj/Category: Art & music Baby & infant Baking & cooking Bible & spir. grow. Biography College/vocation Computer Finance/Econ Foreign language	Garden & Yard Grade set Handwriting Health & PE Historical event/period Hist/Geog/SS: US Hist/Geog/SS: general Homeschool helps Lng arts: phonics	Lng arts: spell/vocab Lng arts: chapter books Lng arts: readers/literature Lng arts: gram/comp/writing Lang arts: other Logic & rhetoric Marriage & parenting Math: fundamentals Math: alg/calc/geom/etc. Ministry & missions	Organization/time man. Picture book Reference: general Science: biol/chem/phys Science: general Sewing & needlework Special needs Testing Unit studies Other	Grade Level: Pre-K K5 K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 K-5 K-8 K-12 6-8 6-12 9-12 College	Publisher/Title: A ABkA ABkG ABkL ABkR Ab Alpha Ap B BJUA BJUM Bk C Ci D E F G H I J K L M Me N O P R S Saxon Sb Si T The Thea U V W

Wanted

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Title:
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N-Z
Listing Age, days:
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Note: Receive an odd-sounding purchase request/scam (halting English, non-specific, third-party, and/or oversize money order)? Don't email us -- just be wise!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Most Asked

Does it cost anything to use this site?

Buying is free and doesn't require registration.

Selling requires registration, and is free for listing up to 7 homeschool-related items at a time (we don't currently limit the number of wanted items, groups, activities, or homeschool thoughts). If some of your items sell, list others in their place. Feel free to list items for neighbors, friends, or fellow homeschoolers.

You are welcome to list more than 7 for sale items at a time (we have many users that list several hundred), if you buy a paid registration. We hope you will consider this, since it helps pay for the site.

How do I register?

Go here.

Complete the fields, then click the "Register" button.

You now have your own page on which to list items.

I don't plan to sell. Why should I register?

Registered users can leave feedback. Feedback is important, because it identifies trustworthy buyers and sellers. This makes everyone's experience more reliable and secure.

How do I post a curriculum item, group, activity, or thought?

After you've registered (see above):

In the menu appearing at the top of most pages, click "Go to user's page".
Enter your username or email address, then click "Go".
This is your page. Enter your password in the upper right corner, then click "Log in".
Choose the appropriate tab on your page, then click 'Add a "For Sale" item', 'Add a "Wanted" item', 'Add a group', 'Add an activity', or 'Add a homeschool thought'.
Add your item.

Help! What is my username (or password)?

To have your username and password emailed to you, go here. In the "Help" section near the bottom of the page, enter your email address, then press "Go".

How do I change my username/email/info/password?

In the menu appearing at the top of most pages, click "Go to my page".
Enter your username or email address, then click "Go".
This is your page. Enter your password in the upper right corner, then click "Login".
Click on the link (upper right side of the page) that says "Edit your user profile."
Change the desired information and click "Update".

My emails to the seller/buyer bounce.

Look at the error message returned by the bounced email:

Their server may be having difficulty -- try emailing them at least three times over a period of at least a week.
If the server says their account doesn't exist, they may have changed email addresses or mis-entered their address -- hopefully they'll eventually realize that they aren't getting any responses and correct the address we have on file.
If all emails continue to bounce, move on to another buyer/seller. Please don't contact us -- we have no other way of reaching them.

My emails to the seller/buyer aren't answered -- are they getting them?

They may be on vacation or out of town -- try emailing them at least three times over a period of several weeks (if they are no longer keeping up, our system will eventually remove their listings).
Your email may be getting deleted by their spam filter or ending up in a spam folder -- try changing the email subject or sending from another email account (if you have one).
If neither of these steps work, move on to another buyer/seller. Please don't contact us -- we have no other way of reaching them.

Do you provide any help against fraud?

