One Red Paper clip is all it takes - GoFuckYourself.com

Phoenix · 04-18-2006, 08:53 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192041,00.html

Cool story brought to you by

www.adultlounge.com

thanks soul rebel ;)
Man Starts With Paper Clip, Ends Up With Year's Free Rent
Tuesday, April 18, 2006

PHOTOS

Click image to enlarge

Kyle MacDonald had a red paper clip and a dream: Could he use the community power of the Internet to barter that paper clip for something better, and trade that thing for something else ? and so on and so on until he had a house?

After a cross-continental trading trek involving a fish-shaped pen, a town named Yahk and the Web's astonishing ability to bestow celebrity, MacDonald is getting close. He's up to one year's free rent on a house in Phoenix.

Not a bad return on an investment of one red paper clip. Yet MacDonald, 26, vows to keep going until he crosses the threshold of his very own home, wherever that might be.

"It's totally overwhelming, I'm not going to lie," he said by phone from Montreal, where he and his girlfriend, Dominique Dupuis, live with two roommates. "But I'm still trading for that house. It's this obsessive thing."

The story begins last July.

MacDonald had spent years backpacking, delivering pizzas and working other part-time jobs, suiting his jack-of-all-trades, restless nature. He paid his $300 share of the rent by occasionally promoting products at trade shows.

But he yearned for one piece of settled-down adulthood: a house, which he knew he could not afford.

It's clear, however, that MacDonald has a knack for promotion. Asked what he had talked up at all those trade shows, MacDonald slipped right into his spiel for the employer, TableShox.com. "You ever sat at a wobbly table at a restaurant?" he said.

Beyond a gift for advertising table stabilizers, he's a geography buff, keeps a blog and writes short stories. Random interactions with strangers and the rich kitsch of North Americana provide his favorite material.

Put it all together, and you have the outline of MacDonald's quest.

He advertised it in the barter section of Craigslist.org, the Web site teeming with city-specific listings for everything from job openings to apartment rentals.

At first, MacDonald said merely that he wanted something bigger or better for his red paper clip. No mention of a house ? he feared seeming flaky.

While he was visiting his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, two women gave him a fish-shaped pen for the paper clip.

Later that day, MacDonald headed to Seattle to catch a ballgame and a flight home. Before the airport, though, he stopped to see Annie Robbins, an artist who had just stumbled upon the Craigslist barter section. She admired its anticonsumerist vibe, she said, so she answered MacDonald's posting "on a lark."

MacDonald left her home the proud owner of a small ceramic doorknob with a smiley face, made by the son of an artist Robbins knows.

Next up was Shawn Sparks, who was packing up to move from Amherst, Mass., to Alexandria, Va.

Sparks, 35, is a huge fan of Craigslist barters, having acquired his 1993 Chevy Blazer in a trade for a used laptop.

Sparks offered MacDonald a Coleman camping stove. Sparks had two, and didn't want to lug both on his move. And he needed a new knob for his espresso machine.

Done. The men celebrated with a barbecue at Sparks' house.

MacDonald gave the camping stove to a Marine sergeant at Camp Pendleton, Calif., getting a generator in return.

East again. MacDonald swapped the generator for an "instant party package" ? an empty beer keg, a neon Budweiser sign and a promise to fill the keg ? proferred by a young man in Queens, New York City.

Before the trade, MacDonald left the generator in storage in his hotel. When he went to claim it, he was told it had been confiscated by the fire department because it was leaking gas.

"If there was ever a movie based on all that, that would be the closest to losing it all," he said, recalling his anguish.

But more on movies later.

MacDonald reclaimed the generator by tracking it to a firehouse in lower Manhattan, where he got a Tootsie Pop from the crew and petted their Dalmatian.

The beer package went to a Montreal disc jockey, in exchange for a snowmobile.

Here's where the project's grassroots purity may have gotten compromised. MacDonald's blog, http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com, was attracting attention, and MacDonald was invited onto Canadian television. Our wandering man was asked if there was anywhere he wouldn't go to trade the snowmobile.

An obscure place came to mind, so he spit it out: Yahk, a hamlet in the Canadian Rockies.

