# The paperclip-trading guy got his house
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 8, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653 "2006-07-08T18:41:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/1 "2006-07-08T18:41:48Z")
> **[one red paperclip - Kyle MacDonald](http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/)**
>
> one red paperclip is Kyle MacDonald's website. He's the guy who traded a red paperclip for a house.
I am totally going to this Labour Day party.
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### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/2 "2006-07-08T20:04:26Z")
That’s a smidgen out in the boonies, even by my standards. Resale value of houses in rural Sask it beyond pathetic once you’re beyond commuting range of a larger centre. Frankly that was a bad trade on his part.
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### Author:  [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/3 "2006-07-08T20:11:51Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#):
>
> That’s a smidgen out in the boonies, even by my standards. Resale value of houses in rural Sask it beyond pathetic once you’re beyond commuting range of a larger centre. Frankly that was a bad trade on his part.
Why? He got his house, bought and paid for. For a paper clip.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/4 "2006-07-08T20:39:46Z")
> [@if6was9](#):
>
> Why? He got his house, bought and paid for. For a paper clip.
No he didn’t, he got a fish pen for his paper clip. If I somehow traded a paper clip for dumpster full of gold and then traded the gold for a can of Coke, would it be a good trade? Most people I know would keep the gold.
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### Author:  [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/5 "2006-07-08T20:47:25Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#):
>
> No he didn’t, he got a fish pen for his paper clip. If I somehow traded a paper clip for dumpster full of gold and then traded the gold for a can of Coke, would it be a good trade? Most people I know would keep the gold.
Jesus you’re missing the point! The guy started with a paper clip with the goal of getting a house. Accomplished.
He wasn’t trying to get a supermodel or dumpster full of shit. He set a goal and stuck to it until the goal was reached. Everything else was chaff in the process. Not sure why anyone would criticize the guy doing what he set out to do, but I guess some get distracted from their goals easily. Sorry, dude.
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### Author:  [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/6 "2006-07-08T21:05:15Z")
Dang. Corbin Bernsen is looking old.
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### Author:  [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/7 "2006-07-08T21:41:01Z")
I’m impressed that he went from paperclip to house in only fourteen trades. Wow!
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/8 "2006-07-08T22:27:14Z")
> [@duffer](#):
>
> Jesus you’re missing the point! The guy started with a paper clip with the goal of getting a house. Accomplished.
>
> He wasn’t trying to get a supermodel or dumpster full of shit. He set a goal and stuck to it until the goal was reached. Everything else was chaff in the process. Not sure why anyone would criticize the guy doing what he set out to do, but I guess some get distracted from their goals easily. Sorry, dude.
I’m not missing the point, I wasn’t commenting on the point of this guy’s mission. I was saying he didn’t trade a paper clip for a house because he didn’t.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/9 "2006-07-08T22:35:13Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#):
>
> No he didn’t, he got a fish pen for his paper clip. If I somehow traded a paper clip for dumpster full of gold and then traded the gold for a can of Coke, would it be a good trade? Most people I know would keep the gold.
No, a dumpster full of gold for a can of Coke is a bad trade. A house for a role in a Hollywood movie is an outstanding trade.
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### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/10 "2006-07-08T22:56:14Z")
> [@Otto](#):
>
> No, a dumpster full of gold for a can of Coke is a bad trade. A house for a role in a Hollywood movie is an outstanding trade.
Depends on what the role was worth. The house probably isn’t worth more than Cdn$50k. That’s just a guess on my part, but in smaller towns than that you can’t _give_ houses away.
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### Author:  [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/11 "2006-07-09T00:03:26Z")
How much is a role in some movie called “Debbie on Demand” with an actor of whom who one of the guy’s readers said “He’s still in movies?” worth? (I’ve never heard of the guy, myself).
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/12 "2006-07-09T01:40:15Z")
> [@Tikki](#):
>
> I’m impressed that he went from paperclip to house in only fourteen trades. Wow!
Lovejoy? Is that you?
😉
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### Author:  [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/13 "2006-07-09T03:10:20Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#):
>
> I’m not missing the point, I wasn’t commenting on the point of this guy’s mission. I was saying he didn’t trade a paper clip for a house because he didn’t.
Well, his whole mission was to start with a paperclip and end up with a house through bartering/trading.
Does he now have a house as a result of the original paperclip? The only way he didn’t parlay the paperclip into a house is if you can show the house he owns wasn’t a result of the original paperclip.
You may disagree with the function, you may disagree with the style, but he started with a paperclip and the express intent of getting a house.
What am I missing here? He set a goal, he achieved it. Do you feel you’re the judge in what his goal was? What rules for his goal have you proposed?
You’re telling us he failed somehow. Just wondering what he was supposed to do and what his real intentions were.
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### Author:  [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/14 "2006-07-09T03:18:19Z")
Personally I would barter the house for an island, but that’s just me. 😃
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### Author:  [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/15 "2006-07-09T03:58:04Z")
It looks like you’re trying to buy a house.
Would you like to:
-Trade me for a fish pen?
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### Author:  [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/16 "2006-07-09T05:24:30Z")
I have two fish pens. A brown trout and a rainbow trout. Which would you like?
> [@EJsGirl](#):
>
> Lovejoy? Is that you? 😉
Um, let me check…
Nope. 😛
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/17 "2006-07-09T07:57:34Z")
Hmm. Approximately speaking, he had to triple the value of what he was trading, fourteen times in succession. (That’s overvaluing the paperclip slightly at $0.01, but it’ll do to be going on with.)
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/18 "2006-07-09T08:12:25Z")
Dang. This story totally inspired me, and I went into my drawer to see if I could do the same thing, but I only have a black paperclip. ☹
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### Author:  [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/19 "2006-07-09T08:27:57Z")
Sweeeet!
I can totally afford a paperclip! Now I can have a house too! Awesome!!
I’ll but my paperclip on eBay for $700, then I’ll trade it for a boat. I’ll be living in Aaron Spelling’s mansion in three weeks!
I’ll take my fortune now.
What?
Internet publicity stunt? No. I plan to barter my way into a house from this paperclip I stole from my office.
No! You’re insane! This guy on the internet did it, and so will I! Whatever dude.
Since there have been no serious bids on my paperclip (who doesn’t need a paperclip?), I’ll start the barter with a #2 pencil, even if it is cheating.
Is there a message board for careless millionaires?
Carefull millionaires with no scruples?
Anyways, the going rate for the pen is an early 90’s 900cc motorcycle in new condition. Call me.
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### Author:  [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2006, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paperclip-trading-guy-got-his-house/363653/20 "2006-07-09T08:34:51Z")
I’m currently offering a clock radio; looking for a mid-sized African nation in return, preferably one which speaks French.
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