A friend and I are exploring the idea of setting up a program to allow
Haitian women to make necklaces that we could try to sell to stores in
the USA, as a way to make money for these impoverished Haitian women.
We would provide all startup capital and not look for any payback or
profit, and we'd run all monies through an existing very well run and
trustworthy Haitian non-profit that we know about already.

Here is the impossible question-- what is the best way for us to sell
these necklaces, and what volume of sales could we expect? What
percent could we sell directly to stores (possibly through a website
we setup) and what percent would we sell through distributors? How
many different distributors should we use? What margin will they want?
How do we find them?

I believe that you'll do better if you can arrange to sell the items
yourself, rather than wholesaling them.

My mother has been active in a church-sponsored group that assists
Guatemalan artisans in running their own small businesses. When my mom
investigated the ways she could market the lovely woven goods she
brought back from Guatemala, she decided to sell the items through her
church's gift shop and at church bazaars. The profit was much greater
than if she'd tried to wholesale the items to local merchants.

Are you familiar with Ten Thousand Villages?  They have outlet stores
that sell items made by people in developing countries.  I wonder if
you could arrange for them to carry your product, or perhaps someone
there could give you some suggestions.  (I don't know how widely
distributed they are, but I've seen their stores in NY and PA at
least.)

Respect to you.

Have you considered approaching charities such as Greenpeace? Their
product catalogues promote such goods. The charitable status imparts
tax concessions so more goes to the deserving.

Best