When Kyle MacDonald speaks about how he traded one red paperclip for a house, what really captures the audience’s attention is how the 32-year-old B.C. resident is able to ignite an idea and get people on side to achieve his goal.
His adventure in trading started out in July 2005, he told an audience at Vancouver Buildex 2012, a conference for Realtors, developers, architects, engineers and construction bosses.
After graduating university with a BA in geography that “you can’t do much with”, he traveled, fell in love with an airline attendant and moved to Quebec with her. He ended up schlepping refrigerators and stoves up mountains of stairs before he realized “this is not exactly what I want to do with my life.”
He sat pondering the question – what do I want to do? He wrote down all the things he had done, the great ideas, and out of the blue received an e-mail from an old school friend who reminded him of the kid’s game “Big and Better” they had played. A red paperclip on a white desk was staring at him, and, he thought, why not try to trade it for something bigger? The idea sparked, but then so did the reality of his situation – find a job.
Four months later, he had moved back home and was sitting at a table with his father when the red paperclip dropped from his wallet. MacDonald turned to Craigslist’s barter section and got his first trade – a fish-shaped pen.
What seemed like a kid’s game was taking on a new reality. When he met the two girls offering the pen for a paper clip, he took their picture and had fun with the meeting. What a great story to tell friends – that he traded a papercip for a fish pen. Then he traded the pen for a ceramic doorknob with a face on it that a couple’s son had made in school in Seattle. He had fun meeting the couple and “hung out at their house”. He took their picture, too.
Soon he had traded up to a camping stove, but trades started slowing down.
MacDonald realized that he needed a better means of reaching potential traders. He upgraded his website, calling it One Red Paperclip. Then he created a backdrop story to go with the trades. He put his name and number out on the Internet, despite being warned that people would call from all over at all times – even at night.
He traded the stove for a generator, the generator for a keg of beer and light-up Budweiser sign; a combo dubbed “instant party.” Michel Barrette, a Quebec TV and radio personality, offered “his worst snowmobile” and deal was forged.
After a great party, McDonald was on his way. Much of the success came from getting the news media’s attention. He posted the Barrette trade and within days, he had major TV outlets wanting to cover the trade.
Eventually a cube truck was traded for a recording contract, which was traded for a year’s free rent in a Phoenix home. Then a woman offered an afternoon with her boss. “Who’s your boss?” MacDonald queried. It turned out to be rock singer Alice Cooper. MacDonald and a giant red paperclip ended up on stage at a performance. But the Alice afternoon was traded to a photographer, who offered a Kiss snow-globe.
MacDonald was bombarded by website followers who criticized the trade. He showed comments to the Buildex audience on a screen with the final comment: “Dumbass”.
“It was mind-blowing how personal people took it,” he said.
Earlier in the trading session, MacDonald had fielded a call from actor Corbin Bernsen (best known for his work in LA Law) and didn’t realize who he was. When he later Googled him on the Internet, he discovered that Bernsen had 6,500 snow-globes. MacDonald called and asked if he had a Kiss snow-globe that lit up, and sent a picture. The star responded: “I don’t just want it – I need it.” Bernsen was willing to trade a part in his movie Donna on Demand.
That grabbed attention and an enterprising Saskatchewan economic development officer saw a great opportunity. Why not trade a house for the opportunity to hold auditions in Saskatchewan for the movie role? The home was a two-storey square building on the Main Street in Ripley, Sask. What occurred at the audition and housewarming was amazing as 1,000 Kipling residents turned out, along with 3,500 movie wannabees and lookie-loos from all across Canada and the U.S. and even from Europe. Twelve of the 14 previous traders were on hand including Bernsen. At the end of the house-warming party, MacDonald took a red paperclip, shaped it into a ring and proposed on stage to his girlfriend. Wild cheering broke out.
The couple stayed in the house for over a year with MacDonald penning a book about his adventures. He then donated the home to the town, to be used as a tourist attraction/café. Kipling also built the world’s biggest paperclip as another tourist feature.
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By Jean Sorensen | REM Online
