Tyler Golding’s quest for a Tesla Cybertruck started with a deck of cards.
For 12 weeks, the Warman, Sask. resident has been trading some items online, while buying and selling others. As a magician without any gigs, he decided to swap his cards for two decks of cards.
“Doubled my investment,” Golding said with a laugh.
From there, his journey landed him a fat bike, an iMac computer, an Xbox One and a pair of Sony Playstation 5s. As Global News recorded his interview Wednesday, his latest gaming system was left on his doorstep.
Golding’s desire for a Tesla Cybertruck, which is priced beginning in the $50,000 range, is simple: he’s always wanted a truck and he wouldn’t have to pay for gas.
His swapping strategy is to “reverse engineer” his trades, identifying what a trading partner wants and working backwards to acquire that item.
“It’s a win-win. They’re getting something they want and I’m getting something that increases my value,” he said.
Currently, he’s seeking $3,000 for a motorized scooter. He also has a rare Pokémon card and gold chain up for grabs. Not every transaction is a win, though. Golding is trying to move a bag full of Beanie Babies.
Every trade is documented on his YouTube channel, Teach Me Golding. He’s also a Grade 6 to 12 teacher, and the effort has offered some joy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This has just been a fun way to connect with students in totally different, fun, way,” Golding said.
He hopes his story can be an example when it comes to setting goals, writing them down and “working and grinding vigorously to achieve those goals,” he said.
If his trading journey sounds familiar, it’s because in 2005, a Montreal man named Kyle MacDonald started string of trades with a red paper clip. It eventually led to him owning a house in Kipling, Sask.
The town’s economic development officer proposed to town council that they swap the municipality-owned house for a role in movie. Mayor Pat Jackson remembers a council “ready to think so far outside the box, there weren’t walls.”
“At the time, it was just such an absolutely mind-blowing, novel idea,” Jackson said in an interview.
Kipling completed the trade with MacDonald, who eventually returned the home to the town. It’s since been turned into a restaurant and the town erected the world’s largest paper clip.
“Since then, I don’t think a week goes by where there isn’t somebody who stops at the paper clip to take pictures, that there isn’t somebody going to the restaurant,” she said.
Jackson welcomed Golding’s homage to MacDonald’s trade. The Cybertruck seeker isn’t expecting a permanent monument in Warman, but appreciates all the attention he’s received.
“I’m just trying my best and working as hard as I can and we’ll see where this takes me,” he said.