About Us
Share North Dakota: A community-driven online antique store.
Why: As most of you know, I moved out of North Dakota as soon as I graduated high school. I went to West Point, served as an officer in the Army for almost 6 years, then moved to San Francisco about a year and a half ago. Through these 10 years that I’ve been gone, I’ve constantly been searching for a way that I can use technology to help North Dakotans be more successful.
After years of pondering, I’ve decided that the answer is an online store where North Dakotans can sell their unique, retro, and vintage items to the world.
It will start slowly - we might not get sales for a few weeks. That’s why I want to focus on the community. I’ve always felt that North Dakotans have some of the strongest communities in the country. And I’ve been a lot of places. I can either fail alone or we can succeed together. I obviously prefer the latter :) . Harry Potter may not be my favorite book series but I’m sure the quote below rings true for all of you as much as it does for me. So I ask that you all share this.
“We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Share North Dakota.
What will the store do?
The store will help you sell your antiques and unique items that have been taking up dust in your attic or basement. Local antique shops, garage sales, and even Craigslist are great places to sell but there aren’t enough potential customers. This store will consolidate items the same way as a flea market but will get your items in front of the world.
Here’s how it works.
My goal is to keep this is simple as possible. If you have an item that you think would sell on the Share North Dakota site, please send a paypal payment for $10 to aaron.saari@gmail.com. Then email me a picture of the item and the price you’d like to list it for. I can also help with choosing an appropriate price if you aren’t sure. If the item has a story, include that as well. Send as many items as you want, but each item will be $10 to list. You can send a single lumped payment if necessary.
How do I get paid?
After your item sells, I will send you the shipping information then send you the payment for the item within one week. Payouts will be made through Paypal using the same email that you used to pay the listing fee. 5% of the purchase price will be deducted to cover the credit card processing fees. For example, if you sell a piece of artwork for $100, you would receive $95 and $5 would go to the credit card processor.
What about shipping?
Buyers will pay for shipping so you won’t have to worry about paying for shipping. If you don’t have the means to pack and ship the product, I’ll help you find someone local to pick it up, pack it, and ship it for you.
Why a $10 listing fee?
Two reasons: Time and Quality of Products. It will take time for me to list each item on the site. As more and more items come in, I’ll need to begin curating the selection and categorizing. This will take more time. I also expect that the listing fee will ensure that everyone is only sending unique high quality products.
What should be listed?
Unique items, vintage items, retro items, old jewelry, fine china, etc. As an example, I saw these on Vintage City Minot’s Facebook page. Items like this will definitely sell.