Some publicity-seeking ensued. A snowmobiling magazine offered an expense-paid trip to Yahk in exchange for the snowmobile. The trip went to Bruno Taillefer, Quebec manager for the supply company Cintas Corp. He got headquarters to let him give MacDonald a 1995 Cintas van that he had been planning to sell.

MacDonald gave the van ? stripped of Cintas logos ? to a musician seeking to haul gear. In turn, the musician, who works at a Toronto recording studio, arranged a recording contract, with studio time and a promise to pitch the finished product to music executives.

MacDonald handed the contract to Jody Gnant, a singer in Phoenix who owns a duplex.

And that is how Kyle MacDonald has turned a paper clip into a year of shelter in the desert.

Where it goes now, who knows. He says he has offers from Hollywood studios to turn his story into a film.

But he pledges not to accept gifts or overly lopsided trades that would undermine the peer-to-peer joy that he says has animated his journey. Asked what he has learned from all this, he responded:

"If you say you're going to do something and you start to do it, and people enjoy it or respect it or are entertained by it, people will step up and help you."

Downtime · 04-18-2006, 08:55 AM

awesome story, thanks for posting!

jimthefiend · 04-18-2006, 08:55 AM

congrats to the winners

Rebecca Love · 04-18-2006, 09:00 AM

Saw him on the morning show. Good concept.

luv$ · 04-18-2006, 09:00 AM

Sometimes I wish I had a red paper clip...

CyberHustler · 04-18-2006, 09:01 AM

i got a silver one

Chris · 04-18-2006, 09:01 AM

heard about this along time ago

pretty that his project is working out for him

LittleSassy · 04-18-2006, 09:22 AM

wow...quite an amazing story.

bastardsquad · 04-18-2006, 09:56 AM

that is an awesome story...ill check out his blog...thanks...

BigCashCrew · 04-18-2006, 10:03 AM

I saw a clip of this on the news but didn't pay attention. This is a great story.

majorbitch · 04-18-2006, 10:24 AM

That's fucking awesome! What a great story

Radical Nathan · 04-18-2006, 11:45 AM

it's good to see the barter system is still alive.

infecto · 04-18-2006, 11:47 AM

I thought it was pretty dumb because I think most of what he got was because of the press coverage and nothing more.

anne · 04-18-2006, 12:25 PM

Wow thats amazing!! Very cool story proving that anything is possible lol

samsam · 04-18-2006, 12:28 PM

First it was the guy with the million pixel website

now a guy with a red paper clip

whats next?

maybe i should set up a site: ShiteSite.com

"I'll eat my own shit if you pay me $100 live on web cam"

Phoenix · 04-18-2006, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samsam

First it was the guy with the million pixel website

now a guy with a red paper clip

whats next?

maybe i should set up a site: ShiteSite.com

"I'll eat my own shit if you pay me $100 live on web cam"

ill give you 100 dollars to eat your own shit...must be proved to be yours...and to be real..i also want the rights to the video.

thx

Just_Dave · 04-18-2006, 12:52 PM

thats a cool ass story

tyler. · 04-18-2006, 01:25 PM

awesome story

Fresh · 04-18-2006, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luv$

Sometimes I wish I had a red paper clip...

