Small SNAFU

Well, 2 weeks ago I made a deal to trade my Guitar Hero +accessories for an XBox 360 with 2 controllers. A nice deal, I thought. It's still in the realm of video games, but a system is better than a game. The stipulation was that the other guy had to give me a working XBox. He agreed and sent the thing to the manufacterer for repairs.

So why the SNAFU?

Well, I just got some bad-ish news.

A friend told me that he sent out his XBox for a similar repair and it took 3 months to get it back. A different friend also said the same thing happened to him but when he got his back in 3 months, it still wasn't working.

Grrr.

I generally try to be positive about things, so when I first made the deal I decided I could spend the time making a blog about this. (tada)

Then when I was caught up on the blog, I got to work looking for trades for the XBox. I've already found a few decent offers, and I'll admit that it was nice knowing I didn't have to commit to any of them until my XBox was actually in hand. But now it looks like I'll be waiting a while, and that's frustrating. Maybe I'll get lucky and it won't take 3 months. Maybe I'll get lucky and find an amazing trade while I wait.

But neither of those things are likely. So for now I'm just updating my trading SNAFU. Tip to would-be paperclip traders: don't agree to a trade unless the object is in hand and in the condition you want it.

Estimated months to date of XBox arrival: 3 (April 15th, tax day).
Projected trades I could have made in that time: Five to Ten.
Lesson Learned about the value of time wasted: Priceless.

Trade #6

Say hi to a very happy kid. Just for fun, I'm going to call him... Bob! Bob here is now the very proud owner of a 1966 Topps Pete Rose card & a 1992 Hall of Fame Fotoball signed by Rollie Fingers and Tom Seaver (latter came with a cert. of authenticity).

Now what I found most interesting about this trade is that Bob and I are both fans of baseball, but we had very different opinions about what item is the most valuable. For me, it was the Pete Rose card. You know... more hits than any player in the history of the game but hasn't been elected to the Hall of Fame because he gambled on baseball including games he both played in games he managed and then lied about it for something like 20 years. Yeah. THAT Pete Rose. I think and hope that one day "Charlie Hustle" will be admitted into the Hall (after all, never bet on his team to LOSE!... only to win... that was the Charlie Hustle way). But that's not what this post is about.

You see, my trading partner Bob found the Rose card interesting, but it was the Fotoball that he went nuts over. He asked out of curiosity whose autographs were on the ball. I told him Rollie Fingers and Tom Seaver.

"Tom Seaver!" he shouted. "I MUST have that ball."

As I mentioned in my last post... paydirt. I found a baseball fan who appreciated what I had. Better yet, he was truly fanatic about it.

When I asked him why he liked the Seaver ball so much he said simply that Tom Seaver was the greatest pitcher the Mets ever had. As a Yankees fan, I wouldn't know. But if someone came to me with a Don Larson ball, I guess I'd react pretty much the same way. Then Bob started listing all sorts of Seaver stats that were both over my head and circling my heart. Here was a kid who would truly appreciate a special item of baseball memorobilia. I immediately wanted him to have the ball (and the Rose card, too... what the heck), and he hadn't even made an offer yet.

We talked briefly about the possible trade options, and really within just a minute or two, we had a tentative deal. So what did he offer? Well, let's just say that of all my trades thusfar, I feel this one was the most fair. Bob gave me a video game for the Wii gaming system: "Guitar Hero World Tour Complete Band Game", to be exact. It came with the game, the wireless guitar, the wireless drum set, and a wired microphone. Bob never used it. It was still sealed in the box. He explained that he got it as a present just AFTER his Wii system had broken. Since that time, he'd loaded up on games for another system and his Wii and the 2 or 3 games he had for it were pretty much just sitting there doing nothing.

I mentioned above that I feel this was a very fair trade. Why? Well because financially speaking, it is impossible to say who won here. You see, the game with all its components are currently valued at around $150. The ball and card are harder to judge because a LOT rests on the condition of the card and I'm no expert. I did a little MORE research on baseball card values. Apparently the corners are the major focal point... they love to see sharp 90-degree angles, which are hard to come by. At my best guess I figure the ball had a value of around 35 bucks and the Rose card was worth at least 30 and might have been as high as 75.

"But wait!" you're saying. "I thought you said it was impossible to say who had the better financial deal." And right you are. As it stands (and assuming I didn't vastly underestimate the condition of the card), I'm clearly the winner. The thing is, time changes everything. As time goes on, my Wii game will only decrease in value while his ball and card will only increase. Already the Wii game has halved in value since when it first came out, which was only a little over a year ago. And when/if Pete Rose does get accepted into the Hall of Fame, that card will instantly spike in value.

