Families, through their own experiences and upon the advice of others, learn which subjects publishers are known to have a specialty. Foe example, a publisher may sell materials in math, science and literature, but may be well-known for their literature selection. So a family may decide to only order the literature from this publisher and order math and science from another.
The library is also a great source for eclectic homeschoolers, by far the cheapest and can be tailored to the students interests at a particular point where they may be really interested in Space, Dinosaurs, Rockets, Math or History, for example.
Advantages:
1) A student has the potential of getting the best of all worlds when the best publishers are chosen for each subject.
2) There is a great deal of flexibility when you design your own curriculum, as you can cater to the needs/interests of a particular student.
Disadvantages:
1) Lesson planning can be time-consuming.
2) There is the possibility that the teacher may omit material within a subject or even and entire subject altogether.
