Authored by Stephanie A. Harper in Education
Published on 08-04-2009
It’s nearly fall, marking an exciting time when the Targets and Wal-Marts of the world are bustling with students and their parents searching for the perfect new backpack and plenty of pencils to prepare for the start of school. But, in today’s economic recession, this can a be frighteningly costly process. Luckily, there are several online options for buying school supplies that make the process easy and can even save you a few bucks.
All of the major office supply stores allow you to purchase your school supplies online. The advantage of buying from someplace like Staples or Office Max, is the dependability of companies you trust. There is, of course, the concern that buying from a retailer online will only yield the same costly supplies as buying in the store. However, the Staples website does have a back to school savings section that offers some pretty good price cuts on basic supply needs. It is certainly worth checking out.
Desktop School Supplies provides prepackaged supply packages. The boxes are organized by grade, and boast to have everything you could need in them. They guarantee a low price and even include additional discounts for signing up early. They are also currently offering a $10.00 coupon for future web purchases. And, they even provide pre-sharpened pencils for your little learner, so you don’t have to deal with the hassle of that mess.
Discount School Supply is another online option. As the name suggests it claims to be another cheap alternative for your supply needs. It gives you the price cuts and how much you have saved as well, so you can feel especially thrifty.
And, for your older students, textbooks can often be the cash guzzling demon of each new school season. But, websites like half.com and valorebooks.com provide cheap used and new texts for an extremely reasonable price. Especially compared to what it costs to get them from the bookstore. These websites provide you reports of the condition of the used books that allow you to find the perfect price for what you’re getting. Just give yourself plenty of time to get them before classes start.
Just remember, one advantage to buying your supplies online is the ability to shop around to find the best deal. Whether you are looking at retail stores, or one of the many discount websites, make a list of what you are looking for and get several price quotes before purchasing. When shopping online you can afford to do this, because you don’t have to put in all that timely legwork in order to find the best deal.
