'Glitter Bomb Your Enemies' Creator Cashes Out for a Sparkly $85,000 Check

Yahoo Makers
Updated
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(Political activist Vermin Supreme glitter bombs politician Randall Terry)

All that glitters isn’t gold? Try telling that to the 22-year-old Australian who jokingly started a “glitter bomb” delivery service and is now laughing all the way to the bank.

Mathew Carpenter has sold his fledgling Shipyourenemiesglitter.com business for $85,000, according to the Guardian. But before jealousy drives you to send Carpenter some glittery hate mail, at least give him credit for being candid.

Carpenter admits his own business idea is “horrible.” In a plea to customers, he said, “Hi guys, I’m the founder of this website. Please stop buying this horrible glitter product — I’m sick of dealing with it. Sincerely, Mat.”

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(shipyourenemiesglitter.com)

Whoever bought Carpenter’s website off the Flippa web domain retail site was essentially betting that they could turn a profit leapfrogging on the buzz Carpenter generated when Ship Your Enemies Glitter launched on January 13 and immediately went viral.

The concept behind Carpenter’s start up business is that if someone opens an envelope full of glitter they will inevitably get said glitter all over their clothes and hair. And as anyone knows, getting even a small amount of glitter to go away can be a real pain.

Part of Carpenter’s frustration was that apparently people just couldn’t resist the idea of spending a few bucks to send an envelope full of glitter to their friends and foes. He says that orders came in totaling more than $20,000 before he put a pause on all future purchases and literally begged would-be customers to go away. That amounts to somewhere around 2,500 orders, since Carpenter was charging a fairly reasonable $8 per bomb.

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(http://breakfastatyurmans.tumblr.com/)

Strange as it may sound, the odds actually favor the new domain owner turning a profit. Glitter bombing has a strangely rich history. Last week, a YouTube video of one kid glitter bombing his nosy Dad went viral, with more than 1.6 million views. And it was just about two years ago that Lindsay Lohan was famously glitter bombed on her way into court. A number of high-profile U.S. politicians have been glitter bombed over the years, including former presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bachman.

For his part, Carpenter plans to honor his already processed glitter bomb requests, writing on his site, “You guys have a sick fascination with shipping people glitter. We’ve received all orders & working through them. There was a ton so be patient.”

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