Have you heard of TpT, or TeachersPayTeachers.com? It’s becoming quite well known in education circles, but only a few parents know about it, and my prediction is that once more parents learn about its perks (and availability to the general public), it may crash like Twitter on Oscar night. I may become the Ellen of the education blogging world with this post!
To quote their ‘about’ statement from the website, it is:
“…the world’s first and largest open marketplace for educators to buy, sell, and share their original resources.”
There are over one million resources, most of them digital downloads, available on TpT. Many of them are free. In order to sell on TpT, one must first provide a free product to be rated and to start a following with. Sellers are also encouraged to include free items when they introduce a new line of products in their stores, which means that most sellers have a number of free items for download in their stores. TpT is also an International marketplace serving Canada, the U.S., Australia and the U.K.
What kinds of resources are on TpT?
The following have been copied directly from the home page of TpT:
MAIN CATEGORIES
o Free o Under $5 o $5 to $10 o $10 and up o On Sale
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(section changes regularly) FEATURED
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TOP RESOURCE TYPES
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Who can use TpT?
Teachers, those who work in education, and ANYONE ELSE!
I know of a number of parents who use resources from this site that are not teachers, and TpT’s terms of service regarding member and visitor conduct are available here. I asked in the Seller’s Forum just to be sure, and got the go ahead. TpT is like any other store you can walk into – if you’re 18 or over. (But I doubt you’ll find anything nearly as risqué as you would find in other stores with a similar age requirement…)
How does it work?
In order to access the resources on TpT, step one is to get a membership. The membership levels are explained here, and the first three levels are free. Only those serious about selling products on TpT would consider paying for the top level membership.
Something awesome that you won’t find in other stores:
Freebies! Loads of them! To open a TpT store, sellers must begin with a free item and every store has at least one! Freebies help sellers gain followers, fans and more business, so most stores have numerous freebies to offer. I tend to keep my freebies on a seasonal rotation. To check out what is available right now, click here‘
Insider Tips:
- Do follow the stores you like. Sellers let their followers know about promotions they are running, updates or improvements on existing products (in which case you can usually download the new version free) and new products. Some even put new products up in their stores at a reduced price for the first twenty-four hours to reward those who follow them. Here is a store that is relatively new and committed to doing that (and not beneath shameless tactics to gain followers).
- Do take the time to rate the products you buy and download. You gain points with TpT to use toward future purchases!
- Search for what you are looking for using key words. Keep it simple, using one or two words at a time in your search.
- Do ‘wishlist’ the items you want that you can wait for, because TpT has sales four times per year, and individual sellers have their own giveaways and promotions as well. That is when to clear out the wishlist and save big!
- Do remember this – being a parent automatically makes you your child’s first teacher. So you belong just as much as we do!
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Have you heard of TpT? What are your thoughts? Is there something you are hoping to find?
Looks awesome! Good for you. I’m sure it will be a success.
Thank you so much, Marg. You have been such a great supporter from day 1!