There are some poor people, called "Arash", whose business consists entirely of selling animal hides to non-Jews. During festivals, such as Passover and Sukkot, some of them leave a few hides in a non-Jew's shop before the festival sets in, so that they might be sold during the Sabbath or festival, or during Chol Hamo'ed [intermediate days of the festival]. I was asked if they are right in doing so, since it is forbidden to do commerce during Chol Hamo'ed, and definitely not during the Sabbath. The question is whether non-Jews may trade in these hides in their stead, and then transfer the money to them. They are poor and needy…
I was very fearful of publicly permitting this to simple folk, who do not know how to distinguish between one ruling and another, and who make their own parallels between cases; they might eventually permit this without even any deduction [in price] and could openly mention the Sabbath day and festival…They might forget, and not remember that this is not permitted unless the words Sabbath and festival are not mentioned.
However, when they come to ask concerning cases when market day falls on Chol Hamo'ed and they wish to give an item or another to a non-Jew to sell, this should certainly be allowed, and with no misgivings, at a reduced price and without mention of Chol Hamo'ed. Even simple folk, since they, in principle, did mention it to the non-Jew prior to the Sabbath. This [ruling] is an innovation. We did not find it forbidden in the Hoshen HaMishpat, so that according to the law it is possibly permissible to give a non-Jew something to sell during Chol Hamo'ed before the festival, even if one explicitly instructs him to sell it during Chol Hamo'ed, having found a basis for this concerning the Sabbath though not Chol Hamo'ed. In any case, despite that this is not explicitly permitted, ruling that they reduce the price as the law stipulates and not mention Chol Hamo'ed, out of worry that they may explicitly tell the non-Jew to sell it during Chol Hamo'ed, is not worthy of severity. Even if you claim that they might mention Chol Hamo'ed, who would say that it is forbidden…?