How bad is the economy? In an effort to raise money for his rent, one man named Victor is trying to sell his Digg account on Craigslist for $650. It’s not because Victor is a power user on Digg. The name of the account is “youtube” His post on Craigslist reads:
Hello Craigslist community, my name is Victor and I’m a freelance web designer. Due to the current economic crisis I’m facing a lot of financial problems, bills are piling up and I don’t have enough work to cover them.
My rent is due and I don’t have the money to pay for it so I decided to put my Digg account for sale and see if I can make my rent money that way…
The account is somewhat valuable because it’s named YouTube and all of you know what YouTube is.
. . . My rent is $650 per month, hence the asking price.
Unfortunately, it is against Digg’s Terms of Service to:
use as a Digg User ID a name subject to any rights of a person other than you without appropriate authorization, . . . attempt to impersonate another user or person; sell or otherwise transfer your profile.
So I wouldn’t buy that Digg account, but if anyone is looking for a Web designer Victror’s services are available.
Update: Unfortunately, Digg has canceled Victor’s account. But I’ve set up a TipJoy account for him below. Give him a dollar to help him with his rent, if you’ve got the spare change. All proceeds will go to Victor.
I wish my rent was only $650
me too.. that’s like my car payment man..
Yeah me too… sooo depressing.
In Vancouver BC the rent for a SMALL studio downtown is $2000, does this guy live in a closet somewhere?
Can’t say about the economy, but a TC post just made sure he would not be able to raise the money he was looking for.
Adrian, yeah because everyone lives in a city.
How can Vancouver be that expensive? Manhattan has the same exact pricing for a small studio unless you’re definition of small is wrong.
Vancouver is expensive, but Adrian is exaggerating greatly.
I’m writing this from a small studio downtown, and I pay $850.. although the average is probably closer to $1000-1200.
dude, you’re so rich and awesome! teach me!!!!!!111
Adrian Eden is stupid. vancouver’s not that expensive
Around the world, $100 to $500 is considered a respectable monhtly salary by billions of people.
Adrian probably means CAD
1CAD = 0.81USD
2000CAD = 1620 USD
Ironically a post on TechCrunch is probably worth FAR more than $650 but there’s no way he can monetize that now.
Digg return a page not found for that account…seems somebody from Digg got him and shunned him down?
Actually, i read comments and barely read the story because the comments give me a better idea about the story than the story itself.
Missed a good opportunity on that one there, for sure!
I’d think about buying it for $6.50 but then I wouldn’t have money for my rent.
sigh same here
-Jim
http://www.movi...nlineforum.com/
(just getting started so check it out)
Haha, I was thinking the same thing about rent. Where the hell in the US is rent $650 a month?
I’ve found low rents in Galveston (where I live now) and New Orleans.
In Phoenix, AZ are place where the rent is $650 and those place are not looking bad at all!
In Detroit, houses can be bought for less than $1,000.
Actually, this guy should probably just move there.
http://bigpictu...it-housing.html
Wondering if he’ll take payments…
What would Youtube do with a Digg account? Submit their own videos? And if so, wouldn’t you ask for more than $650?
twitter.com/dankalmar
I copied this article and sold it on ebay as a download. I assume that’s OK, right?
The economy must be pretty bad when the only news you have is this crap
true
Well, domain squatters made a lot of money doing it, so why not username squatters?
He’s asking for his rent.
I think this is a perfectly correct way of telling people in power that he’s being forced to do this because of the (deliberate or otherwise) measures taken at the high tables. I think Victor should start a “feedme” video campaign on Youtube and should ask everyone with such a problem to sign up and give a speech like the “inmyname” campaign.
“I, _______, have lost his job at which I made X per month, and am skilled in _____, _____, _____ and am willing to work for _____.
Seesmic allows video responses.
Youtube’s already there.
Get your message across using “video” job boards!
*this job
That is actually an interesting idea…. I always give money to the panhandlers in NYC that have a good story… the site could be just as interesting… maybe vote and all donations for the week go to the winner
Lucky guy….got a post on TechCrunch. I’m considering doing something stupidly brilliant to get mentioned on here.
why don’t you sell your comments on ebay…lol
Beautiful suggestion. It’s crazy….so crazy that it JUST MIGHT WORK! (Master of Disguise? Anyone?)