Now, that's not the end of this story. I mentioned above that Bob and I made a tentative deal that day. That's because I had a stipulation. Even as he made his offer I got the uneasy feeling that this whole trading-for-something-bigger-and-better adventure was getting away from me. I mean, here I was less than 2 months and a mere 6 trades away from a silly little PAPERCLIP and I was being offered what is basically the hottest video game on the market. I was suddenly worried that I might be crossing some sort of line with my students. So I insisted that Bob provide a signed note from his parents allowing the trade. He assured me that would not be a problem, and indeed it appeared not to be. He had both the giant Wii game box and the note the next monday in school. And, yes, I did check to make sure it wasn't his handwriting. You can too if you click it so you can read the thing.  (It's modified to protect Seaver-Bob's true identity).

In the meantime, Bob is just giddy over his Seaver autograph, and that makes me smile. In fact, I call Bob "Seaver" now. I heard a rumor that he barked at some other kids in math class when they reached over to touch it. Can't confirm the story, but I like the idea of it. A true fan WOULD do that.

So I'm really very happy about this trade. Bob is happy and I'm happy for him. And in the meantime, I have something of better current value that I can trade right away.

Speaking of trading the Wii game... the offers came POURING in immediately. All sorts of video games & systems. But before you try to top what I've been offered, I already have a deal made. We are waiting on the item to make it official, but all parties have agreed (and in this case there are FOUR of us!). It is the last, I'm sorry to say, that I'll be making with my students.

What's the trade?
Why the ultimatum?
And how will I trade from now on?

As soon as I have it in hand, I'll post again. Farewell for now.
If you get bored waiting, please check out the link at the top of the page to see my wife's cakes. And if you like... buy one! They're yummy and fun to look at too.

Trade #5

Say Hello to Bobbi. She's not really named Bobbi, of course. In fact, now that she has her beloved guitar, I've nicknamed her 'Jimi'. She didn't get it. Hopefully she will one day.

Bobbi/Jimi saw the guitar I got from my last trade and just about dropped her jaw on the floor. She didn't so much offer me anything as much as she asked what I wanted. Heh. I told her I wanted a business location for my wife. I think she thought I was serious.

Now without a doubt the guitar was the most popular item that my students fawned over. I got all kinds of offers. Originally Bobbi/Jimi offered a 1966 Fleer Pete Rose card. I found that kinda cool, but knew the guitar was worth more, especially since it was a Fleer card, not Topps. Another kid offered a football signed by Dan Marino, and I almost took it, but something told me to hold out. I think I knew that Bobbi/Jimi could do better. One thing I knew was that she really wanted that guitar. She kept asking if I'd made a trade yet, kept telling me she had wanted to learn to play guitar for a long time, etc. etc. So I decided to wait a bit. Let it sit. Let it simmer.

I held onto the guitar for two weeks even though I got all the good offers on the first day. When Bobbi/Jimi did up her offer (with her dad's help, I might add), I did some quick research and found out that my guitar was worth pretty much the same thing that her offer was... somewhere around $50 or $60. Maybe a little more. It was hard to tell because her offer's value depended a great deal on its condition. Without getting a good look at the thing and some real time to do research, it appeared that I was basically making a sideways trade. But don't worry. I had a plan.

So what was her offer? A 1966 TOPPS Pete Rose card AND a 1992 Hall of Fame Fotoball. That's Fo-to-Ball, not football. A Fotoball is a baseball with both an autograph and an imprinted colored image of the guy who signed it. They are made exclusively by Major League Baseball for special events... like getting inducted to the Hall of Fame, for instance. This one was a double Fotoball. It had both Rollie Fingers and Tom Seaver's image/autograph. It even came with a certificate of authenticity. My research said the Fotoball was worth about $25-$30 and based on it's condition the Pete Rose card was worth about $40-$60. So, high end, I'd be making a little profit, but low end it was a sideways move.

I sat on the offer another two or three days, thinking, thinking, thinking. In the end, two things made up my mind to trade my guitar for Bobbi/Jimi's Pete Rose card and Fotoball. They were:
1) She REALLY wanted it, and I just couldn't stand to break her heart. Besides, it was just stepping sideways.
2) Though a baseball audience would be much smaller than a guitar audience (and boy was it!), I knew that baseball fans can tend to be, well... fanatic. If I could just find the right person, they would probably be willing to offer something really cool.

