Why is this making a guy ten thousand dollars a month?
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Aster (
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August 19th, 2015
A young man has a website where people order, for five dollars, one potato that he writes on with a Sharpie a congratulatory message he sends anonymously.
For instance, when he receives your five dollars, the message you want sent and the address he writes on it then mails it to the recipient. Why would this work instead of one of us mailing the potato ourselves for a fraction of the price?
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14 Answers
Actually , a large potato costs $7.99 .
You didn’t link. Here it is. And here is a video about him.
Why, you ask? If his reported earnings are accurate, it means that people are willing to pay that money for the service. Why do they do it? I have no idea. But there are plenty of people who stumble across an idiotic idea that makes them some decent money. Think of all of those unboxing videos on youtube. There are people who make up to $5 million unboxing Disney toys. Of course, in cases like this, it is ad revenue.
I have to follow this to see if I am missing a great way to make money ! !
Why a potato? Is there some symbolism or something?
Why not make $10,000/month writing on and mailing potatoes?
@Aster The Large is $9.99. it’s a medium for $7.99.
But why? Because it is silly,and original, and none of us thought of it. And if 1,200 people a month are using his service, that’s a lot of business!
If you think it is silly, don’t send a potato gram!
All kinds of people pay all kinds of money for silly things that nobody else thought up, yet there’s apparently a market for them.
Remember the pet rock?
For those not yet born then, there waa a time when people were actually willing to pay money for a rock which then became their “pet”.
Why, you ask? As was noted back in P. T. Barnum’s time: “there’s a sucker born every minute.”
If I ever get the urge, I’ll buy a Sharpie and send my own damn potato, thank you very much :)
Why not? People are stupid. If he can make $10K by selling something they are stupid enough to buy, why the heck not?
Was it PT Barnum who said “there’s a sucker born every minute”?
@elbanditoroso
It’s highly unlikely that Barnum himself said it but more that it was said about him.
But that phrase (or a variant form of it) has been around since cons and con men first started fleecing the gullible.
Personally I think it’s most often associated with Barnum is because he involved himself with really giant hoaxes. He was a big thinker and not afraid to take chances.
And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that the circus became such a widely beloved institution here in America and his name is forever associated with it.
And in those early days, some of the side acts at the freak show part of it were less than genuine or just downright exploitation.
A month or so ago a man from Burma told me “Americans have too much money”. I had no idea at the time what he was talking about.
@jca
Yeah, I remember mood rings. And they’re still around available on Amazon, Walmart and eBay.
I couldn’t believe it until I decided to check it out. Someone is still making money off these things; even the pet rock.
www.bestmoodrings.com
And believe it or not, the pet rock is still alive and well :)
www.petrock.com
And there are also places selling a pet rock with a USB cord attached. Of course it doesn’t do anything. But it looks modern :)
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