One Red Paperclip

Edited By: Jonathan B.

Font Size:

A+ A-

On July 14, 2005, a Canadian blogger by the name of Kyle McDonald used his blog to trade a single, red paperclip for a fish-shaped pen. The idea was to try and always trade up, inspired by the game “Bigger, Better”. Kyle’s blog started getting attention, and his trade up idea became famous. The pen, however, was not his last trade:

One Paperclip Is Worth as Much as a Home

Source

On the same day, Kyle traded the pen for a hand-sculpted doorknob.
On July 25, 2005, Kyle traveled to Seattle and traded the doorknob for a Coleman camp stove.
Two months late, on September 25, Kyle drove to California to trade the stove for a Honda generator.
On November 16, 2005, he traded the generator for an “instant party” kit, which included: an empty beer keg, an IOU (I owe you) note promising to fill up the keg with the owner’s choice of beer, and a neon Budweiser sign.

One Paperclip Is Worth as Much as a Home

The “Instant party” was traded for a snowmobile on December 8, 2005. The previous owner was Canadian comedian and radio personality named Michel Barrette.
It took him less than a week to trade the snowmobile for a 2-person trip to British Columbia.
Come January 7, 2006, Kyle traded the trip for a cube van.
The cube van was traded for a recording contract on February 22, 2006.

After two months, Kyle traded the contract for a year’s rent in Arizona.
Two weeks after that, he traded the year’s rent for an afternoon with artist Alice Cooper.
Exactly one month later, on May 26, 2006, the afternoon was traded for a KISS motorized snow globe.
A week later, he traded the motorized snow globe for a role in the movie “Donna on Demand”.
Finally, on July 5, 2006, almost one year after first traded his red paperclip, Kyle McDonald traded his movie role for a 2-story farmhouse in Saskatchewan.

Source

The moral of this story is that the worth of things is subjective, and a single paperclip can sometimes be as valuable as a house.

Like Next Post Send Share WhatsApp

Copy Link

Did you mean:

Continue With: Facebook Google

By continuing, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy

Report copyright infringement

Print this content

You may also like:

Science and Technology

Troxler Effect Cancels Out Stimuli. How Does it Help You?

What is the Troxler Effect and How Does it Affect You?

Learn about Troxler's effect and the optical illusions it creates in life.

Travel

15 Little Known Wonders of the World You Need to Visit

Add 15 more locations to your bucket list, with this guide to 15 less known, but no less wonderful, wonders of the world.

Baba Recommends

26 Fascinating Facts About Our History and World.

Can You Believe All These Facts are True?!

How many of these incredible facts to you think you already know?

Sports

Cristian Valenzuela's Incredibly Inspiring Story

5:06

AMAZING: Blind Paralympian Wins His Country's First Gold

Cristian Valenzuela became the first-ever Chilean Paralympian Gold medalist at the 2012 Paralympic Games. Watch his inspiring story.

Tips, Life Hacks and DIY

29 Facts Showing Truth Can Be Stranger Than Fiction

29 Facts That Show Truth Can Be Stranger Than Fiction

History is rich in plot twists and these amazing stories are strange but true, proving history is sometimes stranger than fiction. Which one of these will blow your mind?

Baba Recommends