scholastic book fair - pineapple bag chain
September 12, 2023 1:08 PM Subscribe
It's Scholastic Book Fair time at my daughter's school, but one of the things she wanted sold out before she could buy it. Is there another way for me to buy this?
Because the school's in a pretty dense neighborhood and it would create a parking nightmare, they don't allow parents in the school building for pickup and dropoff, which means we can only go to the Book Fair on Parents' Night, which is Thursday. Instead, what they do is to let the kids shop with their classes basically like they're creating a wedding registry. The kids pick out items, the school makes a list of which kids put which items on their wish list, they send the wish list home, and we send a check back for whichever items we agree to purchase. My kid brought home a list, and I sent the check, but when she went to get it, one of the items was sold out. The complicating factor is, it's not a book. It's a "bag chain", and part of the reason I'm so interested in this is because I want to actually see this thing.
I googled to see if there's another way to purchase it, but couldn't find anything. A page on the Scholastic website said that some Book Fair items are in-person only and not available online, but other than that, I can't find anything about a pineapple bag chain specifically.
Do any of you know how I could purchase this item?
Because the school's in a pretty dense neighborhood and it would create a parking nightmare, they don't allow parents in the school building for pickup and dropoff, which means we can only go to the Book Fair on Parents' Night, which is Thursday. Instead, what they do is to let the kids shop with their classes basically like they're creating a wedding registry. The kids pick out items, the school makes a list of which kids put which items on their wish list, they send the wish list home, and we send a check back for whichever items we agree to purchase. My kid brought home a list, and I sent the check, but when she went to get it, one of the items was sold out. The complicating factor is, it's not a book. It's a "bag chain", and part of the reason I'm so interested in this is because I want to actually see this thing.
I googled to see if there's another way to purchase it, but couldn't find anything. A page on the Scholastic website said that some Book Fair items are in-person only and not available online, but other than that, I can't find anything about a pineapple bag chain specifically.
Do any of you know how I could purchase this item?
Scholastic has a pretty robust customer service. If you have the item number from the order form that might help, too. It's unlikely that they have the item for sale anywhere other than the fair, but a phone call will help confirm that.
If that's the case, I think the only way to buy it would be to see if friends at other schools can check their own fairs when they roll around. Usually the inventory for the fairs are roughly the same within a season (fall and spring). Unlike most of the books, the little bits and bobs they sell are usually exclusive to the fairs, sometimes shared with clubs (flyers), but not available in the general market.
posted by lampoil at 1:54 PM on September 12, 2023
If that's the case, I think the only way to buy it would be to see if friends at other schools can check their own fairs when they roll around. Usually the inventory for the fairs are roughly the same within a season (fall and spring). Unlike most of the books, the little bits and bobs they sell are usually exclusive to the fairs, sometimes shared with clubs (flyers), but not available in the general market.
posted by lampoil at 1:54 PM on September 12, 2023
You might try tweaking the search with "keychain" or "charm" - do any of these ring a bell for her?
posted by jquinby at 1:55 PM on September 12, 2023
posted by jquinby at 1:55 PM on September 12, 2023
Did your kid give any indication of what kind of object this might be?
Is pineapple bag chain the product name or her own descriptor?
Can she describe it?
Without any other context provided I would assume it's either a pineapple keychain like this (kids don't have keys but they do have bags) or a pineapple purse with a chain strap like this.
posted by phunniemee at 1:56 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Is pineapple bag chain the product name or her own descriptor?
Can she describe it?
Without any other context provided I would assume it's either a pineapple keychain like this (kids don't have keys but they do have bags) or a pineapple purse with a chain strap like this.
posted by phunniemee at 1:56 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
This reasonably large photo shows a box with the various trinket things for sale this year, with "bag chain" listed as an option at the top. Does your kiddo see it here? This photo doesn't show the whole box, but shows the label for "bag chain" clearer and about half the items a big larger.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:07 PM on September 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:07 PM on September 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Nthing what others have said about a "bag chain" likely just being another term for "key chain," since kids don't necessarily have keys but do have bags and can clip a "bag chain" to the zippers.
posted by asnider at 2:39 PM on September 12, 2023
posted by asnider at 2:39 PM on September 12, 2023
DOT's photo leads me to believe you're looking for something like this or like this or like this.
posted by phunniemee at 3:17 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by phunniemee at 3:17 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Do you know who organizes the book fair? At our school it's the PTA. That parent has a rep at Scholastic that they coordinate with. They might be able to restock items mid sale, but maybe not. If not, look at other schools in the district that haven't had their book fair yet, like lampoil suggests. Perhaps a school with an upcoming fair could request additional pineapple bag chains.
posted by skunk pig at 3:35 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by skunk pig at 3:35 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
When I ran book fairs, it was pretty easy to order items that sold out. There's a separate website and inventory for Scholastic Book Fairs that the host should have access to. I'd recommend contacting them, because ordering this stuff wasn't a problem for me when I ran them. Also, for some of the weird stationery items, I remember we got a price sheet with photos from Scholastic, too. Whatever I ordered would come a few days after the book fair.
Depending on where you live, too, you might have access to a Scholastic Warehouse sale (where the bookfair items are shipped out from). Ask whoever organizes the book fair (usually the invites were, I think, for "teachers and volunteers" only, but it can't hurt to ask) about that.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 4:27 PM on September 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Depending on where you live, too, you might have access to a Scholastic Warehouse sale (where the bookfair items are shipped out from). Ask whoever organizes the book fair (usually the invites were, I think, for "teachers and volunteers" only, but it can't hurt to ask) about that.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 4:27 PM on September 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
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posted by asnider at 1:49 PM on September 12, 2023