Your progress the past week.

• Progress ...

Challenges you've encountered and how you're overcoming them.

• Challenges ...

What do you plan to accomplish this week.

• This week ...

• I determined my ultimate goal of trading my blue paperclip up for a used or new PS5 video game.

• I watched the Kyle MacDonaldʻs TED Talk on his red paperclip challenge and made my mine to have a more realistic goal over a very grand goal, because goals can change depending on the progress.

• I was successful this week with my first trade with my wife, trading my blue paperclip for a travel-sized vile of Tiare scented oil and soap. A value around $5, which is definitely higher value than a paperclip.

Challenges:

• My approach now is figuring out what audience would most liikely be interested in trading up for this vile of oil and soap and what ways to market it, either via social media, online marketplace or even through my social groups.

• Iʻm struggling in figuring out a proper marketing plan and what sections would be considered most important to apply.

• So far, trying to trade up my current items seems a little challenging. Those who do have interest that I have negotiated with seems more interested towards trading for equal value rather than trading up.

This Week:

• Finalize my marketing plan with an outline of 5 core sections to apply towards my strategic approach.

• Set a goal of 2 successful trade ups.

Watched the TEDTalk video to get an understanding of the concept and the potential scope of the project.

Set my goal to trade my paperclip for a trading card, then continue up-trading to obtain a card with as high a value as possible by the end of the project.

Started developing my marketing plan with the declared goal in mind.

• Challenges

Initially struggled with selecting the particular path I wanted to take with my project. I decided to settle on the field of trading cards because the initial trade value of a paperclip seems realistic as far as trading for a lower value 'base' card to trade with.

Figuring out how to make a marketing plan feels challenging, but due to the trade-based system of trading cards, I believe it might be feasible to do.

• This Week

This week I am planning to finalize my marketing plan and to make my first trade to be ready to initiate my plan.

o   I have watched the TED talk and have put in much thought as for what my end goal will be.

o   My goal is to trade a paperclip for some type of furniture for a house (dresser, shoe rack, chair, table, etc.)

o   I am now starting to develop my marketing plan and my approach to market my paper clip.

Challenges

o   I had a hard time completely understanding the assignment and figuring out what type of goal I want to aim for.

o   I am now struggling with where I am going to market off my item. Does it have to be within an website? Or can it also be in person?

This week

o   I will be finalizing my plan and start trying to market my paperclip.

Challenges:
The biggest challenge for me was figuring out where to start. If I was really going to trade up to a car, where should I start? I wanted to center the whole thing around car parts, but I have little knowledge in the field. I figured it would be more simple and easy to begin my trades with no expectations. Then once I have traded up some value, I would start targeting trades with car parts. Still, I had to figure out how to make my journey interesting and get the ball rolling, which I’m still somewhat figuring out. But creating the marketing plan helped me clarify how I will frame the journey and make my trades to stay on track and the hype building. But I am still unsure how exciting people will find my journey, especially on social media where I am at the mercy of the algorithm. 

This Week:
Into next week I plan on making my first trades. My focus will be on reaching out to friends and other acquaintances and to start networking locally from there. I will be creating a social media page, and accounts on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace as well. I will post links to these socials on online forums like Reddit. I will email any small businesses related to my local network, and get the trade momentum going as I document my journey. I will begin posting videos of interactions and other graphics in order to build some interest in my journey. Anyone who trades with me in person will be encouraged to visit these socials and encourage their friends and family to help me in my trade-up mission/project.

-I wrote and finalized my marketing plan for the time being, to see how things will work out.

-I established where I plan on marketing my paperclip.

-I started brainstorming how I will use storytelling to help market my paperclip and my journey.

Challenges

-Figuring out how to start and where to start.

-I am also trying to swallow my pride over being embarrassed to post my paperclip; for some reason, I am finding it weird to have to market my paperclip on my personal accounts, which a big reason why I haven't posted it just yet.

-Finding ways I can attract others attention towards my item and encourage them to want to trade an item with me.

-I am still wondering if I would be able to market my paperclip to people in person?

This week

-I will start to post about my paperclip across a few of my social media accounts. On Facebook, I plan on expanding my post to not only local but also others who live out of state. From there, I will see how well things are going along with my plan.