To keep this in perspective, we are aware of only a few disputes out of many thousands of transactions each year. While we cannot offer any guarantee, we do take a couple of simple steps to prevent fraud:
1. We provide a feedback system (see the tab on each user's page) where feedback can be left about a transaction.
2. We also have a page dealing with general scams.
3. At the top of each of our curriculum ad pages, we warn buyers not to send money without checking the complaints page.

This won't eliminate occasional instances of fraud, but we believe it helps reduce them. It is still up to each buyer to decide whether or not to send money to a particular seller. We recommend you send something traceable -- like a check, postal money order, or PayPal payment -- made out to a person at a street address (rather than cash to a P.O. box). While we haven't tried them, there are escrow services that, for a fee, will hold your payment until the merchandise is shipped (see information on eBay).

How do I leave a rating for a transaction?

Only registered users can currently leave ratings. If you are registered, go to your page, log in in the box in the upper right, and go to the Ratings tab. If the interaction is shown, click on its "Edit" link to add your rating. Otherwise click on the "I was a buyer" or "I was a seller" link (at the bottom of the page) to leave a rating.

I can't log in!

We use "cookies" to log you in, which some browser security settings block. You might try specifically allowing cookies from our site. In Internet Explorer, to do this, select Tools >> Internet Options >> Privacy >> Sites, then select http://homeschoolclassifieds.com, and click "Allow". Other browsers may be similar.

You might also try adding our site to the "Trusted sites" in your browser. In Internet Explorer, this is through Tools >> Internet options >> Security >> Trusted sites; steps may be similar in other browsers. Note that you may need to add both www.homeschoolclassifieds.com and homeschoolclassifieds.com for this to work consistently.

If neither of these steps help, you may need to consider using a different browser or machine.

Help -- I get a "Server Error" message when posting!

This could be a general traffic problem (too many users or internet issues) or a problem with your specific listing (incorrect formatting or a bug in our code). Try posting your item at least two more times, at different times of day. If you are still unable to post, send us the approximate times when you tried, and the EXACT text of each field you tried to enter, and we'll try to post the item to your account.

Buying

How do I post a want ad?

After you've registered (see above):

In the menu appearing at the top of most pages, click "Go to user's page".
Enter your username or email address, then click "Go".
This is your page. Enter your password in the upper right corner, then click "Log in".
Choose the 'Wanted' tab on your page, then click 'Add a "Wanted" item'.
Add your item.

How do I buy items?

Registration is not required to buy items. Items are offered by individual homeschoolers/sellers -- click on the username at the end of each listing to see the seller's page and any other items they have for sale. Contact them directly to purchase items (get their email by clicking the link below their name, or by phone if they have listed a number).

What is ppd?

Ppd means that shipping (in the US) is included in the seller's price. If you are selling and you want the buyer to pay shipping, you can choose that option when you list your item, and the ppd will not appear.

How do I check out a seller?

We have a reputation/rating system, with each user's score shown at the top of their page. Occasional or new sellers may not have entries, so you can also:

Look at how long the user has been registered (shown below their user name as "Registered since..." on their page).
Develop some level of comfort through email interactions.
See the "help against fraud" entry below.

At the end of the day, transactions are always "buyer beware", but our experience has been that the overwhelming majority of transactions are honest and uneventful.

How does the watch list work?

If you have a paid registration, you can add a limited number of items to your own watch list. Log in to your page, then find "For Sale" items on others' pages that you want to add to your list. Click the "Add to watch list" link beside the item of interest. You watch list appears in its own tab on your page. It is only visible to you. Note that you may need to refresh your browser to see the most recent items. Also, remember that items will disappear or be hidden as the seller deletes them or hides them.

Will the sellers ship to Canada (or overseas)?

The curriculum items on the board are offered by individual sellers, who may or may not ship to Canada (or overseas) -- ask them.

How do I pay with PayPal?

