Hi, I will be setting up a guild in my area, but I would also like to start carrying a few books, yarn and tools. For those who have started something like this do you have any suggestions? I am running an community resource center and that service children and adults and thought this would be a good addition. We already offer craft classes.

thanks

I have never done this but have worked in retail off and on for years.

With todays present economy I would be very careful.

No matter what, people may say they are interested in what you want to offer, but the reality is most folks will tend to always shop around and find something cheaper than what you can offer as a small little business.

Having said that if you happen to be in an area that has no shops you might be ok. Remember the internet has everything and often very cheap just a few clicks away!

Knitski, thanks for the advice and you are so true. This gives me something to think about. I am in an area where we have nothing like this so I will tread lightly.

Hi Elnora,

I was just wondering where will you be starting your new group?

Good Luck and Happy Knitting,
Jeanette

Knitski's point is a good one.

Acquiring items for resale usually means having a resale license and making a minimum purchase from the wholesaler. You may find that the minimum purchase amount makes little or no sense for what you are planning to do.

Also, it can become quite cumbersome carrying these items to and from your community center unless they can offer you a secure area to store them. And by secure, I would want a locked cupboard and cabinet where only you and the center administrator have keys.

What you could consider is helping to facilitate group purchases from some of the on-line sources such as Smileysyarns that have a minimum, or an amount for which they will ship for free. This way you can help the people acquire the necessary supplies without taking on the financial risk that the items won't sell.

Just an FYI...

I have in the past scanned books into the computer so as not to loose them during moves from place to place, or when I just needed to "clean house" so that I could have storage space for new books. I know that as long as I do not collect a fee for the book itself I can "loan" these books to others, just like a regular book, without infringing on any copyright laws.

This might be an option, it would give you a greater library with a whole less space involved, you could even store the "book" on a cd and keep those cd's in a binder so that you have easy access to them no matter where you are. What I like best is that I can always e-mail the "book" to either myself for access at work, or a friend if they would like to "borrow" that book.

Just remember that you CAN NOT collect any type of payment for the book that you are "loaning" to someone.

Just a thought,
Jeanette

Hello, the group will be located in Camp Springs, MD

Disclosure: I own the community center so storage is not a problem. As for resell license I have that in place. I just wanted to give those who are in the knit/crochet group more options to get the things they need. Thanks for the input these are all good answers.