Finished and submitted the marketing plan, will continue thinking about and considering how each marketing technique will benefit me as I continue to project, and make course corrections as necessary.

Made my initial trade: traded the paperclip for protective card sleeves and used these to secure a seat to a 'Magic: The Gathering' (MtG) 'draft game' with friends (opening and assembling a deck from packs of randomized cards). After the game, kept a set of cards (Abrade; Innistrad Remastered #139) with the potential to trade for higher perceived value.

• Challenges

The initial challenge was finding the first 'outlet' for the paperclip, and the initial trade was half-useful, half-symbolic: the person needed a paperclip to have a quick solution to hold a number of cards together for storage. The card sleeves, useful for protecting cards, had universal value for people attending the game. The cards received after the event were spares with relatively low value, and attending the game was the 'price' for them, so to speak.

• This Week

The market value of the individual card is approximately $0.10, but sets of four tend to go for higher prices. I am hoping to trade this set of cards to someone who might offer a higher perceived value, based on immediate availability, supporting the local player community, and requiring the set of cards rather than making individual purchases.

• I completed and submitted my Blue Paperclip Marketing Plan.

• I used these two weeks to determine what target audiences to focus on as well as what needs and behaviors they would have towards the items I would have to lead up to my goal. Examples: Gamers, thrift shoppers, social media savvies, etc.

• As part of the plan, I used the SWOT Analysis method to identify what challenges the project may face in the upcoming weeks.

• Geographically, this project will be based on the island of O’ahu

Challenges ...

• I was unsuccessful in trading up my current product , the Tiare-scented oil and soap this past week.

This week ...

• I will start introducing the blue paperclip on Instagram and TikTok, explain the concept of the project and its goals.

• I’ll encourage followers to spread the word through social media using the hashtag #tradeupoahu

• I will post my items up for trade on sites such as Craiglist and Facebook Marketplace

Challenges: This week, time and energy were my biggest obstacles. Between work, school, a dog suffering from Pyometra, and a family that depends on me, it’s been hard to stay motivated and or even find time to focus on trading. On top of that, starting with something as low value as the rusty old paperclip I found has made it super tough to build momentum, I mean it's not exactly something people are lining up to trade for. Still, I’m trying to stay positive and keep the project moving, as I know the journey will eventually hook more people.

This Upcoming Week:
Next week, I hope to finally get some hits on online sites now that I have the YuGiOh cards up for trade. I also want to make a Facebook account to post on the marketplace there too. If I don't get any hits, I have the fallback plan of getting my friends together for our usual workout and seeing if they would be willing to trade for anything. I hope to start posting on social media too, especially if an interesting trade or two happens with my friends. I am also going to look at how others in the class are progressing, and see if I can get some insight from them. I realize I have a marketing plan, but executing it exactly as I laid it out does not seem realistic. Maybe I will revise my plan altogether. 

This week I attempted to complete another up-trade from the playset I acquired last week. In an attempt to ensure stepping up in trade value, I traded for a card during another game night that can only be used in a different game format and is popular in those different format decks. Specifically, I traded the playset for the card 'Sephara, Sky's Blade' (The List) with a value of $2.99. The trade was possible to make because, as mentioned the past week, cards have higher values as playsets rather than as individual cards. Additionally, the person traded too had a higher need of the playset, and also had a spare copy of their traded card.

• Challenges

The challenge this week was making the jump up in value, and the trade was advantageous moreso because of the circumstance: the playset being offered up for trade increased its perceived value, and the person was willing to trade a card for it they happened to own multiple times, making its perceived value less to them. Additionally, the trade being conducted within a friend group and local community once again likely allowed for the perceived values to be somewhat different from the market values.

• This Week

This week I am planning to take the newly acquired card and make another trade for a different playset of higher value than $2.99. The trade will likely lead to a higher step up in value again if done within a local community, but I will continue to monitor online market values as well in case a better trade opportunity comes up.

-I posted my paperclip on Facebook, Instagram, and I would pitch it to some friends, co-workers, and neighbors in person.

-I have made my first trade for a little woven basket for a plant.

