Sell a harvest - PEP BB commerce.sand.selling

This is handspun yarn that I make.  



The yarn in the picture was harvested from my sheep Larry and turned into yarn by me.



However, I make yarn from all my sheep and wool I buy elsewhere.  I sell to shops and I sell on my etsy store.  Here is a listing for custom handspun yarn.  It sells for $45 CAD plus shipping.  

In my etsy store, you can see a list of sold items, and I provided a screenshot to show that I've sold this in the past (more than once)

I sold my Jocelyn Campbell Action Figure and Paul Wheaton Voodoo Action Figure + Dragon here on permies, for a total of nearly $200 (subtracting the permies and paypal's cut).

Here's the Paul+Dragon that I sold two of



And the Jocelyn Action Figure



And a screenshot of my permies ledger

I sold some food today!  We do a little farmers market at our church on Sundays.  I keep forgetting to take pictures but not today!  Sold 4 jars of jelly at $5 ea, 3 quarts of maple syrup at $15 ea, two bags of purple fingerling potatoes at $4 ea, an onion and a bulb of garlic for small change.  Total take was $74.  For the eagle eyed, one bag of potatoes was sold after the second photo was taken

Edit to add:  Went to church again yesterday and sold more stuff.  Set up the table on the other side of the room so there's no view of the woods   Took a photo of one happy customer buying a jar of maple syrup.  Sold 1 quart of syrup for $15, two jars of chokecherry jelly for $5 ea, one bag of potatoes and several onions.

Thanks to a member of the forums who purchased the seeds.  A forum discussion about squash seeds lead to the connection that enabled this sale.

My husband & I make and sell an invention of ours - Chicken Armor®

Website: http://chickenarmor.com

Etsy store (also shows sales history on Etsy): https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChickenArmor?ref=shop_sugg

Hi J! Any chance you could get a picture of you making one of the saddles? I just fear that anyone could come on and show a link to an etsy page and say they did it, and take credit for other's work. I don't think that's the case here, but it's probably good to set a precedent. Thanks!

Hi Nicole,

We'd like to keep our manufacturing process unpublished. Would a screenshot of my etsy seller order work? (attached)

Nicole Alderman wrote:Hi J! Any chance you could get a picture of you making one of the saddles? I just fear that anyone could come on and show a link to an etsy page and say they did it, and take credit for other's work. I don't think that's the case here, but it's probably good to set a precedent. Thanks!

While at the 2019 PEP Jamboree, I went foraging for Jocelyn, as a bounty.

She requested (And I brought) a basketfull of Oregon Grape Roots, Mullein Leaves, Strawberry Leaves, and Yarrow. Jocelyn uses it in one of the teas she makes over the winter.

Thanks, too, to Josiah for helping me ID things, and make sure I didn't bring back the wrong stuff.

I sell physical copies of music I wrote and recorded, as well as t-shirts, and other miscellaneous pieces of merch that I design.  I do not manufacture these items.  Do they count for this BB?

Hey Kyle,

For the merch you design, it sounds like that might be a better fit for online labor: https://permies.com/wiki/118748/pep-commerce/PEP-BB-Commerce-Sand-Internet

My understanding is this BB is more for things you've made or gathered with your own hands.

Also; glad to have you in PEP! It's fun to see more folks around.

How about a PEP for giving things away that have equivalent value?  I send things out to people for free, so I rarely make any money doing this.  I do plan to have a few grafted trees for sale locally at some point, but that won't be for a couple years at least.

I think the point of these Commerce badge BBs is to show Otis that if he gives you his property, you've proven that you can earn money and you won't go bankrupt and have his land get sold to the highest bidder.

I'd agree with Ash that this is most aligned with things you physically made/grew/collected.

