One Red Paperclip

The story itself seems almost unbelievable. Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald has managed to trade one red paperclip for a house. Inspired by a childhood game called Bigger and Better, the Internet blogger issued a challenge to himself. Using the Internet, he would attempt to trade his red paper clip for an object of equal or greater value and then trade that item for another item more valuable than itself. Kyle would attempt to repeatedly trade these items for those of more value until he was traded a house. Using his blog he posted a brief description of each item and promised that he would come visit you were you live, no matter where it may be if you were willing to make a trade.

Sounds like someone has to much time on their hands ?

Not when you consider that in exactly one year to the day he started his challenge and only 14 trades, Kyle MacDonald received the keys to his new house in Kipling Saskatchewan. Even before all the trades had been achieved people were immediately drawn to this story. After his trade for a Skidoo, Kyle was interviewed by George Stromboulopoulos where Kyle joked that he would go anywhere in the world to make a trade except Yahk, BC. Later that evening, Kyle received a phone call offering him to trade his Skidoo for a skiing trip to Yahk,BC. The Hour would not be the last time his trades would drawn him to the media...

The Trades

One red paperclip was traded for a fish pen
the fish pen was traded for one doorknob
the doorknob was then traded for a Coleman stove
The stove was traded for a red generator
The generator was traded for an "instant party" (keg of beer, a neon Budweiser sign)
The "instant party" was traded for a Skidoo
The Skidoo was traded for a trip to Yahk, BC.
The trip was traded for a cube van
The van was traded for a recording contract with accommodations and a flight to Toronto
The recording contract was traded for a year rent in downtown Phoenix
The year in Phoenix was traded for an afternoon with Alice Cooper
An afternoon with Alice was traded for a KISS snow globe
The KISS Snow globe was traded for a movie role
And Finally...
The movie role was traded for a house

... After the trades were finalized, the story caught wind and Kyle's name could be found in newspaper articles and television shows around the world. I've posted some links below of interviews and articles about Kyle MacDonald.

watch a Youtube video about Kyle.
The Globe and Mail even wrote about him. (link is free .it costs money to read the full article)
One red paperclip even has its own wikipedia page.

The media just couldn't seem to get enough of his story. Kyle is now a published author and DreamWorks studios have planned to make a movie based on his story.

his book is available on amazon books. Check it out.


I though i would include this story on my blog because i thought it represented the "buzz" aspect of the Internet and how there are some stories that large groups of people are easily drawn to. I also thought it was pretty amazing that anyone could trade a paperclip for a house!

to read how the trades came about click here