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Global Inventory Hub - Shopping for Supplies During the COVID-19 Supply Shortage

Quick Navigation: Items Commonly Out of Stock | Additional Resources

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a global supply shortage is making it difficult for school districts, teachers, parents, and DonorsChoose to purchase some essential items, like technology and cleaning supplies. Our vendors are hard at work to ensure that you can get the resources you need for your classroom, but some items may be unavailable, or experience shipping delays greater than 3 weeks. 

DonorsChoose connects with every teacher who has a project funded to ensure they get the resources they need. While we may need to help teachers find alternate items if their resources are out-of-stock, teachers will not lose their funding from a fully funded project if their original resources are unavailable. 

Below are the latest updates on the items that our vendors have shared are out-of-stock or have limited availability. 

  • If you’re thinking about creating a project for some of these items, read below for tips on the best options for getting what you need.
  • If you currently have a project that hasn’t yet been funded but requests these items, know that the availability changes constantly and we’ll notify you at the time your project is funded if you need to choose replacement items.
  • If you have a fully funded project that requests these items, you can check your order status and item availability at any time by logging into your account and looking at the ‘Order Status’ section.
    • Unavailable - If the resources you had requested on your project are unavailable, you’ll be asked to shop for replacement materials that meet your project goals. 
    • Ordered - If it’s been more than 3 weeks since we placed your order and it still has not been delivered, please reach out to our team. 

Items Commonly Out of Stock

Last updated: December 4, 2020

Chromebooks, Laptops & Tablets

A global shortage of many laptop and tablet models have made it very difficult to find these items in stock. Chromebooks, in particular, are experiencing longer fulfillment timelines, with orders being fulfilled on a rolling basis from oldest to newest. Your order may take between 6 weeks to several months to be delivered. This will likely be the case until at least Spring 2021. 

Recommendations:

  • If you’re looking for one of these devices, we recommend shopping for a tablet (e.g. Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire) as these tend to be more readily available. 
  • At this time, we encourage shopping for laptops or tablets from Best Buy Education.

Document Cameras

Because so many people are working, teaching, and learning from home, conferencing and instructional technology items like document cameras will be hard to come by until at least Spring 2021.

Recommendations:

  • We recommend that teachers don’t request document cameras at this time, until we see more inventory availability.
  • As an alternative, we encourage using a tablet or phone stand or a gooseneck tablet or phone holder with your preferred tech device. Here are some recommendations on how to use a phone or tablet as a document camera over Zoom.
  • For presentation support, consider requesting a second tablet (see recommendations above) or an iPod Touch, which are more likely to be available. 

Headphones

Headphones, particularly the most inexpensive models, often come in and out of stock without much notice. Most often if headphones are out-of-stock, we work with teachers to select a different model.

Recommendations:

  • We recommend requesting the headphone models below from Best Buy Education for the best chance of availability, if these fit your needs. Find them on Best Buy Education’s landing page.
    • Over-the-ear headphones with a microphone
      • Kensington Hi-Fi Headphones with Mic Bundle
        • 10 pack, item # BB21657152, $140.00
        • 20 pack, item # BB21657153, $280.00
        • 30 pack, item # BB21657155, $420.00
    • Over-the-ear headphones without a microphone
      • Kensington Hi-Fi Headset Bundle
        • 10 pack, item # BB21631193, $95.90
        • 20 pack, item # BB21631202, $191.80
        • 30 pack, item # BB21631240, $287.70

Cleaning Supplies & Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 

The cleaning and PPE items most likely to be out-of-stock include hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.

Recommendations:

  • We recommend requesting the hand sanitizer below from Grainger for the best chance of availability, if these fit your needs.
    • Purell Hand Sanitizer
      • 12 pack, 12.6 fl oz. bottles, item # 56LU47, $47.76
      • 12 pack, 16 fl oz. bottles, item # 56JH96, $85.99
    • Other vendors we encourage for PPE and cleaning supply requests are Quill.com and Grainger

Prepaid Mobile Internet Devices

Because of widespread shortage of these devices and difficulty managing service plans, we do not currently offer these devices. 

Items With Limited/Varying Availability

The following items are often available in limited quantities or may be delayed in shipping. 

  • Tech accessories including webcams and computer monitors
  • Math manipulatives
  • Dry erase boards, markers, and erasers
  • Lap desks
  • Art supplies including crayons, markers, colored pencils, Cricuts, and watercolors
  • Anti-racist books and books with diverse characters/authors

Recommendations:

  • You can still request the above resources for your project, just keep in mind that you might experience some out-of-stock items or some extended shipping delays.
  • Recommended book vendors include AKJ Education, Britannica Digital Learning, and Scholastic Classroom Magazines & Book Clubs.

For a more detailed list of suggested vendors for all resource categories, visit our list of where to find commonly requested items. 

Additional Resources

 

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