All in the packaging

The garbage artist (check previous post) started the whole thing because of a thought: Can I sell anything with the right packaging?

Gignac took it to the extreme. But he’s left me wondering… Is it all in the packaging?

As I started searching for other items that are sold purely on the basis of their packaging, I struggled because nothing can top selling garbage. I can find other people who are selling garbage as art, but that’s the same example in a different form.

I’ve been exploring the vintage clothing industry a bit. Afterall, some of the clothes would have essentially been trash if someone didn’t rescue them, slap a price tag on them, and stick them in a store that smells of mothballs. But those are thrift stores. So then I looked into true vintage: rare items, once designer pieces, still fashionable… Some items are sold as is and others are refashioned a bit to make them more “now” or to repair any damage. Is this the equivalent of “packaging?”

Professor Penenberg and I talked about eBay. Frankly, it overwhelms me. And hasn’t it been done to death? Still, I explored it a bit. I found antique furniture being sold for more than $100,000. Is placement on eBay packaging?

My boyfriend suggested the packaging on the bag of catfood he had just picked up for our overweight fluffball, Chuck. The pictures of the four foodgroups, arranged neatly across the bag couldn’t look less like the brown chunks inside.

During a trip to Ghana this summer, one of the reporters who came along wrote about a woman who sold West African spices. She wanted to expand her successful business internationally, and was told it was all about the packaging. She was looking for someone to help with the redesign.

After my brief reflection, I’m still back where I started. Nothing beats picking a cigarette butt off the street, sealing it in plastic and selling it for $50.