One Red Paperclip Dude Selling House

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To be honest, I never liked the one red paperclip guy. The idea was cool but it was all about “him.” He didn’t do it for charity or the benefit of others, he traded with people so that he could get himself a house…a house that he is now getting rid of. Someone take the guy ONE RED PAPERCLIP and ask for the house.

That's right, Dom and I are trading the red paperclip house. With who? For what? Well that's where things get interesting: We have no idea yet. I'll be accepting trade offers from now up until 5pm on Friday July 11th and will be in Kipling the week of July 14 to make the trade....maybe with you!
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Meh, the paperclip guy never really impressed me. It's made to sounds like he did it all himself, but in reality it was the result of people giving him things in exchange for junk because they saw him in the news and wanted to be part of it.
 
IMHO, it would have been better had he not let on what he was doing back when he started trading. I think the publicity had some influence on the items people were willing to trade. Like, maybe they traded better things than they normally would have just to be part of the "one red paperclip" phenomenon. Done correctly (without announcing ahead of time) it would have been a great social experiment to see just how far the "one man's trash is another man's treasure" addage could be taken. As it is, it's just another internet attention whore doing what they do best; trying to get attention (and the whoaretheseguys thing is retarded, who the hell cares?)
 
Steve said:
To be honest, I never liked the one red paperclip guy. The idea was cool but it was all about “him.” He didn’t do it for charity or the benefit of others, he traded with people so that he could get himself a house…a house that he is now getting rid of. Someone take the guy ONE RED PAPERCLIP and ask for the house.
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I was having this discussion with my friend. Would a hippy type of society (shared property, etc.) work. ...philanthropy and helping those truly in need being a whole different topic. We both agreed that it's usually a selfish arguement for people to get out of work. ...and John Locke & Adam Smith were right; work = reward. Red Paper clip guy is a lazy bastard, not a role model.
 
and to top it all off, the slap in the face is that he is trying to trade it off.


If he had any balls, he would find a poor family and give it to them, for one red paperclip.
 
Steve said:
and to top it all off, the slap in the face is that he is trying to trade it off.


If he had any balls, he would find a poor family and give it to them, for one red paperclip.
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amen to that, I always thought he was a sham...another internet celeb :rolleyes:
 
I wonder if he claimed it on his taxes? I know if you barter to a certian degree you are supposed to report it on your income taxes. Most people never have to worry about it because it generally is small potatoes and like for like, but this guy has a complete documentation of everything he made (income) to get to that house. So I would assume he should have claimed the market value of the house. If not I would think the IRS would be knocking at his door. Or maybe thats why he's trying to trade it?
 
I wholeheartedly disagree with the "give it to charity" or "give it to the poor." Philanthropy isn't for everyone, and when someone else receives good fortune and I don't believe it's anyone else's business to tell them how to use their own property.
 
Agreed with CptTrips. All businesses works like this, you climb to the top, a lot of times it's at the expense of others (same as selling things, people are giving you money and you mark products up for profit).

Anyways, I couldn't but help notice the tacky power strip slapped to the wall in that house.


Perhaps this guy gets a nice boat out of the deal, which could be worth more in other markets.
 
Who cares how he got it and if he did it for himself? Most people are not in a position where they can readily give a freakin' house to charity and not have any major issues afterwards. It's his house now.
 
I'm amazed at how many people don't like that guy. I don't either, but it seems that he really doesn't have ANY fans. Selfish son-of-a-bitch!

Since he basically got it for nothing, he just give it to some single mom in a shelter because her husband beat the shit out of her. Do a good deed, and do something good.

Who cares about that guy.
 
vtzifnab said:
I wonder if he claimed it on his taxes? I know if you barter to a certian degree you are supposed to report it on your income taxes. Most people never have to worry about it because it generally is small potatoes and like for like, but this guy has a complete documentation of everything he made (income) to get to that house. So I would assume he should have claimed the market value of the house. If not I would think the IRS would be knocking at his door. Or maybe thats why he's trying to trade it?
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It is actually an interesting legal question. Usually when a gift is made, the donor is responsible for paying the taxes on it (gift tax). I think he could at least make the argument that these things were gifts as he did just start with a paperclip.

I would think the IRS would argue that it is income though. Some of these "trades" seem like they were just about getting publicity, so the difference in value of the items being traded would be payment for advertising (at least the argument could be made). He is probably trading the house so it isn't as easy for the IRS to find him. ;)
 
I have no idea who or what this onerepaperclip is all about and I don't care to know. Looks stupid.
 
Can I trade him a red paperclip for the wifey? She's pretty cute.

No?

What about a bag of dried oregano?
 
:confused:Hey Im disabled and very financially challenged but I can afford a box of paper clips which I will be more than happy to trade for the House!!
 
Nablis said:
I have no idea who or what this onerepaperclip is all about and I don't care to know. Looks stupid.
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Even though you said you don't care, others might so i'll give a quick explation. It pretty much goes like this. A guy started with 1 paper clip and wanted to trade his way up to a house by trading the paper clip for something a little bigger then that for something a little bigger... till he got to a house. Problem is that he told people what he was doing and got press coverage over it. So people started to just give him stuff without anything in return (which really isn't a trade) or giving him very off sided trades. At the end he got a house because a small town wanted the exposure and so they offered him a house for whatever he currectly had to trade.

At first people might have thought it was kind of neat and fun to play along with this. However he got to his goal of a house for the paper clip. Now I don't see people "trading" him anything for a house. Now is time to sell the house and get a real job.
 
If I remember correctly, there were ~14 trades in all. Most were legit in the beginning. However, the last couple were kind of' questionable. They involved celebrities and washed up rock stars seeking public exposure. In the end, a small town offered him a house for an small airtime spot in some Canadian television program.
 
Wow, the hate is strong in this threat.

The guy traded up for some cool stuff, why is he obligated to give it to charity?

I guarantee a lot of effort and money went into his efforts, he probably had to wade through tons of garbage offers and people messing with him in order to make this thing work.

I don't understand the attitude that something isn't worth doing unless you are doing it for charity...without creative ideas like this, there wouldn't be anything for ANYONE to give to charity.
 
Steve said:
and to top it all off, the slap in the face is that he is trying to trade it off.


If he had any balls, he would find a poor family and give it to them, for one red paperclip.
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Exactly... It's kind of like he's saying, "Well, I was really expecting a mansion. I just got this? I'm really looking for more publicity and a bigger place." What's that old saying? Beggars can't be choosers...

He even admits that he doesn't have a real job. ...and selling a book about his experiences? C'mon!! At the very least, he could auction it on eBay and donate the proceeds.
 
KingPariah777 said:
Wow, the hate is strong in this threat.

The guy traded up for some cool stuff, why is he obligated to give it to charity?

I guarantee a lot of effort and money went into his efforts, he probably had to wade through tons of garbage offers and people messing with him in order to make this thing work.

I don't understand the attitude that something isn't worth doing unless you are doing it for charity...without creative ideas like this, there wouldn't be anything for ANYONE to give to charity.
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Most business and capitalism are based on the idea that you exchange work (that benefits someone else) for the benefit of yourself (usually some form of currency). The more you provide for others, the more returns to you. Philantropy being the idea that you're helping someone who has no means to. ...and non-profit organizations just being a middle-man to pass on the philanthropic donations. This guy believes that everything he does should benefit him and he shouldn't have to work. ...and then he goes to say that it's not good enough.

So, it's kind of like you're stranded in the ocean with this guy on a rowboat. He refuses to paddle and he keeps yelling out, "faster!". You're gonna want to punch this guy in the face.
 
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