07-20-2010, 01:16 PM
<i>Starting with an old cell phone a friend gave him, 17-year-old Steven Ortiz of Glendora, CA, used Craigslist to trade up 14 times over two years to eventually end up with a Porsche Boxster. Here's how he did it.
Although Steven Oritz's story isn't the first time we've seen Craigslist-swapping writ large, it's the first one we've seen without any "outside help." Many may remember Kyle MacDonald who famously created a website to document his attempt to trade one red paperclip for a house. It worked. But MacDonald also had a built-in fan base and internet publicity from his website.
Ortiz, a 17-year-old high schooler, had no such help. Instead, he spent the better part of two years tied to his iPhone, skimming Craigslist and carefully picking out trades he knew he could benefit from.
Starting with an old cell phone that was given to him for free by a friend, Steven used the "barter" section of Craigslist to move up to a better phone and from there he was off and running. Next he traded the phone for an iPod Touch, the iPod Touch went in favor of a dirtbike which was turned around several times for other, better dirtbikes, then a MacBook Pro opened the door to cars. It was traded for a Toyota 4Runner which was in-turn bartered for a custom off-road golf cart. Keep in mind, Steven was only 15 at the time, so even if he'd kept that 4Runner he couldn't drive it anywhere.
The golf cart was then traded for a much more expensive dirt bike, the dirt bike was traded for a street bike and then Steven traded it for a series of boring cars which ended up with a sweet 1975 Ford Bronco. Had we been Steven, we'd have stopped there, as it doesn't get much better than an old Ford Bronco. However, by the time he'd acquired the Bronco he was of driving age and after enjoying it for a while he decided to mix it up and go for a Porsche.
It was actually a trade down, one which nobody can really fault young Steven for, as everybody needs to own a Porsche at least once in their life. The Bronco was probably worth more than the $9000 asking price on the 2000 Boxster with chrome rims, but it'll pay dividends in the halls of his high school. The total number of trade transactions between old cell phone and Porsche Boxster was only 14, which means young Steven has a definite gift for sniffing out a deal. Reality is setting in though, and the obnoxious maintenance costs which go along with owning a Porsche are making it hard to live with. This of course means his eye is turning towards trading the car for something else, probably, according to Steven, a Cadillac Escalade. </i>
Although Steven Oritz's story isn't the first time we've seen Craigslist-swapping writ large, it's the first one we've seen without any "outside help." Many may remember Kyle MacDonald who famously created a website to document his attempt to trade one red paperclip for a house. It worked. But MacDonald also had a built-in fan base and internet publicity from his website.
Ortiz, a 17-year-old high schooler, had no such help. Instead, he spent the better part of two years tied to his iPhone, skimming Craigslist and carefully picking out trades he knew he could benefit from.
Starting with an old cell phone that was given to him for free by a friend, Steven used the "barter" section of Craigslist to move up to a better phone and from there he was off and running. Next he traded the phone for an iPod Touch, the iPod Touch went in favor of a dirtbike which was turned around several times for other, better dirtbikes, then a MacBook Pro opened the door to cars. It was traded for a Toyota 4Runner which was in-turn bartered for a custom off-road golf cart. Keep in mind, Steven was only 15 at the time, so even if he'd kept that 4Runner he couldn't drive it anywhere.
The golf cart was then traded for a much more expensive dirt bike, the dirt bike was traded for a street bike and then Steven traded it for a series of boring cars which ended up with a sweet 1975 Ford Bronco. Had we been Steven, we'd have stopped there, as it doesn't get much better than an old Ford Bronco. However, by the time he'd acquired the Bronco he was of driving age and after enjoying it for a while he decided to mix it up and go for a Porsche.
It was actually a trade down, one which nobody can really fault young Steven for, as everybody needs to own a Porsche at least once in their life. The Bronco was probably worth more than the $9000 asking price on the 2000 Boxster with chrome rims, but it'll pay dividends in the halls of his high school. The total number of trade transactions between old cell phone and Porsche Boxster was only 14, which means young Steven has a definite gift for sniffing out a deal. Reality is setting in though, and the obnoxious maintenance costs which go along with owning a Porsche are making it hard to live with. This of course means his eye is turning towards trading the car for something else, probably, according to Steven, a Cadillac Escalade. </i>
