Partial Supplies Now On Hand

Everybody seems to think that Baclaran is one of the best places to go for the most affordable stuff. Funny, it did not seem that way yesterday! 

From the moment I stepped off that pedestrian bridge off Taft Avenue, my eyes were on the lookout for stalls with school supplies and took note of their prices. Mind you, my first priority yesterday was the schoolbags, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to know the current prevailing prices of the other supplies I needed for our care packages.

I went to 3 different buildings along Taft Avenue, checking and comparing prices. Even on the streets, I was doing the same. One thing puzzled me: all the stalls I checked were selling school supplies at prices higher than that of SM and National Bookstore. 

Case in point: a box of Mongol #2 was selling for about php66 at NBS and around a few pesos difference at SM, but at Baclaran, it was selling for php70, with the lady telling me it's Original! duh! I found an online wholesaler who sells it for about php55 only! 

As mentioned before, I have made some online research and comparison as to current prices, so at least I had some inkling as to how much the items I needed cost. My best option at this point was to go with the online seller who can also deliver the items to my house, at no extra cost - which eliminates the hassle of me lugging the supplies around, and taking a cab from the market place to the house. 

With that, I had no intentions of buying the supplies in Baclaran at this time and so headed home after I got the schoolbags. After grabbing lunch and watching Star Trek Into Darkness at SM Bicutan, the heat was still oppressive and so I decided to kill time at National Bookstore. 

Surprise surprise, I found items that were most affordable there compared to other places. I got the following from NBS: pencil cases, sharpeners, erasers, plastic rulers, art paper sets, plastic envelopes and writing pads for Grades 3 and 4 and a couple of writing notebooks for our Grade 3 student (not worth buying in bulk as we only have 1 to 2 kids at this level). 

 

 The scissors I got from Office Warehouse seeing they were within my budget range and the ones at NBS were not. Below is a snapshot of what I have procured so far... 

All in all, I would say yesterday was a productive day. I am now checking prices from the online wholesaler and will be ordering the rest of the supplies from her, if prices are good.