Rob Walker's Blog
November 27, 2009
Some of you have speculated that the Significant Object experiment's duration affected sales prices — that is, you've speculated that objects auctioned off in the experiment's first weeks no doubt sold for less, on average, than did objects auctioned off in its final weeks. (The experiment lasted for 19 weeks.) As word of the project spread, opportunities to purchase one of only 100 total objects decreased, and competition thus grew fiercer.
A quick glance at the Final Price, Week by Week...
November 26, 2009
We'll be back with a savory table stuffed full of data tomorrow. In the meantime, please enjoy these holiday-appropriate tchotchkes.
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Oh, and if you want to get a jump on the Xmas-shopping crowd tomorrow, why not pick up a Significant Objects Mug Mug today, from Zazzle? Your friends and loved ones will thank you.
November 25, 2009
Here's another way to parse the data from the experimental phase of the Significant Objects project. After the jump, you'll discover a table that not only lists the 100 objects, the authors of the 100 stories associated with those objects, and the objects' final auction price. It also lists the week in which each story was published, and its associated object listed for auction on eBay.
The table lists the objects in descending order of final price, but if you click the arrows on the first...
We better not find one of these in a thrift store any time soon.
In response to email and queries in this site's comments about buying a Significant Objects Mug (i.e., because of our project's mug logo, which Joe Alterio whipped up for us in a hurry when we suddenly decided to retire our original logo, a Salvation Army shield parody), we did a little research and found that manufacturing an actual red mug takes a bit more savvy than we now possess. We're looking into that and welcome your...
November 24, 2009
November 23, 2009
As announced last week, we're busily retooling Significant Objects as a charitable fundraising effort. We've assigned half a dozen objects to new writers, and we've already lined up a couple dozen more contributors, new and returning, too. Later this week, we'll announce (a) which charity will be supported by the first round of Significant Objects auction proceeds, and (b) how long the first round will last. We're thinking: 50 objects. Your suggestions and encouragement are welcomed.
ALSO: In ...
November 20, 2009
But ... we'll be back.
A few moments ago, the auction for our 100th item (the Missouri Shotglass, story courtesy of Jonathan Lethem) ended. Moment of silence, please. The research phase of the Significant Objects experiment is over; next, we'll analyze the data. And while we're doing that, we'll relaunch the project as a charitable fundraising effort — stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, here's an overview of the experiment.
Between July 6 (1st story posted) and November 20 (100th...
Today's installment of Dorothy Gambrell's popular webcomic Cat and Girl riffs on significant objects:
November 19, 2009
It's really weird to look at our store and see just one item!
But there it is: Missouri Shot Glass + Story by Jonathan Lethem. And the auction closes in less than 24 hours … who will end up with the last of the original Significant Objects?
After that auction closes we'll start crunching the numbers and share some findings with you next week, from our unique experiment. (With the close of today's auction we passed $3,500 in sales. Not a bad Significance Markup on roughly $125 worth of...
Shown above: ready-to-mail boxes containing the last three objects from the Significant Objects experiment, along with a few odds and ends that didn't end up being assigned to a writer during the duration of the experiment. There are currently two items remaining in our eBay account. Act now!
Shown below: our Nutcracker with Troll Hair. Intrinsically appealing, right? To see it is to imagine owning it forever, displaying it under a glass dome, perhaps passing it down to your grandchildren. At ...