Challenges:

-After overcoming my nerves of posting the paperclip, I had issues with gaining the attention towards my posts on social media, let alone towards the interest of wanting to trade my paperclip. However, what I found helpful within this weeks progress was me trying to trade my item with people in person. By doing so, I had a neighbor who was willing to trade a woven basket for plants.

-I had a little challenge to find time to do trading but I was able to manage by doing my daily evening walks with my daughter and using my trading skills with my neighbors.

This week:

-I will continue to trade, my basket for hopefully something even better or of same value. (Although I would really love to keep the basket I received.) I am surprised I was even able to make a trade in the first place but now that I have something that is more valuable than a paperclip, I am hoping to be able to keep this up and trade for something even better.

• I made my second trade! I traded my travel size tiare scented oil and soap for a black tahitian pearl pendant.

• I posted my product up for trade and the challenge on Facebook Marketplace, Instagram and Craiglist this past week. I updated it after the most recent trade.

Challenge...

• The exposure for the challenge on marketplace sites has been slim. On Facebook Marketplace, my listing with the oil and soap only received about a dozen views, despite it being posted on other Oʻahu buy, sell and trade group pages. My Craigslist post has been a bust so far.

• On the other hand, sharing the challenge on social media, mainly Instagram and Facebook, has gotten more attention. My hula sister, Nat, saw my challenge on her feed and thought it was an awesome idea and was down to make a trade, the tahitian black pearl pendant (value around $20-$30?)

This week...

• Attempt to make my next trade up with the black pearl.

• Along with the online listings, I plan to focus a lil more on social media posts, seeing that this method is bringing more attention to the challenge and the item up for trade with those I know personally. Hoepfully, I can trade up to more eye-catching items items to post on my listings that could cause more of an audience on FB Marketplace and Craigslist.

• Also, if somehow I am able to trade my black pearl for a new/used PS5 game, my ultimate goal, I may be interested to extending the challenge to see what I could trade up the game for.

This week I successfully completed my second trade. I traded the deck of YuGiOh cards I got last week for a used, but one-of-a-kind, iPhone 14 Pro case from Carved.com. The case originally retailed for around $50 and while it's used and battered, still holds more monetary value than the cards (I believe). The trade was made with a friend who’s always been a fan of collecting cards. When he heard about the project over Discord he wanted to help out and be part of my story. This trade gave the project more depth, as I was able to get someone involved for the story, more than just the item's value. He also had recently switched back to Android and had no use for the iPhone case. After the trade I listed the case on Craigslist and set the expectation that I would trade it for something valued at around $20 or more. This puts me in a better position to build toward an even bigger trade soon, hopefully!

https://honolulu.craigslist.org/mau/mob/d/haiku-carved-case-for-iphone-14-pro/7840029409.html

Challenges:

My biggest challenge continues to be finding willing and able traders. While friends, family and acquaintances are often interested and intrigued by the concept, not that many people are actually up to making a real trade. People may even get excited, but then quickly realize that they don’t really want or need what I’m offering, or worse, they can’t offer me anything in return. Most people seem to find it hard to part with their possessions, or they’ve thrown or given away everything they don’t need already. So I'm still working on turning curiosity into actual good step up trades. It’s also hard for me to gauge value when trading used items, especially if the item is banged up. Maybe the YuGiOh cards were worth more for instance, or maybe I got lucky, it can be hard to tell.

This Week:

Next week I’m planning to step up my efforts more. I’ll be posting my story as it’s developed so far on Facebook and Facebook’s Marketplace. This will give me a wider online audience and hopefully engage with friends of friends as well. I’m also hoping to make a bigger trade, something more exciting or versatile to open up more trade opportunities. If possible, I would still like it to be related to cars or car parts to keep things going in the right direction. I’ll continue spreading my story in-person, as well as following up with people who showed interest early on but didn’t follow through. 

This week I completed another trade up and acquired a playset of cards of higher market value. Specifically, I traded last week's card for 4 copies of 'Go for the Throat' (Foundations Jumpstart), each of which are roughly worth $0.80 as their average market value. While a smaller step up from the previous card of $2.99 in value, the acquired cards see common use in play due to their particular effect (card removal), which may drive their perceived value up as well.