As for goods you give away, it's called the Commerce badge for a reason.  We need to show Otis that you can make money to pay the bills.  Trace, I'm assuming that you do so many cool things you'd be able to sell something for $20 in the next 24 hours if you had to.  And it would be a cool permaculture thing.  Biochar infested compost.  Tray of seedlings.  Hand spun yarn.  Etc

But, maybe to answer your question more directly, giving away XXX dollars of goods could be a good fit for the Community badge

Mike Haasl wrote:We need to show Otis that you can make money to pay the bills.  

Makes sense, I never thought of it that way.

Ash Jackson wrote:Hey Kyle,

For the merch you design, it sounds like that might be a better fit for online labor: https://permies.com/wiki/118748/pep-commerce/PEP-BB-Commerce-Sand-Internet

My understanding is this BB is more for things you've made or gathered with your own hands.

Also; glad to have you in PEP! It's fun to see more folks around.

I think that if you designed a t-shirt and got a pile of them to your house, and then sold them (either in person or putting them in a box to ship out) then it counts for this BB.

On the other hand, if you post a design to a web site and they take care of printing and shipping and stuff, then that is for the passive income BB.

Does this help?

With the t-shirt question, I am kinda thinking that I want to update this BB to be something about how most of the raw materials (at least 80%) came from the land.   Not sure, so I'm fishing for feedback.

I think Otis would like to see that somebody can make money.  And this is certainly a type of transaction.   But I am thinking that the function here is to show selling stuff from the land as opposed to an apartment.  

On the other hand, to make a tshirt that people actually buy is still a business thing.  And that appeals to otis also - just not as much.  

Maybe we need an additional BB?  I think answering this question might require a re-exploration of the entire aspect.

paul wheaton wrote:With the t-shirt question, I am kinda thinking that I want to update this BB to be something about how most of the raw materials (at least 80%) came from the land.   Not sure, so I'm fishing for feedback.

I think Otis would like to see that somebody can make money.  And this is certainly a type of transaction.   But I am thinking that the function here is to show selling stuff from the land as opposed to an apartment.  

On the other hand, to make a tshirt that people actually buy is still a business thing.  And that appeals to otis also - just not as much.  

Maybe we need an additional BB?  I think answering this question might require a re-exploration of the entire aspect.

I think it's a hard thing to define. I made little Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn figures, and the only thing that came from my land was the holly I carved Jocelyn's spoon and trowel from. So, by the 80% deftinition, this wouldn't count, because I didn't shear the sheep. But, I think something crafty like knitting or felting or carving where obviously a lot of work went into adding value, is something that would fit for this.

Maybe someone has no garden because they live in an apartment, so they buy a bunch of strawberries and make jam. It's still considered a "Cottage Industry" because they added a lot of value to the object. The same with if they knit yarn into a cool hat, or bought a chunk of wood and carved it into a spoon.

For a music CD, a blank CD has little value, but if you burn songs on it and make it a shiny cover, it has more value. The same with if you buy a plain shirt and tie-dye or silkscreen it. But, if someone else does that for you, then it's not really something you made, I think.

Maybe there could be a BB for something made of natural/raw/repurposed materials, and something made and sold that might not be of natural/raw/repurposed?

For me, making a design is one thing.  Making a physical item is very different.  To me, this badge looks like making a physical item.

Designing a T-shirt and having it printed and made elsewhere isn't "something you made, grew, or foraged"

Silk Screen printing on an already made T-shirt is pretty good.  If it was PER (Permaculture Experience according to Raven) then I would let this slide for a sand badge (but it's according to Paul, so it's up to him)

Sewing the T-shirt and adding the print to it, would be about right for a PER sand level.

This could be pretty hard to pin down.  I like the simplicity of the title "something you made, grew or foraged".   But the "made" part is the hard bit.  I'd currently go with the following:

Took metal and made a candle stick - yes
Grew or foraged anything and sold it - yes
Found an old car part, figured out what it was and sold it - yes (kind of like foraging but in a junk pile)
Bought apples, made applesauce and sold it - yes
Cut firewood to sell to campers - yes
Bought everything and made a cake to sell - yes
Bought everything and made a felt figurine - yes
Harvested someone's abandoned garden and sold the produce - yes

Took blue jeans and added sparkle and patches and sold them - yes?

