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Oct 23, 2007

"The gift, to be true, must be the flowing of the giver unto me, correspondent to my flowing unto him." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Gift Economy Bagels?

Every Friday, Paul Feldman would bring in some bagels and cream cheese to work and set out a cash basket and a sign with the suggested price. His collection rate was about 95%. Years later, when his company fell under new management, Paul quit his job and started to give bagels in the same way. Driving around the office parks that encircle Washington, he solicited customers with a simple pitch: early in the morning, he would deliver some bagels and a cash basket to a company’s snack room; he would return before lunch to pick up the money and the leftovers. It was an honor system commerce system, a semi gift-economy. Within a few years, Feldman was delivering 8400 bagels a week to 140 companies and earning as much as he had as a research analyst. He had thrown off the shackles of cubicle life and made himself happy.