but you DO have a red cadi in ur sig

reynold · 04-18-2006, 08:20 PM

great things come in small packages

sniperwolf · 04-18-2006, 10:38 PM

wow that's great.. thanks for this thread

04-18-2006, 08:53 AM	#1
Phoenix BACON BACON BACON Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Poems everybody, the laddie fancies himself a poet Posts: 35,469	One Red Paper clip is all it takes http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192041,00.html Cool story brought to you by www.adultlounge.com thanks soul rebel ;) Man Starts With Paper Clip, Ends Up With Year's Free Rent Tuesday, April 18, 2006 PHOTOS Click image to enlarge Kyle MacDonald had a red paper clip and a dream: Could he use the community power of the Internet to barter that paper clip for something better, and trade that thing for something else ? and so on and so on until he had a house? After a cross-continental trading trek involving a fish-shaped pen, a town named Yahk and the Web's astonishing ability to bestow celebrity, MacDonald is getting close. He's up to one year's free rent on a house in Phoenix. Not a bad return on an investment of one red paper clip. Yet MacDonald, 26, vows to keep going until he crosses the threshold of his very own home, wherever that might be. "It's totally overwhelming, I'm not going to lie," he said by phone from Montreal, where he and his girlfriend, Dominique Dupuis, live with two roommates. "But I'm still trading for that house. It's this obsessive thing." The story begins last July. MacDonald had spent years backpacking, delivering pizzas and working other part-time jobs, suiting his jack-of-all-trades, restless nature. He paid his $300 share of the rent by occasionally promoting products at trade shows. But he yearned for one piece of settled-down adulthood: a house, which he knew he could not afford. It's clear, however, that MacDonald has a knack for promotion. Asked what he had talked up at all those trade shows, MacDonald slipped right into his spiel for the employer, TableShox.com. "You ever sat at a wobbly table at a restaurant?" he said. Beyond a gift for advertising table stabilizers, he's a geography buff, keeps a blog and writes short stories. Random interactions with strangers and the rich kitsch of North Americana provide his favorite material. Put it all together, and you have the outline of MacDonald's quest. He advertised it in the barter section of Craigslist.org, the Web site teeming with city-specific listings for everything from job openings to apartment rentals. At first, MacDonald said merely that he wanted something bigger or better for his red paper clip. No mention of a house ? he feared seeming flaky. While he was visiting his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, two women gave him a fish-shaped pen for the paper clip. Later that day, MacDonald headed to Seattle to catch a ballgame and a flight home. Before the airport, though, he stopped to see Annie Robbins, an artist who had just stumbled upon the Craigslist barter section. She admired its anticonsumerist vibe, she said, so she answered MacDonald's posting "on a lark." MacDonald left her home the proud owner of a small ceramic doorknob with a smiley face, made by the son of an artist Robbins knows. Next up was Shawn Sparks, who was packing up to move from Amherst, Mass., to Alexandria, Va. Sparks, 35, is a huge fan of Craigslist barters, having acquired his 1993 Chevy Blazer in a trade for a used laptop. Sparks offered MacDonald a Coleman camping stove. Sparks had two, and didn't want to lug both on his move. And he needed a new knob for his espresso machine. Done. The men celebrated with a barbecue at Sparks' house. MacDonald gave the camping stove to a Marine sergeant at Camp Pendleton, Calif., getting a generator in return. East again. MacDonald swapped the generator for an "instant party package" ? an empty beer keg, a neon Budweiser sign and a promise to fill the keg ? proferred by a young man in Queens, New York City. Before the trade, MacDonald left the generator in storage in his hotel. When he went to claim it, he was told it had been confiscated by the fire department because it was leaking gas. "If there was ever a movie based on all that, that would be the closest to losing it all," he said, recalling his anguish. But more on movies later. MacDonald reclaimed the generator by tracking it to a firehouse in lower Manhattan, where he got a Tootsie Pop from the crew and petted their Dalmatian. The beer package went to a Montreal disc jockey, in exchange for a snowmobile. Here's where the project's grassroots purity may have gotten compromised. MacDonald's blog, http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com, was attracting attention, and MacDonald was invited onto Canadian television. Our wandering man was asked if there was anywhere he wouldn't go to trade the snowmobile. An obscure place came to mind, so he spit it out: Yahk, a hamlet in the Canadian Rockies. Some publicity-seeking ensued. A snowmobiling magazine offered an expense-paid trip to Yahk in exchange for the snowmobile. The trip went to Bruno Taillefer, Quebec manager for the supply company Cintas Corp. He got headquarters to let him give MacDonald a 1995 Cintas van that he had been planning to sell. MacDonald gave the van ? stripped of Cintas logos ? to a musician seeking to haul gear. In turn, the musician, who works at a Toronto recording studio, arranged a recording contract, with studio time and a promise to pitch the finished product to music executives. MacDonald handed the contract to Jody Gnant, a singer in Phoenix who owns a duplex. And that is how Kyle MacDonald has turned a paper clip into a year of shelter in the desert. Where it goes now, who knows. He says he has offers from Hollywood studios to turn his story into a film. But he pledges not to accept gifts or overly lopsided trades that would undermine the peer-to-peer joy that he says has animated his journey. Asked what he has learned from all this, he responded: "If you say you're going to do something and you start to do it, and people enjoy it or respect it or are entertained by it, people will step up and help you." __________________ Skype Phoenixskype1 Telegram PhoenixBrad https://quantads.io

