How They Got 28x Return Selling a Pile of Junk

Joshua and Rob bought 100 little thrift store objects because they wanted to prove a point.

They wanted to show that one person’s thrift store junk is another person’s treasure…

…if you can attach emotional significance to the object.

So, Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker enlisted 100 creative writers, assigned one of the objects to each, and asked them to craft a story about their object.

They then sold the objects on ebay, using the stories as the product descriptions.

Had they resold the thrift store junk with some generic product descriptions (typical for an ebay listing), they might have broken even or, perhaps, earned a small profit.

Joshua and Rob sold their $129 worth of thrift store junk for $3,742.

That’s a $3,613 profit. That’s a 28x return.

Pretty good for a pile of junk.

Before you criticize Joshua and Rob as con-artists and manipulators, consider this: Everyone who bought these objects knew what they were getting. They weren’t lied to. They weren’t manipulated.

Something in the stories triggered an emotional response that gave the objects meaning. Maybe it triggered a fond memory. Maybe it reminded them of a loved one. Maybe it reminded them of first love or lost love or both.

Whatever the case, stories gave the objects significance.

That’s why Joshua and Rob called their experiment “Significant Objects.”

Your products and services are significant objects. You can sell them better. You can sell more. You can sell for higher prices…

…If you attach meaning to them.

Stories do that. When you craft powerful stories around your products and services, prospects connect emotionally. Prospects find meaning in what you sell.

That’s why I teach people how to power-up their business stories — so prospects will connect emotionally and will find meaning in what you sell.