



About

One Red Paperclip is a blog that began in 2004 in which Kyle MacDonald chronicled his journey bartering, starting with a red paperclip and eventually trading up to a two story farmhouse in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Origin

After witnessing the real-life game Bigger, Better , which requires players to barter common objects for physically bigger and subjectively better ones, canadian Kyle MacDonald began trading items on localized classifieds site Craigslist.org. His first trade involved a red paperclip being exchanged for a fish-shaped pen.

Trades

He then traded the pen the same day for a hand-sculpted doorknob from Seattle, Washington, which he nicknamed "Knob-T".

On July 25, 2005, he traveled to Amherst, Massachusetts, with a friend to trade the Knob-T for a Coleman camp stove (with fuel).

On September 24, 2005, he went to San Clemente, California, and traded the camp stove for a Honda generator.

On November 16, 2005, he made a second (and successful) attempt (after having the generator confiscated by the New York City Fire Department) in Maspeth, Queens, to trade the generator for an "instant party": an empty keg, an IOU for filling the keg with the beer of the holder's choice, and a neon Budweiser signOn December 8, 2005, he traded the "instant party" to Quebec comedian and radio personality Michel Barrette for a Ski-doo snowmobile.

Within a week of that, he traded the snowmobile for a two-person trip to Yahk, British Columbia, in February 2006.

On or about January 7, 2006, the second person on the trip to Yahk traded Kyle a cube van for the privilege.

On or about February 22, 2006, he traded the cube van for a recording contract with Metal Works in Toronto.

On or about April 11, 2006, he traded the recording contract to Jody Gnant for a year's rent in Phoenix, Arizona.

On or about April 26, 2006, he traded the one year's rent in Phoenix, Arizona, for one afternoon with Alice Cooper.

On or about May 26, 2006, he traded the one afternoon with Alice Cooper for a KISS motorized snow globe.

On or about June 2, 2006, he traded the KISS motorized snow globe to Corbin Bernsen for a role in the film Donna on Demand.

On or about July 5, 2006, he traded the movie role for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan. All this from One Paperclip.

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