the most interesting on-line store in the whole world**Introducing Ten Very Special Things and how it works to support-not-for-profit organisations

special and interesting...

Ten Very Special Things is maybe the most interesting on-line store in the whole world. It sells four kinds of very special things:- Tomorrow’s collectables- Objects with a history- Obscure artefacts of the 20th and 21st century- Consumer goods of obsessive desire The profits from the sale of things go to charity – you get to chose the charity, or use it to raise money for the charities you already support. It’s an interesting, new and slightly different way to give something back. It’s different because it gives people the opportunity to convert a ‘thing’ into a donation. For a business, it’s a way to turn their products or services into money for their favourite charities. For everyone, it’s a more interesting way to do some good in the world.

Vintage record covers: albums such as these mark the time when ‘stereo’ was the height of domestic technology.

what makes a thing special...

It can be rare, hard to find or a limited edition - there’s lots of things that make something special. But there’s one thing that can make any object special – a story. Some objects have a place in popular culture; some have come to symbolise a period of time, a fashion, or a change. Some have a special provenance, some may have been owned, used, or even signed by someone in the public eye – and in any of these things is a story. When you buy something from Ten Very Special Things you get something authentic and you get its story. Why consumer goods of ‘obsessive desire’? And what does that mean anyway? There’s something else that can make things special – things about which people are obsessed. It can be food, chewing gum, it can be a shirt or a pair of trainers, it can be coffee – consumer goods are often objects of obsession. The reason why they’re the basis of an obsession – that’s a story too.

Twinkies, they even import them into Australia, it’s a cult thing. In South Australia the cult cake is the ‘frog cake’, and there’s a story in that as well.

how it works...

It’s simple really:- Choose something special for us to sell for you.- Let us know which charity you’d like the proceeds from sale to go to. - Decide how much of the proceeds you’d like to go to charity – 25% , 50%, 75% or 100%.- Let Ten Very Special Things sell your thing.-We give the money to charity , give you the official receipt for the donation - and give you -The difference between the amount you want to donate and the sale price (for example if you choose 25% to charity, we’ll forward to you 75%. There’s always the option to do a ‘blind auction’ you don't see the bids, and highest bidder at the end 30 days gets the item.

We cover our costs from our commission – a flat 20%. However, depending on costs, we may also donate from our commissions to our charity of choice – currently we’re supporting The Ape Conservation Effort, a Georgia based not-for-profit organisation, committed to saving the great apes of the world (bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans). It’s a charity Ziller has been supporting for some time, if you’d like to find out more please visit: www.apeconservationeffort.org

Little Golden Books, they used to be worthless second hand, now even one in average condition can sell for $10. It’s nostalgia for a simpler, less complicated time.

benefits for donors...

Simply by donating a product to the site you get to help your charity of choice and get your product in front of thousands of inner city early adopters and opinion leaders. As a ‘thank you’ for getting involved we can also offer a few other things:.We’ll include your company and your product on all our PR and social media releases. We’ll link to you or your company‘s site, Facebook or blog. If you’re a business we’ll also give you content for :- Your internal staff e-mail- Your company’s mailing list - Social media channels. The amount of your donation, a description and image of what you donated for sale is also kept on display in our ‘stock room’ for everyone to see. We’ll also provide you with our ‘Thank you’ badge for your website, blog or Facebook page.

This is 5 gum, you can get it anywhere, you wouldn't think it special, yet kids go crazy for it, it’s a school yard obsession and one of Australia’s top 5 brands in Facebook – imagine if you could bid on a years supply, how much would that raise for charity?

get involved...

Other ways to get involvedThere are other ways you can get involved, if you like the idea, but not sure you have something special, you can still help - it can be as simple as linking to us or as practical as sponsoring the site - we tailor something to suit.

A Vesper PX 150, the definitive classic Vespa, some special things everyone understands.

what to do if you’re a not-for-profit...

If you’re a not-for-profit and would like to use Ten Very Special Things for fundraising or awareness, please let us know. It’s quite simple as long as you’re an accredited charity, registered in Australia and able to provide tax receipts and full reporting on the use of donations, then we can help.

That’s Buzz Aldrin wearing an Omega Speedmaster. The cult following of that watch is all down to the back-story, it’s the ‘space watch’.

our story...

Ten Very Special Things is an initiative of Ziller, a leading developer of e-commerce websites and digital strategy and brand agency, The Trees and the Forests. It started in late 2011 when Trent Allen (MD of Ziller) and Ravi Prasad (The Trees and the Forests Strategy Director) were involved in a branding project. Conversation soon turned to the charities their respective businesses and brands supported – and that soon led to a discussion on corporate and personal philanthropy – and it all ended up with Ravi and Trent trying to figure out how to connect individuals and businesses with the not-for-profit sector though e-commerce.

Their mission ,and the mission and purpose of Ten Very Special Things ,is to give people a way of turning something special that they own into a donation to their favourite cause and to give business a way of turning their products and services into a contribution to their charity of choice. This is the first iPod.

People are collecting them now. There are stories that some people bought them and never took them out of their box, anticipating their future collectors value as mint items.

learning more...

If you want to learn more about the project or would like to donate or just help, please get in touch:

Ullash TiwariHead of EnterprisePhone: 0433 785846Email: ullash@thetreesandtheforests.com.au