• Challenges

No major challenges this week, but in more cases than not I am realizing that these trades are much more advantageous to do within friend groups and/or local communities than over a larger, online market. It is somewhat easier to play these up trades off of perceived value and in-person connections, rather than flat market value over the internet.

• This Week

This week I am planning to up trade the playset, likely with the same strategy I have up traded the previous playset with - trade for single higher-value card, trade that card for another playset, etc. With reaching into the realm of some of these cards/playsets having values of a couple dollars by now, I am hoping that the step up in value is going to be more noticeable during the upcoming weeks of the project.

-I completed my marketing plan but have not tried to trade or even market a paperclip. So I need to do those this coming week.

Challenges

-I'm behind in all of my classes due to personal stuff so it's hard to get back to where we're supposed to be. I think this week I'm finally almost caught up so I need to put more time into this project.

• I still have my black pearl for trade. I’ve had potential trades with people interested, mostly my family, friends and co-workers. However, none of them fell though.

• My posts on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist for the paperclip challenge and the black pearl had some views and responses, but no follow ups.

Challenges…

• It’s been difficult catching people’s attention through online marketplace. It’s like fishing in a pond full of fish but not taking the bait.

This Week…

• New week, new posts. I plan to repost my challenges and item for trade in hopes to be caught in the algorithm.

• I’m also going to visit some thrift stores, game stores, maybe even jewelry stores, to see if anyone would be interested in trading up my black pearl.

• If anyone reading this know somebody that is interested in trading up a black pearl, please let me know. Mahalo!

-I have made a new trade with one of my family members. I traded my woven basket for a cooking pan.

-I haven't had anyone interact with my post of my pan just yet but I do feel like someone will be interested in this trade!

Challenges:

-I don't get much interactions/attention towards my posts due to the lack of followers.

-I won't be changing too much to my plan because so far I have been making some nice trades, however, I will be finding other ways I can market my trade. Such as: adding hashtags to my post, posting it on other platforms, and even re-post about my trade frequently to ensure others see it as well.

This week:

-I will be posting my trade on my stories for different platforms and on multiple days to ensure the word about my trade can receive more attention.

- I plan to try clean the pan I received to make it more presentable to others.

• I got a trade confirmed and planned for tomorrow, Monday, trading my black Tahitian Pearl for this mini Polaroid camera with one of my co-workers.

• My facebook marketplace post has had some traction, can’t say the same for my Craigslist post.

Challenges…

• My week was surprisingly busy and I barely had time to follow up on visiting thrift stores and gaming stores to promote my paperclip challenge.

This Week….

• Plan to visit at least two thrift stores in promoting the challenge.

• Update my Facebook marketplace post after trade is successful tomorrow.

• Post the successful trade on social media to promote the challenge and encourage the audience to participate.

This week I completed another up trade from my previous week’s playset with the attempt to invest into a card from a specific collection in order to offer higher perceived value in my next trade. Specifically, I traded the playset of roughly $3.60 for the card ‘Lightning Greaves’ (Doctor Who #243).

• Challenges

The challenge for this week was figuring out how to start increasing the trade value after the initial successful up trades. Taking some of the advice/question from the professor’s comment on my past week’s post, I decided that specializing into specific sets/editions of cards may be a worthwhile endeavour. I decided to continue trading within the field of MtG cards because it has been proving to be a reliable medium for the up trades.

The acquired card is considered a ‘staple card’ in that it is commonly acquired for decks of the format they are legal in. It is from a ‘collaboration set’, in which franchises otherwise unrelated to MtG are presented in new card releases. The particular set was selected because I was able to find someone in local circles who bought the set but didn’t necessarily need the staple card, and was therefore willing to trade it away for the proposed value of $3.60.

• This Week

This week I am planning to complete another trade, but aim for a higher perceived value through finding someone who is specifically looking for cards from any of the ‘Doctor Who’ sets. The decision was risky because it limits the potential pool of people to trade to, but might allow for higher value to be gained from the trade.

-I have made another trade; I was able to trade my cooking pan for a small sized Keurig.

-My goal was to trade for a home appliance that and o far I have been happy with the items I've been able to trade lately.

