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The Copy I Used To Stir A Bidding War & Turn A Dusty $9 Used Pair Of Brooks Brothers Men’s Shoes Into A $227 Flip On eBay
For context:
I was inspired by an experiment by a group of writers that formed a project called Significant Objects. Their goal was to go out and find odd little trinkets and treasures at thrift spots that ended up averaging a cost of $1.25, go home and write and story about it, and post it up on eBay to see how much it sold for.
The goal was to highlight the value of stories, and to see how much a story (which was fictional for each item and noted to the buyers) could increase the perceived value of each item. In the end, there were around 200 objects purchased that sold for a total of just under $8,000.
I went out and found the pair of shoes referenced in the headline of this page, and wrote the copy below. The listing is too old to link to now, but after a flurry of bids between different buyers, the $9 purchase flipped for $227 (a 2,400% profit!) on eBay.
(I had J. Peterman’s catalog copywriting style in mind while writing for this…)
Every once in a while, life surprises you:
An old Model-T buried in some dark forgotten corner of a barn.
Dusty and unassuming.
But like-new under the hood and ready to purr for anyone willing to give it a little TLC…
Or the underdog that turns out to have the strength and grit of a champion…
Or a new love interest you met at the event you were going to skip, but changed your mind at the last minute…
And now, this moment, and the shoes you see before you.
Like anything else, they have a story of their own:
Thousands of steps walked down the busy city streets.
Dozens of heads turned.
A constant, yet subtle supply of admiration from passerby.
Men. Women. Doesn’t matter.
Even the guy with the shine box on Madison and 78th:
“Nice shoes, pal. Who makes these?”
And, of course:
More dinners, deals, and closed-door meetings than any one individual should ever have the pleasure of remembering.
The craftsmanship and leather under your feet have a way of injecting confidence into every step.
========THE OFFER========:
Moderately worn Brown, Brooks Brothers A765 (12C) Men’s Cordovan leather shoes.
[Originally, there was a call to action here linking to the eBay listing itself as I also used this copy elsewhere to link to the auction]