So based on my heart and my gut, I made the trade with Bobbi/Jimi, and her smile says it all.

For those of you wondering what her dad had to do with this... apparently he has lots of baseball memerobilia, including a couple of the Fotoballs and more than one Pete Rose card. Once again, extras/doubles of something becomes trash in someone's mind and I reap the rewards.

Well, in this case, what I reaped was the potential of rewards. Did it pay off? You know how to find out. For now I'll tell you only this: I had exactly 1 offer for two weeks, and it wasn't a very good one. And then... bam! Paydirt.

Trade #4

Here's another student who wanted to trade with me. Let's call him... eh... Bob. :)

Bob is a huge baseball fan. Nice. Just what I was looking for. Now just so you know, Bob understood immediately that other people might want that Riversharks baseball and that I was sure to get offers. But he didn't want to be beaten.

So Bob thought long and hard (not really... he actually made his offer within seconds of seeing the ball) and told me he would give me... a guitar. My reaction? Yeah right, kid. But that's not what I said. On the outside I said "Interesting. I'll think about it."

And Bob was right. I did get other offers. Most were other kinds of sports autographs, but none very interesting... just things like a piece of paper with the name of a guy who played in the majors (baseball) for two months or a football signed by a third string quarterback. Truth be told, I really wasn't interested in another sport thing b/c I didn't want to limit my audience. Thankfully, there was Bob.

Sure enough he soon came into school with a guitar. And it was nice. Had a case too. I didn't even think about it. We made our trade that day... but not before I asked him why. Bob explained that A) he was a big baseball fan and knew that a ball signed by a whole team... even a minor league team... was special. He also explained that B) if any one of those 22 players made it to the big leagues, he will have essentially stolen from me. And finally he said that C) he had 6 guitars at home and this was his oldest/smallest (it was a 3/4 sized "child's" guitar).

Again with the logic.

My next trade ended up taking a while. And not for a lack of offers, either. Check out my next post to find out why. In the meantime, enjoy the look on Bob's face as he flaunts his team-signed baseball.

From a paperclip to a guitar in four trades. I think this was the point where I realized that this whole trading thing actually had something to it. Thanks Bob, for being a part of the story.

Trade #3

This is Bob (not really). He loved my squishy ball. And who can blame him? It was purple. It was squishy. It was a ball. And those rubbery neddle things... who could resist running their fingers through them? Certainly not Bob. He wanted it. But so did five or six other kids, so he knew there would be some competition.

And what was I offered for my purple squishy ball? Well, one kid offered me a green squishy ball just like mine. Ha. Cute. No thanks, kid. Another offered a bigger squishy ball three times the size of mine. That one made me tilt my head and ask why. I was told he had three big ones but mine was small enough to put in his backpack and take it to school. As I've said before... I guess you can't argue with that logic.

But Bob here offered me something even better. A baseball. But not just any baseball. When he showed it to me, at first I thought it was dirty. Then I looked closer and realized it was COVERED with signatures. Calm down, calm down. It was NOT the 1927 Yankees, as much as I would have drooled over it and asked Bob what planet he had been born on. No, Bob's baseball was signed by the Camden Riversharks. They are a minor league team. I'd never heard of them. Neither, apparently, had Bob. He said the ball was given to him by his uncle?/ dad?/ older brother?... I can't remember exactly, but some male relative. And it had been sitting on his shelf for months.

I knew instantly that despite the fact that the names on that ball were very unlikely to ever be worth more than they were that day, as a stand-alone ball it was still pretty cool. After all, it wasn't just one or two names. It was the whole team. I counted 22 signatures and started cross-referencing them with names I found online. Once I saw the third match, I knew I had to have that ball.

Bob was happy to trade with me. You can see the look of smugness on his face, knowing that he got the better of me. But there's no photo of my face that day. My smile was even bigger because I knew something that Bob didn't... baseball fans can be obsessive. And I knew that all I had to do was find the right fan... one who knew the potential of the ball and also thought the team-signed ball was at least a little special. I figured I'd have to be a little patient for this one because my audience would be a little smaller.

Turns out I didn't have to wait that long. :)
Tune in next time for the results of my next awesome trade. For now, click on the links up top, already. My wife's cakes can't appreciate themselves! Thanks for reading.

Trade #2

This is Susan. (She's not a student, so I can use her real name). Ten minutes after I traded my bluepaperclip for a silver Sharpie marker, Susan was there to make my next trade. She's a teacher too, see, and she and a few other teachers already knew about the One Red Paperclip story that I was sharing. When I walked into her classroom with a little smug look on my face, she already knew what had happened.

