TOS: Hello, Brett. Thank you for taking the time to share the Homeschool Buyers Co-op story with us. Just when and how did all this start?

BRETT: It officially started on August 19, 2005, and my wife gets a lot of credit for the idea. We had begun homeschooling the previous November. My background is in software development, especially software that manages information online for buyers’ clubs. My wife realized fast that homeschoolers do not have the purchasing power of the public schools. She thought with my background that I might come up with something to solve that problem.

TOS: So what exactly did you do?

BRETT: We decided that a co-op would work better for homeschoolers than a club because a club would just give them another expense. Then I approached the vendors at a California homeschooling conference in June 2005 asking them if they would be interested in giving homeschoolers discounts if there were a large group available to buy from their company. The responses were very positive.

TOS: Most of the vendors at a homeschool conference are not big companies. But your site has some large companies as suppliers. How did you convince them to join?

BRETT: Our first big company was Dell. I just made a cold call to their K-12 Division and finally was connected with a fellow who listened to me. I said, “Do you know there are over a million homeschoolers in America and no computer company is paying us any attention?” There was silence on the line. You could almost hear him thinking about the size of that market. I told him my background and my idea. He put me in touch with another man who proved to be a very timely contact. His sister had begun homeschooling and had been telling him that Dell should have a program for homeschoolers! Dell signed up as a supplier and gave us a good introductory deal.

TOS: How many suppliers do you have now? Have they been as willing to join?

BRETT: We have 57 suppliers available on our site now. I have been surprised at how responsive suppliers have been to us. I was afraid they would see the co-op as a threat. You have to understand that joining is a double whammy for them. They have to pay the co-op a fee plus give the homeschool members a discount. So they have to be sure they will get enough business from the deal to make it worth it to them. I love working with them. They are a bunch of straight, hard-working people.

TOS: How about the homeschoolers’ side of it? How much of a response have you had from the homeschooling community?

BRETT: It was slow at first. Then Diane Flynn Keith, author of Carschooling, very kindly endorsed us. It really took off from there.

TOS: What would hinder a homeschooler from joining the co-op? The co-op is free; what can they lose?

BRETT: They can’t lose. It seems the only reason people hesitate is that they are afraid that we will share their registration information. But we don’t. We deliberately take as little information as possible from our members, and we share it with no one. The only reason not to join is if you don’t believe us!

TOS: So how many members do you have now? Are you aiming for a particular number?

BRETT: Presently we have over 6,300 members. Our goal is 100,000.

TOS: Why that particular goal?

BRETT: We picked that number because it is the size of the very largest school districts in the country—like Los Angeles or New York City. If we had that many Cooper, Jena, Brett, and Logan Walter members, we could bargain for the same purchasing clout.

TOS: What kinds of discounts are available to members presently?

BRETT: It varies with the company, but the average is 20-25 percent.

TOS: You have added a significant service to the co-op this year. Can you tell us about that?

BRETT: We are really excited about our new service. We have added a database of scholarships and contests that are available to homeschoolers, and our goal is to make it the largest such database available. It is growing every week because of the nature of the software that manages it.

TOS: How does that work?

BRETT: Well, I am blowing my horn here …

TOS: Go right ahead!

BRETT: Since I am a technology guy and am familiar with software, we made it possible for our members to get information on scholarships they are aware of out where it can be used simply by filling out a form online. The information is almost immediately available to the website. The site can sort the contests and scholarships by grade or region or topic. The worth of the scholarships and contests has already passed $650 million! We know the traffic at our site has definitely been up since we announced this service.

TOS: You have other services in the planning stages?

BRETT: Yes, and we have also recently announced two other services, first a Specials Database that lists sales and special offers available from major companies. Then second, a Free Educational Resources Database from providers including PBS, BBC, National Geographic, and others is now available. The variety of free resources is amazing. Homeschoolers should join (homeschoolbuyerscoop.org) and keep up with all that is becoming available.

TOS: Thank you, Brett, for sharing the co-op’s story with us!

Brett Walter is the founder and President of Homeschool Buyers Co-op and ePurchasePower, a web services company. Previously, he was CEO of iPrint Systems and VP R&D at Symantec, where he developed Symantec’s flagship product, for which he received PC Magazine’s Technical Excellence Award.

Betty Burger and her husband, Charles, live in the lovely Berkshires of Massachusetts. They have eight homeschooled children, five of whom are still in homeschool. Betty enjoys teaching, writing, and a variety of crafts.