If the seller's page displays a PayPal button, they have a PayPal account. After you have confirmed with the seller that the desired materials are still available and have agreed on the price, click the button to connect to the PayPal site, where you can make the payment. Note that Homeschool Classifieds doesn't track or monitor the payment in any way, so the transaction is between you, the seller, and PayPal.

The seller wants me to use PayPal's "Personal payment" option.

Until recently (3/2011) we strongly prohibited this, based on the instructions we were seeing on our Paypal business account's "Personal" tab (we wondered why many buyers and sellers seemed to have a different interpretation). We have since learned -- actually we were shown by a user -- that the instructions and options on the "Personal" tab are not the same on a Business account as on a Personal account. "No fee" purchases that appear to be prohibited in the Business account seem to be encouraged in the Personal account.

So, we are getting out of the business of monitoring/policing Paypal transactions. Don't write us, just work it out gently with the other party (feel free to point them to this explanation of our new policy), and do what is right according to the instructions on your account.

Helpful tip: Copy and paste the listing into your email to the seller.

Why? The seller will probably mark the listing "sales pending" which will prevent you from going back and seeing the original post. This way, you both can refer to the listing if any questions come up about what was offered.

I've sent money, but not received my material!

We suggest doing some of the following. You may want to email the seller that you are taking these steps, to give them a final opportunity to make things right:

If you are a registered user, leave a "Poor" rating for the seller, with a clear explanation.
Consider filing a complaint with their email host (aol, geocities, google, etc.) if you can find a complaint email address.
Consider filing a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.

The seller deserves a negative rating, but I'm afraid of retaliatory feedback.

We encourage everyone (but particularly buyers) to leave factual, honest ratings, despite the risk of retaliatory feedback. To limit this risk, when we calculate your average rating, we weight negative feedback from buyers much more heavily than that from sellers. Particularly if you have a number of positive ratings, the effect on a buyer's average will be minimal, and you can explain it in your comments.

I can't find what I need!

While we can't fully endorse these sites, you might try eBay, Half, or VegSource.

Selling

Is there some way to check on a buyer?

A page with some common scam formats is linked below the menu bar and at the top of each page of listings.
If the user is registered with us by email or username, you can go to their page and see their ratings.

I have never sold anything over the Internet before -- if I request payment via cashier's check or money order, is it reasonable for me to send the material after I receive payment?

It is very appropriate to wait to send material until you receive a payment in which you have confidence (i.e., money order, cashier's check, or cleared check). This may mean waiting several days for the buyer to get to the bank or post office; waiting several more days for the mail to arrive; and, in the case of a personal check, waiting a week or so for the check to clear. If you do much buying and selling, you may want to consider a PayPal or similar account, which allows an instant, secure payment with a substantial level of confidence.

Can I register several email addresses if I have a lot of items?

We allow only one account per user. Consider buying a paid registration if you need additional listings.

How do I price my items?

Pricing is completely up to you. You might look at what others are charging for similar materials, set a price, then lower it if you don't get interest within a couple of weeks (items usually sell most quickly before and just after the start of the school year).

How do I post a picture of an item?

If you have sufficient credits, you can add a picture. An "Upload image" link will appear after your listings if you have sufficient credits. If you do not see the "Upload image" link when editing your page, you will need to purchase a higher registration level to use this feature.

Our current picture handling is fairly primitive. Images can be any pixel dimensions (width, height), as long as they are less than 100KB in size. We create a thumbnail for any display on the front page, then show the full image when the camera icon (in a listing) is clicked on.

How do I show or remove a PayPal button?

If you have a PayPal account (you'll need to visit paypal.com to set that up), you can add a button on your page to take a buyer directly to PayPal to pay you.

Login to your page.
Click on the link (upper right side of the page) that says "Edit your user profile."
Put your PayPal email address in the "PayPal account" field.

To remove the PayPal button from your page, clear the "PayPal account" field.

Should I have the buyer pay any additional PayPal fees?

