Vendor or Benefactor : Which is Right For Me?

[TGO David]

We are often asked at what point the distinction is made between needing to be a Benefactor or becoming a Vendor in order to sell things on TGO.  Hopefully, this post clears it up a bit.

 

Benefactor accounts are meant for private individuals who wish to support TGO and in exchange for their support are granted the ability to list items for sale in our Classifieds section.  Benefactors can use the Classifieds to list things that they personally own but no longer want, or things that they personally produced as a hobbyist so long as the annual sales volume of the latter doesn't surpass $3,000 within a year either on TGO or elsewhere.  More on that in a moment.

Sales of personally owned items that you no longer want exceeding $3,000 do not fall under this category.  Obviously, a person could pretty easily sell more than $3,000 in personally-owned firearms or other items and we completely understand that.  There is a common-sense difference between things that you personally own and things that you possess simply for resale.

Without Benefactors, TGO would probably cease to exist.  We do not generate near enough revenue from our Vendor advertising to pay all of TGO's operating expenses.  Our Benefactors are our lifeblood!

 

Vendor accounts for meant for those who are engaged in the business of providing a service or product(s).  Obviously, it includes a business with an Internet sales presence or a brick and mortar office or retail storefront, but it also includes anyone who the State of Tennessee would refer to as a "Minimal Activity Business". 

Essentially a Minimal Activity Business is anyone who's sales are greater than $3,000 within the calendar year.  For our purposes, we clarify the language a bit and state that those sales can occur either on TGO or elsewhere, in-state or out of state.  If you produce to sell, sell, or provide goods or services annually to other people and those sales are greater than $3,000 you are a Business and need to be a Vendor on TGO in order to market to our members.

 

As always, if you have questions about your specific use-case and aren't sure which is right, please contact me directly and I will be glad to chat with you.  The approach that I outlined above may not be perfect and is not chiseled in stone, so a conversation between you and me can be helpful.