One red paperclip is a website created by Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald, who traded his way from a single red paperclip to a house in a series of fourteen online trades over the course of a year.^[1] MacDonald was inspired by the children's game Bigger, Better. His site received a considerable amount of notice for tracking the transactions. "A lot of people have been asking how I've stirred up so much publicity around the project, and my simple answer is: 'I have no idea'", he told the BBC.^[2] The story has inspired countless copycats, who have attempted to trade their way up from a paperclip or other small items to something expensive, with varying degrees of success.^[3]

History

MacDonald made his first trade, a red paper clip for a fish-shaped pen, on July 14, 2005. He reached his goal of trading up to a house with the fourteenth transaction, trading a movie role for a house. This is the list of all transactions MacDonald made:^[2][4]

1. On July 14, 2005, he went to Vancouver and traded the paperclip for a fish-shaped pen.^[5]
2. He then traded the pen the same day for a hand-sculpted doorknob from Seattle, Washington.
3. On July 25, 2005, he travelled to Amherst, Massachusetts, with a friend to trade the doorknob for a Coleman camp stove with fuel.
4. On September 24, 2005, he went to California, and traded the camp stove for a Honda generator.
5. On November 16, 2005, he travelled to Maspeth, Queens, and traded the generator for an "instant party": an empty keg, an IOU for filling the keg with the beer of the bearer's choice, and a neon Budweiser sign. This was his second attempt to make the trade: his first had resulted in the generator being temporarily confiscated by the New York City Fire Department.^[6]
6. On December 8, 2005, he traded the "instant party" to Quebec comedian and radio personality Michel Barrette for a Ski-Doo snowmobile.
7. Within a week of that, he traded the snowmobile for a two-person trip to Yahk, British Columbia, scheduled for February 2006.
8. On or about January 7, 2006, he traded the second spot on the Yahk trip for a box truck.
9. On or about February 22, 2006, he traded the box truck for a recording contract with Metalworks in Mississauga, Ontario.
10. On or about April 11, 2006, he traded the contract to Jody Gnant for a year's rent in Phoenix, Arizona.
11. On or about April 26, 2006, he traded the year's rent in Phoenix for one afternoon with Alice Cooper.
12. On or about May 26, 2006, he traded the afternoon with Cooper for a Kiss motorized snow globe.
13. On or about June 2, 2006, he traded the snow globe to Corbin Bernsen for a role in the film Donna on Demand.^[7]
14. On July 12, 2006, he traded the movie role for a two-story house located at 503 Main Street in Kipling, Saskatchewan.^[8]

After remaining vacant for a few years, the house was sold to Billie and Ellen Johnson in 2010, who turned the house into a café known as the Red Paperclip Cottage which is still operating as of 2025.^[9]

In 2015, MacDonald spoke about his experience in a TED talk in Vienna, Austria.^[10][11]

See also

• Gudbrand on the Hill-side
• Hans in Luck
• Straw Millionaire
• Trade Me Project
• Wheat and chessboard problem

References

Further reading

External links

• "One Red Paperclip Website" Red Paperclip Official site.