One red paperclip - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The website One red paperclip was created by Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald, who bartered his way from a single red paperclip to a house in a series of fourteen online trades over the course of a year.[1] MacDonald was inspired by the childhood game Bigger, Better, and the site received a considerable amount of notice for tracking the transactions. "A lot of people have been asking how I've stirred up so much publicity around the project, and my simple answer is: 'I have no idea'", he told the BBC.[2]
One red paperclip - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MacDonald made his first trade, a red paper clip for a fish-shaped pen, on July 14, 2005. He reached his goal of trading up to a house with the fourteenth transaction, trading a movie role for a house. This is the list of all transactions MacDonald made:[2]
On July 14, 2005, he went to Vancouver and traded the paperclip for a fish-shaped pen.
He then traded the pen the same day for a hand-sculpted doorknob from Seattle, Washington, which he nicknamed "Knob-T".
On July 25, 2005, he travelled to Amherst, Massachusetts, with a friend to trade Knob-T for a Coleman camp stove (with fuel).
On September 24, 2005, he went to California, and traded the camp stove for a Honda generator.
On November 16, 2005, he made a second (and successful) attempt (after having the generator confiscated by the New York City Fire Department) in Maspeth, Queens, to trade the generator for an "instant party": an empty keg, an IOU for filling the keg with the beer of the holder's choice, and a neon Budweiser sign.
Kyle MacDonald's house
On December 8, 2005, he traded the "instant party" to Quebec comedian and radio personality Michel Barrette for one Ski-doo snowmobile.
Within a week of that, he traded the snowmobile for a two-person trip to Yahk, British Columbia, in February 2006.
On or about January 7, 2006, he traded the second spot on the Yahk trip for a cube van.
On or about February 22, 2006, he traded the cube van for a recording contract with Metalworks in Mississauga, Ontario.
On or about April 11, 2006, he traded the recording contract to Jody Gnant for a year's rent in Phoenix, Arizona.
On or about April 26, 2006, he traded the one year's rent in Phoenix, Arizona, for one afternoon with Alice Cooper.
On or about May 26, 2006, he traded the one afternoon with Alice Cooper for a KISS motorized snow globe.
On or about June 2, 2006, he traded the KISS motorized snow globe to Corbin Bernsen for a role in the film Donna on Demand.[3]
On or about July 5, 2006, he traded the movie role for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan.