one red paperclip

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The paperclip that Kyle McDonald traded for a house.
The paperclip that Kyle McDonald traded for a house.

The website one red paperclip was created by Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian blogger who bartered his way from a single paperclip to a house in a series of trades spanning just over one year.

Contents

[edit] History

MacDonald began with one red paper clip on March 28, 2005. By July 5, 2006, a chain of bartering had ultimately led to trading a movie role for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan. On July 7, 2007—just over one year after MacDonald began his experiment—the deed to the house was signed. In the following September, at the housewarming party where 12 of the 14 traders were present, he proposed to his girlfriend and she accepted. The wedding ring was made from the original red paperclip he got back from the first woman to have agreed to trade with him.[1]

MacDonald got the idea for one red paperclip from a childhood game called "Bigger and Better," and announced his quest on July 12, 2005 with a post on Craigslist.[1][2]

The website was followed online by nearly a thousand people, according to bookmarking data provided by del.icio.us[3] Several of the trades were covered by news channels like CNN, ABC News[4], and the BBC[5], among others.

The Hour on CBC Newsworld in particular followed the trading with some interest, especially when MacDonald remarked that he would not go to Yahk, British Columbia for a trade. The village protested and MacDonald said that The Hour would have to broadcast a show there before he would make a trade. In February 2006, the show took the challenge and had a special episode shot there which covered MacDonald's latest trade.[6]

Kyle's book One Red Paperclip was published in the UK by Ebury Press on 28th June 2007 and by Three Rivers Press in the USA on Aug 21, 2007.[7]

MacDonald now holds the Guinness World Record for the Most Successful Internet Trade.[8]

[edit] Trading timeline

Timeline, based on the website and as summarized by the BBC[5]:

[edit] Background on MacDonald

MacDonald (born October 3, 1979) is a Canadian citizen from Belcarra, British Columbia. He has a bachelor's degree in Geography from the University of British Columbia.

MacDonald has traveled to over 50 countries, on every continent but Antarctica. Some of his travel adventures include delivering pizza by scooter in Sydney, Australia; sheep herding by dirt bike in Western Australia; modeling as an Italian soccer player in Bangkok, Thailand; firing a machine gun in Cambodia; squid jigging in Newfoundland; delivering several hundred post cards at one time to the Galápagos Islands[10]; and moving to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, for three days just so he could get NWT polar-bear-shaped license plates for his car.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Macdonald, Kyle (28 June 2007). One Red Paperclip: How a Small Piece of Stationery Turned into a Great Big Adventure. Ebury Press. ISBN 9780091914523. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Red paper clip blogger throws party in new home CTV Toronto (Sept. 3, 2006)
  2. ^ Kyle MacDonald Trades One Red Paperclip for a House Quick Online Tips (July 7, 2006)
  3. ^ del.icio.us history for http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/
  4. ^ Man Trading Up From Paper Clip to House ABC News (April 17, 2006)
  5. ^ a b Man turns paper clip into house BBC News (July 11, 2006)
  6. ^ one trip to yahk one red paperclip blog (Dec. 11, 2005)
  7. ^ One Red Paperclip by Kyle MacDonald - Books - Random House
  8. ^ Guinness World Records 2008 edition, p. 161
  9. ^ ATS #41 - The New Marketing Podcast with guest Corbin Bernsen Across the Sound (July 1, 2006)
  10. ^ Message in a Barrel The Port Moody Station Museum Blog (Aug. 29, 2005)

[edit] External links