We are operating in a gift economy.

We do not ask our vendors to pay any fees or commissions from their sales in order to participate in this marketplace. Their participation is voluntary and we do not force them to pay.

We are choosing to opt out of greed and place the humans in our marketplace as the first priority in our goals. This means that we are not prioritizing profiting off of our vendors, which unfortunately is the name of the game in our dominant modern culture.

this is an update to our Fundition Project

Now that we have chosen not to force our vendors to share their profit, the opportunity has arisen to shift our mindset from operating as a business to operating as a Community Run Marketplace.

We have already made some great progress in this regard and many of our community members have stepped up and taken leadership and contributing roles in our community. You can see proof of that in our blog which is now run by 12 members of our community. Our motivation is contributing to something meaningful in our world. We want to work to create a better model for participating in online marketplaces.

In this regard we are participating in interchange with one another. There is no middleman taking profit from each transaction that occurs at Homesteaders Co-op.

In some regards we are already sustainable as a community. We are motivated by creating positive change and a positive, safe online community environment to interact and interchange with one another - in this sense we are already emotionally and energetically sustainable as a community.

We are not yet financially sustainable.

Fundition has been serving as an opportunity to raise funds by donations to help us get started and build our platform for voluntary interchange in the short term, while we build financial sustainability in the medium term.

Actually I would like to see Homesteaders Co-op receiving donations on a regular ongoing basis - even beyond the completion of this Fundition campaign, because I would like to see donations serving as a core contributor to our financial sustainability.

Since we are operating in a gift economy and not forcing vendors to pay for the service we are providing, I feel that it is natural to accept donations as contribution to our current and future sustainability. Fundition is helping us get started in that regard.

In addition to accepting donations I am also exploring a few other ideas that may help us reach financial sustainability, including an idea that I have coined Ethical Advertising. I will be sharing more on this in some future updates.

A lot of things have changed since we started out a few months ago, and many new developments and opportunities have arisen. Yet the goals and intentions that were outlined in our Fundition proposal have not changed at their core.

I would say that we have made progress of roughly 1/3 of the goals and work outlined in our Fundition project proposal. There is a lot that is in the works.

So far we have raised 10.5% of our fundraising goal! We have raised $258. This is helping to cover some of our expenses. Thank you to everyone that shown your generosity and donated so far.

If you would like to donate, or if you would like to read our Fundition project proposal which is currently underway, please visit:

Fundition Project: Homesteaders Co-op: Free Community Marketplace for Handmade Goods

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A Free Marketplace for Steem

We provide a FREE marketplace for you to transact in STEEM, SBD and USD. Our vendors are committed to sustainability, ethics and quality in their lives and work.

Unlike other marketplaces our vendors are not charged listing fees, subscription fees or transaction fees. This service is 100% free.

Support Your Alternative Economy:

1. Purchase handmade products and ethical services with STEEM, SBD or USD at homesteaderscoop.com
2. Join the conversation in our Discord Group
3. Follow our Curation Trail on SteemAuto to automatically upvote our community
4. Delegate SP to @homesteaderscoop
5. Donate to our ongoing Fundition project

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Why Delegate to Homesteaders Co-op?

Your delegations will help us grow our community and reward our members for their ethical choices and actions.

In our modern world it is not always easy to choose to live sustainably. To do so often means forgoing income potential and the status quo. Our Steem Power is used to up-vote community contributors and vendors in thanks for their efforts.

10 SP | 25 SP | 50 SP | 75 SP | 100 SP | 200 SP | 500 SP | 750 SP | 1000 SP

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Who is Homesteaders Co-op? Read our introduction

Want to Become a Vendor? Learn more and apply here

Logo design by @frejafri - illustrator & artist available for commission for steem/sbd

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Donate To Homesteaders Co-op - Help Us Keep Our Marketplace FREE

We have an ongoing crowdfunding project at Fundition. You can donate STEEM, SBD, USD (via PayPal) as well as other popular cryptos such as BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XMR, BTS, DASH, DOGE, TRON.

Help us keep our marketplace free of commissions and fees. Homesteaders Co-op is 100% free to vendors and customers. Your donations will go a long way to help us maintain our marketplace and keep it free.

Donate to our Project on Fundition

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We Have Free Instant Steem Accounts to Share!

We have free steem invites for friends and family of steemians that are participating in #homesteading, #gardening, #sustainability, @naturalmedicine, @ghscollective, @tribesteemup, @ecotrain, @earthtribe and related communities that share common goals. Signing up to steem with our steem invites are instant and free. If we have enough free SP, invites will come along with a small delegation.

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@adollaraday - Charitable giving project