National Geographic's Collectors Corner

Collaborative site for collectors, dealers, & anyone interested in our history.

Trading my inheritance for a dream!

Imagine starting a new business in this out of control "Who else wants a bailout?", "Where did my 401K go?" economy.

Qualifying for a business loan is next to impossible. Raising capital is a joke. Everyone says so. I know they do because they’ve all told me that—repeatedly.

But I have something no other fledgling business has. In my portfolio is a stack of National Geographic magazines that span 30 years…a gift from my grandmother, "Grammie". She wanted me to have them after she was gone so I could put them to good use.

And, Grammie, this is it.

I’m willing to trade each of Grandma’s lovingly-collected National Geographic magazines for something else—so long as each trade takes me closer to my goal of raising the money to launch my business.

When Grammie passed in 1999, I inherited 30+ years of National Geographic magazines. That’s 380 issues, stacked in boxes in my garage. 

Ten years after Grammie passed, I still hadn’t figured out what to do with them. I couldn’t throw them out. After all, she specifically saved them for me…she wanted me to benefit from her subscriptions. 

But I couldn’t keep them forever, either. 

And then it hit me: Grammie has given me the key to raising the money I need to get this business up and rolling. By trading each magazine for something else—something that then is traded again and again—I can raise the money I need. 

Several years ago a guy named Kyle MacDonald decided to take the game “Bigger and Better” to a whole new level. He wanted a house but couldn’t afford it. He didn’t have the money.

But he did have a red paperclip.

Through a series of 14 trades he ended up with the house he needed. And if Kyle can get a house with a paperclip, what can be accomplished with 30 years of National Geographics?

So here’s the deal: I’ll trade any issue of my collection for anything that’s bigger and better. That item will then be traded with the same condition. And we’ll keep going until I’ve raised enough capital to start my business. 

It's a win-win! Everyone gets what they want!


Check out my website www.swapstartmybiz.com to see which issues I have and read more about my journey: http://www.swapstartmybiz.com/ColoradoanArt1.html

Views: 35

Attachments:

▶ Reply to This

Members

Legal notice about this site

Community Rules and Legal notice about this Site

Note: Management of this site has been transferred from the National Geographic Society to a third party (the Host). Any sales or trade arrangements are solely between users of this site (the Site). The Site’s host and/or The National Geographic Society is not a party to and does not endorse or promote any particular sale or trade arrangements between collectors, dealers, or others and bears no liability for such transactions.

This community was created to facilitate communication between collectors, dealers, and anyone interested in the history of National Geographic publications. Please use the forums area to buy, sell, trade, and swap stories and information.

A member can be removed from the group for inappropriate, pornographic or offensive, or otherwise objectionable content. The Host may also edit or entirely remove such posts from the group.

Due to the immediate nature of this medium, the Host also does not review, censor, approve, edit or endorse information placed on this forum. Discussion boards on this Site are intended to be appropriate for family members of all ages. Posting of indecent material is strictly prohibited.

The placement of advertisements or solicitations or SPAM unrelated to National Geographic also is prohibited. The Host shall review information placed on this forum from time to time and delete inappropriate material that comes to its attention as soon as it is practicable but cannot guarantee that such material will not be found on the forum. By posting material on this discussion board, you agree to adhere to this policy prohibiting indecent, offensive or extraneous advertising material, and to legally assume full and sole responsibility for your posting.

Engage in dialogue respectfully. We encourage open and candid discussions and debates. However, all communications should be respectful. Differences of opinion are okay; personal attacks are not. Comments or content that are violent, threatening, abusive, sexually explicit, obscene, offensive, hateful, derogatory, defamatory, or are racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable content will be removed.

Stay on topic. Comments, questions, and contributions should be relevant to the topic being discussed. Keep in mind that this is not a place for unsolicited personal or commercial solicitation or advertising (e.g., “Win a free laptop”, etc.).

Keep it legal. Participating in, suggesting, or encouraging any illegal activity is cause for immediate removal and termination of a member’s use of and registration in the group.

Observe copyright and trademark law. The posting of copyrighted videos, photos, articles, or other material beyond what is protected as fair use is prohibited, and the Host may remove such posts from the group. Provide appropriate credit for any media and resources that you share.

Respect privacy. Keep personal or any other information that you do not want made public, such as phone numbers or addresses, confidential. You may choose to share this information via direct message or email. Please also respect the privacy of other members of the group and do not share information about them (but of course it’s fine to repost or share content they have already posted). Any information you post here will be subject to the platform’s privacy policy.

 

Let us know. We do monitor posts, but we may miss something. We encourage members to flag content which they feel violates any of the above Community Rules so we can review and take the appropriate action.

© 2025   Created by Richard Kennedy.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service