TPT Buyers Guide – Top 5 Things You Need to Know

Are you after high quality teaching resources and not sure where to find them? Then why not try Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT).

TPT is the largest online collection of teaching resources worldwide. Not only that, but the resources within are made by teachers for teachers.

This blog post will discuss the top 5 things you need to know about buying on TPT.

How do You Find the Resources You Need on TPT?

Every day new resources are being added to TPT. I and thousands of teachers have what is called a TPT store. Basically, when you buy something from TPT you are essentially buying the resource from a teacher’s store. Like many online stores, the way to find what you are looking for can be accomplished through the website’s search engine. From there you can then filter the results via grade, subject area, resource type etc. The top resources that show up are usually the ones that are the oldest, have the most ratings/reviews and TPT believe are the most relevant to your search criteria.

How to Pick a Resource That Meets Your Needs

You have executed a filtered search now what? You will see a list of resources in front of you. From here you will need to click on a few to see what they offer and how well they meet your needs.

What I do is to look at the cover and its accompanying previews. Now not all TPT sellers create all previews available to them, but ones that do will give you a better indication of what their product provides. This is great as it allows you to better judge if the resource suits your classroom and your students.

TPT allows a seller to showcase their product with a cover page, 3 thumbnails, a document preview (e.g pdf file) and a video preview.

Personally, I would like to see all of these as it allows me to make a more informed decision.

What About a Product Description. Does TPT Have This?

Yes actually! All TPT sellers have this option and it my opinion they should be writing a detailed description about what their product is and how it can be used in the classroom.

What I do next is to read the product’s description! It helps me gain a better understanding of what the product is and if it will meet my needs.

For example, if I am teaching Year 2, I want the resources that I am looking at to be suitable for them.

Every classroom is different, my class is likely very different than yours. So, a combination of reading the description and looking at the previews helps me make an informed decision with a reasonable amount of certainty, that this resource is or isn’t suitable for the students in my classroom.

What Educators Are Saying and Product Ratings

Now this is a tricky one as most of the people who buy on TPT don’t leave a review. However, very popular resources that have been around for many, many years have a huge advantage of having lots of reviews and a rating attached to the product.

What are reviews and ratings? On TPT when a buyer purchases a product they have the option to leave a review and give the resource a rating out of 5. This does not mean resources that do not have a rating or reviews should be avoided, but it gives you as a buyer a better idea of the quality of the product.

When I purchase products from TPT I like to also read reviews (if available) as it provides some insight as to what other teaches think about the resource. If a product has a lot of quality feedback, then it provides me with more confidence that the product is what it claims to be.

I just want to point out that, TPT sellers that have been selling resources on the site for several years benefit from this the most, so reviews and ratings are good, but I would not be buying a resource based on this alone.

There are several high-quality resources that come from a variety of new and established TPT sellers!

Following Your Favourite TPT Sellers

Down the track if you find yourself buying things from TPT a lot, (I don’t blame you as if you are like me you are time poor), then you might consider following your favourite TPT sellers.

When you have found sellers that you like then you can follow these sellers by clicking the “Follow Me” link that appears under their store name.

The benefit of this is that you will get a notification from TPT when they make a new resource.

Conclusion

There are other things related to buying on TPT such as gift cards, wish lists and bundles, but the above should give you a good idea of what to expect if you are new to buying on TPT.

By filtering your search results to a specific Grade or Year level and/or key learning area, you should be presented with a list of resources that suit your needs.

From there remember to look for product previews as it will give you an indication of what the resource looks like and feels like.

The product description is the next thing you should be looking at to make an informed decision if the resource meets your classroom and student needs.

What is your biggest question about buying on TPT?