Ten Very Special Things is an online store that sells collectibles and objects of obsession, with profits donated to charity. It allows people to convert possessions into donations for their favorite cause. Items for sale include limited editions, cult brands, and objects with notable histories or owners. Donors choose the charity that receives a portion of the sale price and get promotional benefits. The store aims to connect individuals, businesses and charities through ecommerce in a novel way.

1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. get involved...
Other ways to get involved
There 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.

7. 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’.

8. 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.

9. learning more...
If you want to learn more about the project or would like to donate or just help,
please get in touch:
Ullash Tiwari
Head of Enterprise
Phone: 0433 785846
Email: ullash@thetreesandtheforests.com.au