In our view, this is tacky. PayPal provides a valuable service by enabling instant, reliable transactions. It is a cost of doing business, that you should consider just building into your price.

That said, you are free to include Paypal fees or not, as you wish.

I'm a reseller; can I post "For Sale" ads?

You are welcome to resell materials, either from your own homeschooling, or that have been previously used or owned by others. So, for example, if you have a business (small or large) reselling homeschool items, from your own library, from friends, from yard sales, etc., you are welcome to list your items.

We have a number of resellers that post hundreds of items each, and welcome those from eBay, Half.com, and other boards -- please invite your friends as well!

I'm a distributor/manufacturer/author/creator; can I post "For Sale" ads?

Yes, you may, though this policy is subject to review in the future. Depending on the item, you may want to consider a separate business listing rather than our "For Sale" listings. A business listing is a paid listing with additional detail, web or email link(s), and a bright background. We offer a variety of text and banner options, which allow you to target particular audiences.

These ads are a cost-effective way of reaching thousands of homeschoolers each week -- homeschoolers who are in a buying/selling frame of mind. Start here.

How do I keep track of a buyer, in order to leave a rating later?

One possible method for tracking (that we haven't fully thought through) is as follows:

When you sell an item, instead of deleting the listing, replace the "Short summary" field with the buyer's email, then hide the listing. Once payment is received, leave a rating and delete the listing. Let us know if this is a workable system, or if you have other suggestions.

Can I temporarily hide items (pending sales, going on vacation)?

You can temporarily hide a single sale item by clicking on the "Pending sale" checkbox on the item's form.

Or, you can temporarily hide all of your sale items, by clicking on the [Hide all listings] link in the explanatory paragragh above your sale items (just remember to turn them back on later with the [Show all listings] link).

I need longer listings!

If you have sufficient credits, you can add longer descriptions to your listings -- a "Long description" field will appear in the listing form. This may help make your selling more efficient by reducing the number of questions a buyer may have. If you do not see the "Long description" field when creating/editing your listing, you will need to purchase a higher registration level to use this feature.

How long should I wait on a buyer before moving on to the next?

If you didn't set a deadline and they've left you hanging, you may want to email them and give them one day to provide proof of payment. You may also want to put something in your initial email response -- to the effect that you need to be notified of payment within some time period or you will make the item available to others.

Is there a preferred way to ship items?

We suggest that you go to the postal service rate calculator, postcalc.usps.gov, and look at the various options, then compare to UPS, ups.com.

Help! I can't renew or edit my listings, or post new listings!

If you can't renew your listings (there is no [Renew older listings] link), edit, or add new items, you have met or exceeded your listing limit. You will either need to delete enough listings (to get down to your limit), or increase your allowance. To increase your allowance, either purchase a paid registration or additional credits.

Can I list material with resale/transfer restrictions?

Policies of publishers vary on what can be resold. Please don't contact us about these -- read the license or contact the vendor via their website, then do what is right. "Resale prohibited" items may be deleted unless the condition is "New" and your listing clearly states "Never used" or "Unopened".
Resale limited/varies Calvert	Resale prohibited A Beka DVDs DIVE CDs Edu-Track Homeschool Tracker K12 Rosetta Stone Switched On Schoolhouse/SOS TruthQuest (without covers)

You have listings for resale-restricted materials from ___!

We can't monitor the license compliance of thousands of listings a week from hundreds of publishers (all with different terms). This is additionally complicated by some users offering unopened items (which usually can be resold), or in combination with other items (i.e., unused Alpha with Beta -- is Beta new, unused, unopened?).

However:

If a publisher provides a publicly-accessible web page that describes their resale terms, we will add a link to it on our "Policies of publishers" list.
We do respond to "take down" notices (from the publisher) for individual listings that show clear evidence of a violation.
On written request (from the publisher), we will provide a mechanism for that publisher to monitor listings for their material and remove those that are in violation of their license terms.