04-18-2006, 08:55 AM	#2
Downtime Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2004 Location: America. Posts: 7,320	awesome story, thanks for posting! __________________ #27024067

04-18-2006, 09:00 AM	#4
Rebecca Love Skinemax BQueen Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Las Vegas NV Posts: 2,145	Saw him on the morning show. Good concept. __________________ Kisses, Rebecca Love "Skinemax BQueen of Late-Nite" www.RebeccaLove.com

04-18-2006, 09:00 AM	#5
luv$ !$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$ Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Paper Street Posts: 6,158	Sometimes I wish I had a red paper clip... __________________ Domain Auction - now till 12:01AM on the 2nd... Paper Streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet Cash The Real Workout - Innocent High - Oye Loca - Her Freshman Year - Solo Interviews - This Girl Sucks. ** HQ Fresh ORIGINAL sites.

04-18-2006, 09:01 AM	#6
CyberHustler Masterbaiter Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 27,023	i got a silver one __________________ “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

04-18-2006, 08:55 AM	#3
jimthefiend So Fucking Banned Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: icq: 121189 Posts: 18,889	congrats to the winners

04-18-2006, 09:01 AM	#7
Chris Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Location: icq: 71462500 Skype: Jupzchris Posts: 27,880	heard about this along time ago pretty that his project is working out for him __________________ [email protected]

04-18-2006, 09:22 AM	#8
LittleSassy Confirmed User Join Date: May 2005 Location: behind you Posts: 7,402	wow...quite an amazing story. __________________ Proadultoutsourcing.com ~ version 2.0 OFFSHORE SOLUTIONS PROVIDER SINCE 2003 ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE 264-580-554

04-18-2006, 09:56 AM	#9
bastardsquad Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Tampa,FL Posts: 529	that is an awesome story...ill check out his blog...thanks... __________________ - White Label Options – Geotargeted and Dynamic Ads Eroticy Affiliate Manager-ICQ=216379335 AIM=eroticypaulv PaulV(at)Eroticy(dot)com Straight, Gay, and Swing Communities. -Hit me up and let's do business.

04-18-2006, 10:03 AM	#10
BigCashCrew Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,570	I saw a clip of this on the news but didn't pay attention. This is a great story.

04-18-2006, 10:24 AM	#11
majorbitch Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 708	That's fucking awesome! What a great story __________________

04-18-2006, 11:45 AM	#12
Radical Nathan Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: in a house Posts: 155	it's good to see the barter system is still alive. __________________ you like musicians? no? you like jelly salesmen? > RADICAL CASH <

04-18-2006, 11:47 AM	#13
infecto Confirmed User Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,697	I thought it was pretty dumb because I think most of what he got was because of the press coverage and nothing more.

04-18-2006, 12:25 PM	#14
anne Confirmed User Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: In the Woods Posts: 1,149	Wow thats amazing!! Very cool story proving that anything is possible lol __________________ MooCash Get some MooLa email: [email protected] icq 116496347

04-18-2006, 12:28 PM	#15
samsam So Fucking Banned Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Fla Posts: 682	First it was the guy with the million pixel website now a guy with a red paper clip whats next? maybe i should set up a site: ShiteSite.com "I'll eat my own shit if you pay me $100 live on web cam"

04-18-2006, 12:52 PM	#17
Just_Dave Its almost time Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 13,009	thats a cool ass story

04-18-2006, 01:25 PM	#18
tyler. Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,653	awesome story

04-18-2006, 08:20 PM	#20
reynold Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Global Traveler Posts: 51,271	great things come in small packages

04-18-2006, 10:38 PM	#21
sniperwolf Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 17,743	wow that's great.. thanks for this thread __________________ ~Accepting design works~