Bought a gallon of applesauce and packaged it up into little baby food jars - I'm not sure
Bought a cord of firewood and sold it in smaller packages to campers - I'm not sure

Make a website design for someone and sell it - no, probably a fit for "selling over the internet"

paul wheaton wrote:With the t-shirt question, I am kinda thinking that I want to update this BB to be something about how most of the raw materials (at least 80%) came from the land.  

 I assume you mean "the" land, not necessarily "your" land?

I make herbal salves, teas, and tinctures. I sell them on Etsy. A recent order of mine totaled to over 65$. I love what I do. I take care to source high quality herbs and other ingredients or grow/forage them myself. I can’t wait until I can Grow or supply all of my own ingredients.

Question, I sell vegetables from the front gate, I sell way more than $20 but no single item comes to $20 and since it is unmanned I do not see how large each individual sale is though I would doubt many are that large. would a days sales ($150 ish) count? Or would a post like this which shows 2 purchases,(totaling $30) (there are 3 in the comments but they didn't all fit on my screenshot) count? Of course these are not in English.

Good question Skandi!  Is there a way you could do a time lapse video of your farmstand?  With an empty cash box and then the video speeds forward showing customers coming and going and then the video returns to the overflowing cash box?  

The post may work if it was translated to English for us...

Skandi Rogers wrote:I sell way more than $20 but no single item comes to $20 and since it is unmanned I do not see how large each individual sale is though I would doubt many are that large. would a days sales ($150 ish) count? Or would a post like this which shows 2 purchases,(totaling $30) (there are 3 in the comments but they didn't all fit on my screenshot) count? Of course these are not in English.

Hi Skandi,
- I think multiple purchases totaling at least $20 is ok, especially since it's just in one day. I know elsewhere Paul has stated the amount needs to equate to US dollars. (I'm not current on Krone : Dollar conversion)
- The screenshot: I'm not able to see where there's two transactions occurring. Can you help me see where that's happening?
- Perhaps a shot (or two or three) showing your vegetables growing, and how/where you're selling them at your gate, would also be a big help in documenting this BB.

I hope I'm clear, please let me know if you have more questions.

Ash Jackson wrote:
Hi Skandi,
- I think multiple purchases totaling at least $20 is ok, especially since it's just in one day. I know elsewhere Paul has stated the amount needs to equate to US dollars. (I'm not current on Krone : Dollar conversion)
- The screenshot: I'm not able to see where there's two transactions occurring. Can you help me see where that's happening?
- Perhaps a shot (or two or three) showing your vegetables growing, and how/where you're selling them at your gate, would also be a big help in documenting this BB.

I hope I'm clear, please let me know if you have more questions.

Excellent the strawberry season starts in about a month so I can certainly show shots of 20 or so punnets a day and the resultant coinage. I'm quite happy to wait for that but the screenshot translates as (so you can be nosy)

(soldout)
this week we have these vegetables for 100DKK ($15) Don't forget we have gooseberries for 40dkk/kg as well
Lettuce
Zucchini
Fresh onions
Red cabbage
White Cauliflower (sold out of purple)
Cucumber
Carrots
Tomatoes

Dagmar.. I would like to order 1 box
me.. When would you like it delivered?
Dagmar monday morning?

Bit. Would like to order 1 box for monday same as dagmar.


As an aside I found this method worked really well as there was no pressure in so far as I had to have vegetables that week, and every week we sold out of everything we had! The picture reminds me that I need to re-oil that table :(

Thank you, Skandi.

Your translation helps a great deal (I was mistakenly searching for currency symbols in the message).