Materials that can't be resold, but the publisher allows "gifting".

Where publishers prohibit resale, but allow gifting to someone, you may list the item, with only a minimal charge to cover anticipated mailing. Please include something along the lines of "Free (resale prohibited) -- cost is mailing only." Items with mailing costs that appear to be excessive will be deleted.

How soon should I delete a listing after the sale?

You may want to temporarily hide the listing, in case there is a dispute with the buyer. Once the transaction is finished, you can delete the listing.

How do I get my photo listing(s) on the front page?

Photo listings on the homepage are just whatever has been most recently posted -- so they change very frequently.

Can I put a link to my offsite store/eBay listings in my profile?

Currently you can put a link to an offsite store in your profile information. However, since we are getting hit with a fair amount of link spam, that may change in the future.

What sort of games can I sell?

Educational/classic/strategy games are fine (i.e., Monopoly, Scrabble, Oregon Quest, flight simulators, Jeopardy, sports games, etc., whether table or CD/DVD). Avoid anything related to current celebrities, and dark/occult or "shooter" games.

Other Details

I've lost my listings -- why don't you send out a renewal email?

We don't manually remove listings when they expire; this is done automatically by our system. We've thought about sending out an automated renewal notice email. There are at least two problems with this:

Some users have hundreds of listings, to which they add daily. We haven't figured out how to notify them without sending a flood of email each month, which we aren't willing to do.
More seriously, sometimes our emails get blocked for various reasons, including false identification as spam. We're afraid folks would come to depend on the renewal notice to remind themselves, then blame us if it didn't arrive.

We are looking at the possibility of allowing inactivated listings to "sit" in a user's account for a longer period, but haven't had the time to pursue this option.

The shipment was insured -- is everybody protected?

A buyer has informed us that a claim can be denied due to insufficient packaging in the shipping container, for example, if a something is shipped in a box much larger than needed with no additional packing material inside. It is a seller's responsibility to provide appropriate packing material to ensure safe arrival; just because insurance is purchased, it does not mean that the claim/costs can be recovered.

How does the new "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act" affect resellers?

After February 10, 2009, children's products (intended for children 12 and younger) cannot be imported or sold if they contain excess lead or certain chemicals, or fail to meet new mandatory standards for toys. There is some regulatory relief for resellers. It is a seller's responsibility to check to see if an item has been recalled before posting it. Please let us know if any listed items have been recalled so that we can remove them.

How do I edit or delete a curriculum item, group, activity, or thought?

In the menu appearing at the top of most pages, click "Go to user's page".
Enter your username or email address, then click "Go".
This is your page. Enter your password in the upper right corner, then click "Log in".
Choose the appropriate tab on your page, then click the 'Edit' or 'Delete' link next to the individual listing.

How do I renew my listings?

Go to your page and log in.
Click the "For sale" tab on your page.
Click the [Renew older listings] link right above your listings.

Important note: Listings must be almost a month old to be renewed (we are trying to discourage "renew-every-day" behavior, because we think it is neither helpful to buyers, nor particularly edifying for sellers). The system automatically removes listings that haven't been updated or renewed in more than two months. So, if you renew at least once a month, you'll maintain your listings and they will appear as new items at that time.

What do the condition ratings/abbreviations mean?

Our standard condition ratings (and some helpful abbreviations) are described here. There is also a link to this page in the explanatory paragraph at the top of each page of listings.

I can't contact a seller/buyer!

We've given up, at least for the time being, providing a form to contact users -- too many internet service providers were blocking our email, probably since it came from us, but had your return address. To get the user's actual email address, click "Email this member" on their page. Use the resulting address to contact them directly from your own email package.

How do I read the ratings others have left for me?

Go to your page, but do not log in. Click on the Ratings tab. Click the "[Details]" link at the end of any transaction line.

