Homesteader's Agent

[Smoky]

First, this is bound to be rambling thought, so bear with me please.
Of the many things that a homesteader can produce that might be sold off the farm like veggies, fruit, crafts, firewood, nursery stock or whatever, the limiting factors are usually sales ability and time to sell.
Rock stars have agents, writers and commedians etc all have an agent that seeks markets out on their behalf. Usually an agent represents several people in his specialty, and gets a percentage from each, making his living that way.
Why could not a person be a "homesteader's agent" on the same basis. They could sell all my veggies (for instance) and I could stay home and work more hours or get more rest. They could gather crafts from 10 (or any number of) homsteaders and do the craft fairs.
With a computer, the agent could keep track of all his clients products that are or will be available soon.
OK, folks there has to be some kind of problems that could arise with this arrangement, please give me your opinions.

[12vman]

Sounds like a great idea Smokey. Carla Emery tried for years to form a "Network" among the self sufficient population to make each other aware of ideas/products..

There's another group trying to grow and form a "Co-Op" sorta like the farmers for power in buying/ insurance/medical, ect..

http://backhomechapters.tripod.com/id1.html

I'm a member of the Ohio Chapter..

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/OhioBackHome

There are other splinter groups but they are slow in the forming. Wish more folks would consider this because there is power in numbers..

[nancy1340]

Smoky , that sounds like a great idea. Especially for home bound folks. Often times one spouse is unable to get around but does crafts in the home and the other is reluctant to leave them alone for a long day.

It would sure have to be somebody you trust but doable.

[Smoky]

Deb, what do the zoning people say? No variance procedure?

[Northwoods_Hippie]

Deb,

I would definately go right down to the zoning board and ask for a copy of the zoning regs on the piece of property.

Before I moved to the village I lived in the woods and was told that the zoning on my property prohibited me from raising live stock, which was untrue but I didn't know that until I read the regs myself.

Good luck, I think you have a great idea going there!!

Margie

[Shadow]

Most all craft shows require the person who made the crafts being sold to be in the booth. That keeps the people that just buy stuff from china from selling cheap stuff and driving out the real crafters. The shows that allow buy sell go down in quiality till they are just another flea market with mass manufactured junk and the public soon stops coming and results you can not make booth rent.
A coop is a good idea but its going to be a real job to make it work. After doing craft shows, art shows fleamarkets, you name it over the past 45 years this is about the worst I have ever seen as for the amount of buisness you can generate. People just do not have extra money to spend, its all going for gas and other things they have to have.

Last year we dropped from 24 shows a year to twelve this year we did 2 and next year we really have not applied to any. Hope things turn around but we do not have big hopes. Its not just us all our friends are having low sales at shows that have been great in the past.

[Smoky]

Going to craft fairs is exactly what I was trying to say could be avoided IF someone would take on the job of selling things FOR the homesteader/maker of said crafts.
Where the agent/seller sells of course would be up to him or her. I had sorta been looking at the problem from my end, the maker.
Thanks everyone for your input, guess it needs more hashing-out before I decide.

[Gwynyvyr]

As far as selling handicrafts, it would be nice if you could make handicrafts, send them to a central location and whoever ran the *clearing house* have a web site to sell them...and/or be located somewhere that had a lot of local markets for hand made items.
The central person could handle orders, shipping, collecting the money from buyers, etc and cut a check once a month for the crafters...wouldn't that be nice? The central person would get a commission for their efforts, shipping costs would be paid by the buyers and the crafters would be able to stay at home....
Yeah...I dream...

[Shadow]

If some one can come up with a plan count us in. The cost of the shows and motels, travel and everything over the years has been an average of 50 percent of our sales. The first year we sold 10 thousand and it cost five been the same every year. We would just as soon sell wholesale and have the weekends we spend at shows creating the next years crafts. We never sell the same things, every year the wife designs new santas and we carve them, same with the bowls, thats the jpart we enjoy, the selling is just a necessary evil.