My Top 6 “Buy It Again” Office Products from Amazon

As the years go on, the number of items I purchase on Amazon has slowly increased. With the current times, for many, it has increased exponentially.

If you’ve never done so, it’s kind of fun to go back through your Amazon order history and see how it grows and evolves from year to year and even decade to decade!

My first Amazon purchase was one item in December 2003. I find it interesting to see how quickly that changed – especially in the last five years.

2005 – 2012:  8-10 orders per year
2013 – 2014:  20-25 orders per year
2015 – 2018:  30-40 orders per year
2019:  60 orders
2020: 41 orders (thus far = by August)

Amazon is really good about not only letting you know how often you’ve purchased a product…

…they also make it really easy to “Buy It Again” directly from your order history page.

Today I want to share with you six items I’ve found myself buying for my piano studio again and again on Amazon.

Perhaps not surprisingly, they are all consumable office supplies!

 

#1 Decorative File Folders

Decorative file folders are definitely more expensive than plain manilla folders. However, if I’m going to display something like this, I want it to be visually appealing in my studio space.

(Read more details on my file-folder system and organizing your studio finances in this post.)

Every few years I get tired of looking at the same folders and like to freshen it up with a new set and different color.

Two favorites on Amazon include:

Decorative File Folders (Blue Tones / Floral Design / 24 Pack)

Decorative File Folders (Yellow Tones / Geometric Design / 12 Pack)

 

#2 Erasable Highlighters & Colored Pencils

Erasable highlighters are a must in a music studio. My favorite is the Frixion Erasable Highlighters (Yellow).

While you can get orange, green, and pink ones, I prefer yellow because it’s the lightest color.

For consistency, I have my students only use yellow to highlight dynamics. Other marks on their music are made with any other color but yellow.

If you’re teaching online (or even if you’re not), these are great to include in an at-home practice kit for students that may include a highlighter, stickers, and page-tab markers. (Luckily, they’re available for purchase in packs of 12!)

Erasable, Twistable Colored Pencils

The erasable twistable colored pencils are actually hard to find in stores and sometimes even online, but they’re great.

For years, I’ve tried a variety of erasable colored PENS, but even the best ones don’t write well. I finally gave up on erasable pens and returned to a good old-fashioned pencil and these erasable/twistable colored pencils.

 

#3 Binder Divers

These plastic binder dividers are AWESOME. The first year I started using binders with my students, I purchased the cheaper paper dividers to save money, but they get destroyed easily and have to be replaced every few years.

(If you still prefer the cost-effective route, go with these, as you can purchase 48 sets in bulk!)

Avery 5-Tab Plastic Binder Dividers (Pastel)

Avery 5-Tab Plastic Binder Dividers (Rainbow)

Students get a 1-inch binder. I keep a variety of colors and let them choose.

My O.C.D. side is bothered by the fact that certain colors (like red binders) don’t look good with the pastel-colored tabs above, so I buy two color schemes and pick which one looks best with that student’s binder color of choice. Otherwise, it’s visual chaos to me! LOL

 

#4 Stickers

Whether you’re stocking stickers in your studio or making up at-home practice kits for your online students, Amazon is a great place to buy stickers.

A couple of years ago, I had to put a stop (on myself) from buying more stickers. I had enough to last year’s and vowed to use what I had before purchasing more.

Even so, my students and I have a couple of favorites:

Koobar Year-Round Holiday Stickers Variety Pack

Emoji Rewards Stickers

#5 Japanese Erasers

These are great to keep on hand for private lesson games, group classes, or (once again) to send home in an at-home practice kit. While doing online lessons, they can use it as a game marker on the keyboard!

Over the years, I’ve also purchased several different varieties for both game markers and student prize boxes.

Some Japanese erasers work a lot better than others as game markers. (On the keyboard especially, certain ones don’t balance very well.)

The all-around favorites are the Hedgehogs.

The Snowmen and Christmas Tree set is also fun to keep around for the holidays but is way too expensive for my taste for a prize box.

 

#6 Post-It Tabs

The easiest way to mark assigned pages for students is with Post-it tabs. I like the 1/2″ size paper ones because I can also write on them instead of the plastic-type ones (plus they’re usually cheaper).

If you can find them in stacks of 100 (like these) instead of 50, it feels like they last longer.

 

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What are your favorite “Buy It Again” products on Amazon? Share in the comments!