Do you delete listings you think may be duplicates? I'm curious, as some of my listings are missing. I teach two children in the same grade, and have two copies of each student text. Would you prefer that I list them together, indicating that I have two to sell?

Yes, we delete apparent duplicate items because some users post more than once. Deletion is done very quickly, without a great deal of examination, as there are many new items each day. If you genuinely have duplicate items, you have several options:

Preferred -- A single listing, with the single book price, perhaps with wording like "2 copies avail." or "Two to sell" at the end. This is less work for you, and won't be in danger of deletion.

Alternate method -- Separate ads, with some distinguishing wording -- i.e., different condition descriptions, or "copy 1" vs. "copy 2". Make sure we don't think it is the same item!

Why do my listings keep disappearing?

Listings may be deleted if they violate our conditions of use, involve materials that cannot legally be resold, contain excessive CAPS, repeat the publisher or grade in the title field, don't contain normal spaces, use excessive decorative characters (/,+,~, etc.), or commit one of various other infractions described on the listing form.

We don't mean to be restrictive about format, but we believe our listings are easy to scan precisely because we try hard to standardize them. It would be nice to notify users of offending listings, but there are simply too many listings to make that practical.

Can you match up those who wish to donate a book or two with families in need?

We suggest you:

Describe your offer (with whatever qualifications you want) in your profile information.
Put some standard text (i.e., "Donation possible" or "Free to family in need") in each listing you want to include.

People can then see the offer on the specific item, and get the details at your page.

Can we reprint "The Monthly Chat" in our homeschool newsletter?

For any month's edition of "The Monthly Chat", you are welcome to:

Reprint up to one-third of the items in your homeschool newsletter, blog, or website, provided that a title includes the phrase: "from The Monthly Chat of HomeschoolClassifieds.com". Blogs and websites must make this an active link back to our site.
Reprint and distribute "The Monthly Chat" in its entirety (with our heading) without charge.

For either of the above, feel free to make formatting and grammatical corrections to the items, as long as you retain the title, username, and general sense.

We require a one-time hardcopy of any newsletter or reprint (mail to Homeschool Classifieds, 516 Nobscot Road, Knoxville, TN 37919), or for online reprints, a one-time email (to info@homeschoolClassifieds.com) with the blog or website address.

Why don't you have a "Games" category?

We've considered a "Games" category, but since our focus is on education, we'd prefer to index games by their appropriate Subject/category. If you can't find a title you want in that index, look in the Publisher/Title index, or use the search link to look for the game title, or just the word "game".

If I don't renew my paid registration, do I lose my username and ratings?

Reverting to a free registration (letting the paid registration run out) doesn't remove your username or ratings. That only happens if you have no activity (posting, renewing, etc.) for a period of more than two years, in which case we delete the account.

Groups and Activities

Can I post my homeschool service/music lessons/paid classes in the "Activities" section?

Yes, currently, such free listings are allowed once you have registered (see above), but multiple listings from the same business are subject to deletion.

Some states and categories have dozens of listings (in which yours may get lost), so you may want to consider a paid business listing. Business listings have a bright background with strategic bold text, allow web or email links, and all of the listing detail is shown on the main page (not after the link), so you can effectively "make your case" to every viewer. Business listings can either be "interleaved" alphabetically and on an appropriate category page (Math, Science, Language arts, etc.) or, if more appropriate, targeted to a particular state and zip codes near yours. These ads are a cost-effective way of reaching thousands of homeschoolers each week -- homeschoolers who are in a buying/selling/engaging frame of mind.

How can we edit the information about our group or event?

At the bottom of each group or event page, there is a "Corrections? Updates?" link that will take you to the page of the user who posted that item. You can contact them to make changes, or, if that fails, update the information yourself.

The original poster is no longer in our group. How can someone else make updates?

Email us the name of the group, the state, the Homeschool Classifieds username of the person who should be responsible, and the reason for the change. We will transfer that listing over to the new "editor."