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Markets in everything, Xmas edition
Company offers to wrap your Christmas purchases just as badly as you could do it yourself
So says Kat, my source on this story. It's called "Crapwrap":
Firebox.com is paying 20 of its male forklift truck drivers and warehouse assistants to wrap presents as quickly as possible, using ugly brown duct tape and very little care.
And the $9 service, cheekily called CrapWrap, has attracted more than 500 customers since it launched last week.
This way she'll think you did it.
...Parcels can even be dispatched in brown paper with a shoddily-tied pink ribbon.
Kevin Smith, 29, is proud to be the worst wrapper at the company's London warehouse.
He said: "I am rubbish. We're not given any instructions. I'm just asked to make a hash of it using lots of brown tape and making sure there are rips and untidy folds.
"It's nice to get away from the normal work: cleaning, packing and moving stuff around. Wrapping is a good distraction."
Posted by Tyler Cowen on December 16, 2008 at 07:55 AM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
LOL, brilliant! ;-)
Posted by: Speedmaster at Dec 16, 2008 8:33:31 AM
What, there are no female forklift truck drivers or warehouse assistants who can't wrap? Discrimination! I wonder whether some forklift truck drivers or warehouse assistants weren't given the job because thy wrap too well.
And if this were a UAW company it would have taken two months to negotiate the new job classification of "crapwrapper".
Posted by: Hei Lun Chan at Dec 16, 2008 8:38:50 AM
That is truly excellent.
Posted by: Nick at Dec 16, 2008 9:23:55 AM
All my friends and family can always tell the present from me, it's the one wrapped in newspaper and duct tape.
Posted by: Noah Yetter at Dec 16, 2008 12:26:13 PM
There ought to be a government intervention to create more jobs such as these where skills are de-valued. (kidding.)
Posted by: Justin at Dec 16, 2008 10:56:14 PM
I assume the worst Christmas rapping is found in a Tim Allen movie.
Posted by: Andrew at Dec 17, 2008 6:19:16 AM
I can imagine expanding this to personal shopping. You could
send someone with similar questionable taste to buy gifts.
Posted by: mikesdak at Dec 17, 2008 12:37:13 PM
