Have you ever received an email from one of your go-to TPT sellers talking about a $1, $2, or even 50% off SALE? If finding their resources involves typing in a #hashtag into the search bar, you are shopping a FUN hashtag sale!
Whenever I am searching through TPT during a variety of hashtag sales, I am ALWAYS at a loss – sometimes, there are so many resources to wade through. As an upper elementary math teacher, and I don’t have time to go through ALL of the lower elementary phonics resources to find some gold for my students.
Let’s briefly go over how to optimize your search to find exactly what you need!
What is a hashtag sale?
Hashtag sales are informal sales on TPT, where groups of sellers work together to coordinate a sale for a few resources per seller. They often create a catchy hashtag # that they put in their product titles or descriptions to make them easier to find. When you search the hashtag on TPT, all of the included products come up in the search! Most sales are short and are common around holidays and major events (think: Back to School, Thanksgiving, New Years, Fourth of July, etc.)
The Difference between site-wide sales and hashtag sales
Sometimes, teachers get these two confused, because they are both “sales” on TPT! Here are some key differences:
- Hashtag sales are not created by TPT, but are hosted on TPT by groups of sellers!
- Most hashtag sales have a theme – if it’s around Thanksgiving, you might see #gobblegoodies
- TPT only markets their site-wide sales (sellers do, too!) Participating sellers in hashtag sales are the only group promoting these.
- TPT site-wide sales are often when sellers set their stores at a certain percentage off. In hashtag sales, sellers reduce a certain number of products to a certain dollar amount (such as $1 or $2). If you know where to look, you can score a better deal with a hashtag sale than the site-wide sale!
Find the best products for you!
As an upper elementary teacher who primarily searches for math resources, I don’t need phonics or even ELA materials. Here are my tricks for you:
- Type the hashtag in the search bar – don’t forget the #! This will automatically populate the search with everything included in the sale.
- Filters are our friend!
FILTER #1: FILTER BY GRADE – TPT lets you filter by grade. You can select your school level (elementary, middle school, high school), and then even select the exact grade you teach! If you teach higher eduction, adult education, homeschool, staff, or something that isn’t grade specific, you can filter for that!
FILTER #2: FILTER BY SUBJECT – Once you filter by the grade level you need, you can filter by subject! You can select your subject, and then (if there are similar products included in the sale), you can even select which topic of that subject you are looking for!
In the example below, I was able to look for a decimal resource for the hashtag sale I was shopping. That definitely helps narrow down the search!
In the end, your top bar might look like this if you are looking for fourth grade decimal resources from a hashtag sale:
How do I know if YOu’re participating in a hashtag sale?
Great question! I created a custom category in my TPT Store called “Money Saving Deals” This is where I put ANY resources that I have participating in a hashtag sale!
Have you ever shopped a hashtag sale? What was it like? Let me know in the comments!
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