WhatsApp groups and exchange fairs help mothers, fathers and guardians to save on the purchase of school supplies. With items getting more and more expensive, families enlist the help of other parents to complete the list.
Businesswoman Kátia Rodrigues, 53, created four groups on WhatsApp, two for buying and selling books, one for school uniforms and one for buying stationery.
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A few days before the start of classes, she finishes shopping: “I'm now going to the stationery store, where we can get a discount, and then I'm going to a mother's house, to pick up the uniform I bought”, she said.
With three children, Guilherme, 22 years old, Giovanna, 15 years old and Felipe, 14 years old, Kátia juggles every year to save on school supplies. Today Felipe is already in college, but the meetings with other parents started when he was still in school.
In addition to the WhatsApp groups, she has already organized two exchange fairs in Brasília. “People took cangas and put the materials there”.
This year, she brought together a group of parents and won a 6% discount for the group at one of the city's stationery stores. “This organization generates savings for parents. In addition, there is the issue of ecological impact. Books and clothes are properly reused. For the environment it's great,” she said.
Engineer Nandeir Viana, 49, is also one of the members of WhatsApp exchange groups. This year, she raised R$675 with books used by her daughters in previous years. Money that helped pay the nearly R$5,000 he spent on textbooks for his two daughters, Aline, 11, and Amanda, 14, for this year.
Nadeir says he donated, sold and exchanged books in groups and fairs. “There are books that I started selling for R$60, then it went up to R$50. Now I'm accepting R$ 10. I sold a lot of paradidatic book on exchange-exchange. The standard price for groups is R$20, but we do discounts, we sell three for R$50,” she explained.
“It's interesting because everyone is in this situation. We sell cheap to buy cheap in the idea that the merchandise spreads. It makes no sense to keep a book at home when it has already been used. Pass it on to someone else,” he stated.
According to the Brazilian Association of Manufacturers and Importers of School Items (Abfiae), in general, school supplies are 8% more expensive than last year. This increase is driven mainly by imported items such as backpacks and cases, which are, on average, 10% more expensive. Notebooks and other paper products increased between 6% and 8%.
According to the president of the Abfiae, Sidnei Bergamaschi, the increases were mainly due to the variation in the dollar and the high price of the paper raw material.
“An important tip is to pay attention to the quality of the material. Many products, many categories have mandatory certification from Inmetro [National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology]. The material has to last all year round. At the beginning of the year, a product may seem more expensive than another, but it will last the whole year, without having to buy a new one”, he opined.
The Brazilian Institute of Consumer Defense (Idec) has prepared a list of ten tips to save on back to school.
According to Idec, those responsible should evaluate the list of school supplies carefully. Many items used in previous years, such as a pencil case, ruler, scissors, backpack, can be reused. In addition, by law, schools cannot request products for collective use, such as hygiene, cleaning, disposable cups and cutlery, large amounts of paper, staples, sorting folders, among others examples.
“The cost of material for collective use must be considered when calculating the value of school fees and not it can be passed on to students in the material lists, because it already makes up the monthly fee”, says Idec.
Idec also recommends doing price research in at least three places and avoiding children's characters, as these items are more expensive and, in addition, can distract the child's attention in class.
When paying, it is important to demand the invoice with a breakdown of the product purchased: its brand and individual and total price. The price charged on the credit card must be the same as that charged in cash. With information from Agência Brasil.