-I did research on the type of pan I had previously traded for and it seems to have been around the same price as the Keurig I have now. Lucky for me the Keurig has been lightly used, and I was able to trade through a family friend.

Challenges:

-Honestly, with this item I have traded for, I am going to have a hard time letting this one go, if I do make another trade. I would really love to keep this because I have been in the need for a new coffee machine, however, the show must go on.

-With the school term coming to an end, it is making it harder for me to be more attentive to the different platforms I have posted these on, and it's been hard to get back to/ reach out to people.

This week:

-I plan to post this trade on a platform that I think more people would take care of this item and be more interested in (on Instagram), I would like this item to be taken good care of for the next user so hopefully the next person that trades with me will be someone I am close to.

• Haven’t had much progress because I had been sick this week

Challenges:

• Not much action on my Facebook post either this past week

• Haven’t had a chance to visit any thrift stores

This Week:

• Follow up on my plan from this past week

• This week was difficult and being sick didn’t help, fortunately I’m a lot better today.

-The Keurig was very easy to trade up. I had a cousin that was in need of a coffee machine and I was searching for a highchair that I can use for my baby because she is now entering her stage of eating solids. This was an amazing trade in my opinion because both demands were met on behalf of me and my cousin.

Challenges:

-My biggest challenge for this week was letting go of the Keurig that I previously had.

As for getting a trade, it was quite easy because I have many people in my family that were willing to trade with me. I went with the highchair because it was the item I was most interested in trading.

This week:

-I will see if I can make any other trades. Taking on this item, I now realize that I have to be reach out to people who are parents.

This week, I successfully completed my third trade of the project and made one of the biggest leaps in value so far. I traded the Carved iPhone 15 case for a Focusrite Scarlett audio amplifier, which is a legit piece of studio gear used by musicians, content creators, etc. It makes up for me not being able to get any trade last week. The person I traded with was my sister’s boyfriend, who used to use the audio amplifier to connect a studio microphone to a computer. He likes to rap for fun and it’s the only way to capture good sound. He originally paid $60 for it used, but new models can go for $100 to $150 depending on the version. The amp appears to be in solid condition besides a layer of dust, and he included all the cords too. This trade definitely feels like a turning point in the challenge, although late in the game, this item may actually bring in some attention online. I have however given up on trading up to a truck obviously, and hope to just maximize my item value going forward, the dream would be $1000. To keep up momentum and expand reach, I posted the amp on both Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. I also wrote a series of Facebook posts regarding my journey progress, and to announce that I am looking to trade..

Challenges:

One challenge has been figuring out how to value items fairly when they’re used or discontinued. The amp, for example, it years old, dusty, and previously used by multiple owners. I have no idea how long it will work for or what this model goes for now. The next trade needs to up the value, but I don’t even know how much the case was worth or how much value I have really gained. Another ongoing challenge is getting engagement from new people outside my immediate or extended circle. I’m really trying now to reach a broader audience through local marketplaces and more frequent updates.

This Upcoming Week:

Next week’s focus is to secure Trade #4. I’ll continue promoting the amplifier on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, and update my Facebook page series when I make a trade. My goal is to keep increasing both the value of the items and the visibility of the project, while still holding onto the storytelling aspect that’s been driving some engagement so far. If I can get people to somehow share my Facebook page with others that would be a good move as well.

Newest Facebook post (more on page): https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15L5tvovLj/

Facebook marketplace: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AN45rYqU6/

Craigslist: https://honolulu.craigslist.org/mau/sys/d/haiku-focusrite-scarlett-solo-usb/7843958687.html

Challenges:
One challenge this week was getting a hit via Craigslist, but then having to make sure it was worth my while. I didn’t just want to meet up and try to barter for all the small junk this guy (Brandon S.) was offering, so I tried emailing him back. There was a lag in communications, and ultimately despite wanting to make a trade happen, it did not seem like it would be a solid step up and I was forced to decline. I think it’s going to be a challenge going forward and maybe I can further edit my online advertisements to clarify what I am looking to trade for, although I don’t want to limit myself so that’s a factor. I want to only accept trades that either boost the value clearly or make it easier to market the next item. This has only really been possible through my network of connections, so I either need to leverage this network further or up my game and descriptions online somehow.