I think pictures of the following would be sufficient:
- Your produce growing
- Your screenshot of the transaction(s)
- How your produce is exchanged to the purchaser


I also appreciate your sharing your success with your method. Hopefully others will benefit from your experience, as well.

Hi Skandi, we adjusted the wording of the BB slightly.  You're grandfathered in so you don't have to "show" the stuff growing but you're very welcome to.

If you could take a picture of your farm stand with food and another of it with money, we'd approve you for the BB.

Thanks!  Figuring out the documentation to ensure people are doing this particular BB is a bit challenging

One farmstand with produce.
and one bucket of money with the sales from yesterday on the paper on the left. totaling 462DKK which is $70 (there's more money in the bucket from the previous days)
And because i forgot added on a picture of the garden and a bucket with the things to do the morning refil harvested

How about small regular sales? We are starting to sell our eggs. £1 for eggs. But obviously we don’t sell £20 in one go.

Can we accumulate sales? Can I mix and match? A few plants and some eggs?

Michael Cox wrote:How about small regular sales? We are starting to sell our eggs. £1 for eggs. But obviously we don’t sell £20 in one go.

Can we accumulate sales? Can I mix and match? A few plants and some eggs?

So long as all the things in your accumulated sales match the description above (something you made, grew, or foraged), yes.

Yes, you can mix and match sales to get up to $20.  The challenge is showing (proving) that you did actually sell them to someone.  Skandi's stand makes it pretty darn clear that she actually sells stuff.  My "stand" was just a table at my church so it was hard to prove that I was selling stuff until I got a photo of me and a customer.  So proving your egg sales may be the hard bit but go for it!

I grow microgreens and sell them at the local Winter Market for $5 bag. It's a bit difficult to show me physically selling them at my stall because I'm always the one taking the pictures! However, will see if I can connect the dots well enough...

I make and sell Kimchi. This is in Australian dollars but adds up to more than $20usd.

I raise rabbits and from time to time I sell some. Today was one of those days. I sold one broken doe to a buyer wanting to do raising of her own.

I make and sell fermented foods online. In this case, garlic dill pickles.

Attachments:
1. Product page from my website
2. Proof of recent sales

Thanks!

I run a CSA program. I deliver 10 food boxes every week. Customer's can pick small, medium, or big food boxes. I'm going to use the "big box" for this BB.

The big box is $350 for 4 deliveries. This includes composting and delivery but each box has at least $50 of produce and eggs.

Photos of my produce, garden, and greenhouses:










Here is what a day's worth of deliveries look like:



Here is me posing with some of the big boxes:



Here is me making a delivery:


Here is an e-transfer for a Big food box for 4 weeks:


I have my hubby help with the deliveries but I grow everything myself :)

I present these here snowmen for the Commerce BB of Sell "Goods"

I had been thinning a section of forest and had all these lovely logs of various diameters so I cut them into various thickness "slabs" which I then joined with a dowl at the neck and for the hat.

When the assembly was finished, it was time for a face and a scarf.  (I would often put scarfs on them the morning of the bazaar.)

Photos 3 & 4: A friend wanted to purchase 15 so I made a special delivery and after she picked out her favorites we added scarves and took a photo.  

With my first sale behind me, I registered for several holiday bazaars, and here is a picture of my table.  The price of the snowmen ranged from $6 for the smallest to $20 for the 2-ft tall guys (these can be seen in the background of the first photo).

A deposit ticket for my gross receipts for one bazaar.  

This is basically what I do for a living!  I mostly make decorative metal vessels which I then sell directly to clients or through consignment galleries.  The best way I have to show that I make these is to direct you to this section of my website where I documented the making of a piece from start to finish.  If you don't want to travel to the website here are a few images from it.  











For price and proof of sales I'll add an image of a check stub from one of my galleries.  Mind you it doesn't show the sale of the exact piece I was showing above but I hope it will establish clearly that I sell the work I make for more than $20!