"Did you trade your paperclip?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact I did," I told her. Then I held up the marker.
"Is it dried out?" she asked with a little smirk. I assured her it wasn't and decided to prove it. So I asked her if she had any black construction paper. She was confused. I had to explain that it was a silver Sharpie marker for use on dark surfaces. She still looked confused, so I showed her.

Susan simply marveled at the thing. Somehow, she's never heard of this new development. And though she hadn't intended on being a part of this whole thing, within seconds Susan was offering me all sorts of things from her classroom: box of staples, box of chalk, etc. I almost went with the box of candy hearts with Spanish sayings on it (Susan teaches Spanish), but when I balked a little she lit up and went into her closet.

She returned with a purple squishy ball thing with all sorts of rubbery needles all over it. She said she'd seen how much I'd enjoyed playing with it the other day (it was true... sometimes I'm as easily amused as month-old puppy) and thought I should have it. In fact, she has been telling me ever since that day that I should have never given away the purple squishy ball.

But I did. Because I got a cool offer for it.
But that's a story for another post. :)

Trade #1

So this was my first trade. What happened was I read the Kyle MacDonald story to a small group of students and then, on a lark, offered them my BLUE paperclip for trade.

I immediately got offers of inch-long pencils, a pen with a chewed cap, and other paperclips. But not this kid. This kid (since he's a student, I'll call him "Bob" to protect his identity) offered me a silver Sharpie marker. He said that it could write on black paper. I thought that was cool and way better than a paperclip, so I happily traded with Bob.

Here is a pic of Bob as happy as a lark with his new paperclip.

When I asked him why in the world he'd trade me a Sharpie for a silly little paperclip, he said he needed one for his Science report and that he had 6 silver Sharpies in his pencil case. I guess you can't argue with that logic.

The last time I talked to Bob, he still had the blue paperclip tucked neatly away in his wallet. He seemed convinced that it was more special, more valuable, than a standard paperclip, even a blue one.

I hope he's right. I also hope he didn't get in trouble with his science teacher! Maybe I could put in a good word for him.

Either way, I have to thank Bob for his help. Without that Sharpie, I never would have gotten to where I am today.

I wonder, if I'd have taken the short pencil, would I be further on in my journey towards getting my wife a storefront for her cake business, or would I just be writing this story with a cramp in my hand?

Genesis of "One BLUE Paperclip" (aka start here)

If you're on blogspot, you've probably heard of Kyle MacDonald. If not, you should google him. He's so famous he has a blog, a website, a book, and a Wikipedia article! Too tired to google? Ok. Let's just sum it up by saying he used a childhood came called "Bigger and Better" to make a series of 14 trades over the course of one year to turn a red paperclip... into a house. No, you did not misread that and I didn't type it wrong. Oh yeah, did I mention that he's also in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most successful trade ever? Like I said... Google him sometime. He's how this all started for me.

In the meantime, my story is this:

My name is Keith Fritz. I'm a husband, an author, and a teacher... in that order. :)

I came across Kyle's story on Wikipedia & read the article to my students. They were as intrigued as I was and on a lark I offered to trade my blue paperclip. I got offers of snubby little pencils & pens with chewed caps and, yes, other paperclips, but one kid actually offered me something I thought was better than the blue paperclip, so I traded him. Later that day I shared the article with another teacher & when she asked if I had made any trades yet, I showed her my new item & was partially astounded to hear she wanted it.

Long story short, in two months of the inception of my own paperclip trading, I was in possession of something worth a little under two hundred bucks. Wanna know how I got there? Read the posts.

So what's my goal? I want to give my wife a location for her cake business. You know those shows on tv like Cake Boss & Ace of Cakes? Same thing only my wife doesn't have employees, connections to television executives, ... or a storefront of her own. :(  Ideally I'd like to get her something in the Allentown, PA area as this is where we currently live & quite like it here, but really anywhere in the US near a consumer hub would work. So, yes, just to be clear about this, we ARE willing to move to Hawaii.  I know this may seem far fetched, but if Kyle did it, so can I.

This blog is an archive of my paperclip trading adventures.  Along the way I'll make observations about what does & doesn't work, so if any of you out there would like to try it, you can learn from my experiences.
In the meantime, if you feel so inclined to do so, I'd love it if you'd become a follower of this blog and even share it with your friends. The more the merrier.

-Keith