One Red Paperclip
"Trade your way to the top"
Who says dreams don’t come true? Kyle MacDonald, a 26-year old Canadian is proof positive that with a little thought and ingenuity anything is possible. Like most of us Kyle had a dream to own a house, but found this task daunting since he was unemployed. With no steady income or means of generating thousands of dollars, MacDonald could only rely on his wit and determination. He developed a plan that most people would consider ludicrous. Instead of trying to raise money or find a job, he decided to barter his way to a new home. What did he choose to barter? A single red paper clip. He placed an ad on CraigsList stating his goal of obtaining a house. His first trade happened almost immediately, when a pair of young women offered him a fish-shaped pen for his paper clip. One year and 14 trades later MacDonald traded a movie role to the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan, who offered him a two-storey farm house.
July 14, 2005 | Paperclip for Fish-shaped pen |
July 14, 2005 | Pen for hand-sculpted door knob |
July 25, 2005 | Door knob for Coleman camp stove |
September 24, 2005 | Camp stove for a Honda generator |
November 16, 2005 | Camp stove for empty keg and neon Budweiser sign |
December 8, 2005 | Empty keg & Budweiser sign for Ski-doo snowmobile |
The week of 12/08/05 | Snowmobile for two-person trip to British Columbia |
January 7, 2006 | Trip to B.C. for a Cube van |
February 22, 2006 | Cube van for recording contract with Metal Works |
April 11, 2006 | Recording contract for one year’s rent |
April 26, 2006 | One year’s rent for an afternoon with Alice Cooper |
May 26, 2006 | An afternoon with Alice Cooper for a KISS snow globe |
June 2, 2006 | KISS snow globe for a role in the film "Donna on Demand" |
July 5, 2006 | Movie role for a two-storey farm house |
On June 28th 2007 he released a book title One Red Paperclip chronicling his adventures. After MacDonald no will ever look at a paperclip the same.
