The Ethics of Buying and Selling Used Curriculum

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

With it being time to start considering homeschool curriculums for next year, the homeschool boards are full of questions about whether selling or giving away used or gently used curriculum is ethical.

The problem arises in the fact that the curriculum companies lose money when homeschoolers sell used curriculum instead of buying new. Some have even gone as far as to make copies of curriculums for their friends.

To cut the losses, many curriculum companies, have placed rules around use and re-use of curriculums in the form of licensing agreements. For example, a Calvert customer must sign a legal binding agreement that says you cannot resell or transfer ownership of manuals. Newer Teaching Textbooks versions have a single download rule on CR ROMs, and you have to call the company whenever you download it on a new computer. You are only allowed three calls per license. You are allowed to re-use the program within a family as long as you do not exceed your number of downloads. This means that if you purchase a new computer mid year, and want to download the program to the new computer, you have lost the option of using it for a third child. Other programs have similar rules.

The problem comes in the fact that these materials are still being re-sold by good upstanding homeschool families. They are being listed on EBay as "packing material" along with an item that is legal to resell. While I admit this is a clever way to pass along materials in the most "legal" way as possible, many homeschoolers are asking, "is it ok to buy these materials for use in my homeschool since I am not technically buying them?"

If this is your dilemma, I urge you to ask yourself the following questions.

• Am I knowledgeable that I am breaking the law to use these ill-gotten materials?
• Would I be willing to tell my child that I bent the rules to get these materials?
• Do I have other options for obtaining curriculums?

Now I understand that people sell and buy curriculums this way because they do not agree with the polices of the companies. My question to them is why not using a company that does not impose such restrictions instead. There are hundreds of other programs available.

*Have a question about homeschooling curriculum? Just ask.

Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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