?? for those who sell anything

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I volunteer for the Lost Boys of Sudan San Diego. I've been asked to do 2 things:

Find a way to sell 36 new candleholder (that are sitting in someone's' garage) They are all identical, very clean and modern design for 4 votive candles. (I bet there's an interesting story behind their acquisition, but haven't heard it yet.) Money goes to the Lost Boys non profit.

Learn how one Sudanese woman can sell her knitted items legally. Their family has virtually no income at this time and lost food assistance because college son received just enough money to kick them out. Etsy type selling is out (unless we find someone with an Etsy shop willing to add the items on. She has no computer experience.)

I would really appreciate any and all ideas and guidance. Business stuff is not my forte, and I want to be sure to cover all possibilities.

Thank you.
 
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For the first one - Craig's List or Ebay.
2nd one - I think it would be worthwhile to teach her enough to set up an Etsy account. Perhaps Lost Boys could have its own Etsy account, sell items from this lady and others, then give the person a check for what sells? I see businesses that Ebay items for customers on a consignment basis.

I think she will be really hard pressed to make much (if any) profit on knitted items, unless she is a very fast or truly extraordinary knitter.

As an example - my aunt is an award-winning quilter. Her quilts have traveled to Japan in art shows. She makes her money from photo quilts, t-shirt quilts, and finishing other people's quilts. She sells very few "regular" quilts - regular meaning quilts that are not individually commissioned t-shirt quilts (quilts made from t-shirts) or photo quilts (photos are printed on to fabric and the fabric is quilted).
 
The first one depends on how much work you want to do. Ebay would definitely be the fastest and easiest route. If you are looking to sell locally you could set up booths at flea markets and trade shows or for candle holders you might want to find someone locally that makes candles they may want to buy them or they may be willing to donate some candles to go with them. You might also work out a partnership for trade shows where they sell the candles and the holders but you pay part of the cost of a booth.

For the second one I'm not sure if you meant legally or locally. Locally would be the same as above, ie craft shows, trade shows etc.. If you meant legally she would need to go to her town or city hall and obtain a business license, then get a state sales tax number (if required in your state) as well as a federal tax id number. Then she could set up a checking account and start selling.
 
One thing you could look into... we have a few churches and community groups up where I am that have charity-only craft fairs. They invite a bunch of charity groups to sell their products... everything from scarves handmade from saris from a women's abuse shelter in India to cookie mixes from an adult rehabilitation center to hand-stitched stuffed animals made at a senior center benefiting a wildlife organization (a two-fer!) to water-colored note cards from an orphanage. In addition to selling products to support their charities, each booth collects a bunch of donations/gets contact information and is able to distribute fundraising materials.

These events are *very* well attended and seem to sell quite a bit. Perhaps the Lost Boys organization could look into being included in such events in your area... I seem to remember a booth from the Denver Lost Boys at the last charity craft fair I attended...
 
Thanks everyone, I'm going to look into all of those ideas. At the moment eBay sounds the most likely simply because I'm overwhelmed with the volunteer work that needs to be done. They really need to recruit more people.

As for the woman who has knitted items to sell, like someone else said.....it doesn't really sound like a lucrative option. She makes lovely things, but it seems a very specialized market,
I.e. baby items, doilies, etc. Maybe a consignment or craft shop would sell them, but I don't see that supplying much income, and maybe more trouble than its worth.

She can't read, so teaching her computer skills to sell on Ebay won't work. :sad:
 
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As a knitter I can tell you I will never get paid even minimum wage for my knitted items, even afghans, so I don't even try to sell them.
 
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