This Upcoming Week:
Now that I have the Playstation controller listed on Craiglist, I will consider reaching back out to Brandon. I will also post more about this on Facebook Marketplace. I hope to make at least one more trade that will bring me closer to my goal of trading up to a $1000 item. I’m also planning to do another post series update all of this on Facebook, hoping to keep the storytelling angle alive and encourage more sharing through word-of-mouth. Staying active and open to trades is the priority now as we head into the final stages!

https://honolulu.craigslist.org/mau/vgm/d/haiku-playstation-dualsense-controller/7845597859.html

Traded sharpie pen and received pack of playing cards from my sister.

Challenges:

Still, isolation and difficulty engaging with people. I know that this project was supposed to be trading outside of one's family. At least I am learning from reading other people's posts.

I ended up missing last week's post due to other class projects and my work schedule, but I was able to get back to further up trading this week. I managed to find someone interested in trading for the limited set card from my last post. Between that post and my trade, the market value of the card increased from the initial value of ~$3.60 to $4.70. While I don't have precise information as to why the jump in market value happened, recent events with other MtG limited collaboration sets might have influence it: specifically that a Spider Man related limited set will require commissioning of new art for digital copies/versions due to a copyright mixup.

Regardless, the jump in value was beneficial to me because it allowed me to trade the card with both higher market value and perceived value. I ended up trading for the card 'Boros Charm' (Foundations), which has a current market value of $5.80. My risk with trading the limited collaboration card ended up paying off - especially after the above mentioned issue with newer collaboration releases - as the person I traded it to considered it 'cheaper' to trade their card than to pay the market price online.

• Challenges

No major challenges this week, other than the fact of not having enough time to contribute to my project last week. Finding someone specifically interested in the collaboration card proved a little more difficult than finding someone who is, in general, interested in the game within my social circles, but after I did find another player, the jump in market value likely benefited my side of the trade due to creating a risk of the price rising even higher - making the in-person trade seem more beneficial to both parties.

• This Week

I am unsure whether we will be making another trade next week or not - with the project coming to an end - but if we are, I will be aiming to further up trade my current card. This particular card could be considered another 'staple card' in that it has multiple uses for a variety of decks, and would be likely sought after by a wider set of people.

• So, in the end, I actually made my final trade and have reached my end goal. I have traded my mini polaroid camera and extra film (priced around $20-$30) for this game "Stray" from my brother Pono (I had no idea he had a PS5). He saw my Facebook Marketplace post and contacted me saying he is willing to trade.

Challenges:

• Prior to the trade, I have contacted a few thrift stores (all of them are far away from where I live) and shared my paperclip story to see if they would be interested in trading up and participating. Practically, none of them were interested, which was a bummer.

• As a last resort, I have considered pawning my mini camera to see if I could at least gain a cash amount for a used PS5 game. However, I was unaware of the process it takes to pawn items and how complicated it is. By protocol, you need to schedule an appointment with the pawnbroker, have your items appraised and and priced out (most likely by market price), give you an offer price, in which at times there is no negotiating, and when accepted, youʻd have to fill out a bunch of paperwork. Interesting.

This Week:

• It wasnʻt really the way I hope the project would end, but the main this is that I have met my goal with 4 successful trades. Blue paperclip -> Tiare scented travel size lotion and soap -> Tahitian black pearl pendant -> Mini polaroid camera with extra film -> PS5 game "Stray"

• I will be processing my journey and look back at what I have learned.

Challenges:
There were two main challenges this week. First, I wasn’t able to make a final trade this week. A couple possible trades fell apart, which was not a good feeling, I’m honestly happy with what I ended up with. Second, I had to write the reflection “lesson learned” paper, and writing papers is always hard. Putting everything into words and making it flow without going off on multiple tangents was kind of more difficult than I expected, but I got it done.

This Week:
The project is officially over. It feels good to reach the end, even if I didn’t hit the ultimate goal or anywhere close haha. I think I learned a good amount about communication, being creative/adaptable, and pushing through setbacks. Overall, I’m pretty proud of what I accomplished from just a paperclip and appreciate the experiences I had.