I hope he didn’t put his last name or company name on his CL post. Who would want to hire a guy for anything who…
1) Obviously ignores terms of service.
2) Even if we all agreed the TOSs are lame anyway, he’s telling the whole would he doesn’t care about contracts he enters.
Funny though as well, is the implication that the value of the account name is that others would probably confuse it with the real YouTube. So he’s also suggesting value through impersonation!!!
First domain squatting, now attempted profit from screen name squatting. I LOVE the Internet! NO END at all to the amusement!!!
What a dumb comment.
I guess he’s achieved something. What if he actually lands work because of this?
Had he created a really fancy website where he wanted to sell this, I’d say it was possible. But as a freelance designer he’s really disappointed me by relying solely on Craigslist. He wasted a great opportunity. To be fair, I’m sure he didn’t expect TC to cover it though.
feedburner messed up the click-thru again.
Not much activity on that account, but he was the lone digger of this site: http://www.pand...5d922d97e345aa1
It’s not half bad if you can get past the fact its meant to be serious and not as funny as the Subservient Chicken
lets all pitch in and pay his rent. I got 5 on it. whats the micro-giving something site?
Kiva.org
Anyway, where is this dude’s portfolio?
Also Chipin.com, Tipjoy.com, etc.
Go ahead, I added a tipJoy button at the bottom of the post. All proceeds will go to Victor.
just spamming
looks like Digg deleted his account. his only shot at paying rent was killed by Techcrunch.
Seriously. Unsportsmanlike conduct. 15 yards penalty. TechCrunch should pay his rent now.
Cheer Victor for his efforts. However misguided they may be. Times are tough and will not get better soon. What good will one months rent do? Should ask for four months so he won’t freeze to death in that alley.
I wish i could sell my email address sites@yahoo.com – unfortunately they have the same Terms of Service – so I’ll be forever burdened with emails and instant message conversations with offers to sell and all I can do is say I wish I can.
Good thing I can sleep in my truck if I have too
Even if it is “youtube”,, i don’t think its worth $650 dollar, not just because its against Digg’s TOS, but because its not valuable….. its a god damn digg account only… not youtube itself….
What is wrong with all the comments here. The poor guy obviously needs some help if he is getting so desperate as to sell his digg account. Has the internet made people completely lose all sense of empathy because you can act like a troll?
I pray the guys gets some type of work. I feel ashamed to be a human reading some of your retarded comments.
Really? You think he planned “something stupidly brilliant” to get a post on Techcrunch? Or maybe because he is in dire straights and is trying anything he can to make some money.
Asad,
Great post! My thoughts exactly…
@Asad: Agreed.http://i.ixnp.com/images/v3.64/t.gif
*A little trigger happy there. Meant to say ‘agreed’.
The Digg account seems down, like it was deleted or something.
Victor, stop using the erotic services section of Craigslist, and you may have some rent money without begging next month.
Your friend.
We spent that much on dinner tonight, LOL. So I am willing to pitch in my youtube account called youtube.com/lamevictor
What the f@#&, $650 on dinner. That’s my monthly salary in India. I work as a Web Developer for 45 hours a week.
Wait a minute. You guys at TC are rich, richer than any of us.
Why don’t you pay Victor’s rent?
“Apathy is lethal” – my quote of the day
This is ridiculous!
Tough, Victor might have violated Digg’s terms & conditions. But what was the need to remove or block his account. Till the time, he did not auction it on Craigslist, Digg had no issues. And now they block his account. I think they could have given him a chance.
Kevin Rose – are you listening?
Man, economy is seriously bad right now.
Are you going to write this kind of post to every nutcracker without a job? C’mon, please get real. There are stories of people turning the tables after gargantuan hard times, and this is not one of them. Moreover, there are stories of real pain and suffering out there, and this is not one of them.
To think that you’re helping someone by making up this story is deluded thinking. Sure, this dude may get some thousands if people decide to donate. But you are only creating an incentive for people to act “desperate” and pathetic in order to call attention to themselves. I’ll stick to those that deserve attention, and I wish TC would too.
agreed
there thousand people deserved to be helped in Tanzania as well… and they dont have proper connection to create an account over digg to sell it
ridiculos post from u erick!
This account sale is no surprise.
You would be amazed to see what idiocies people would spend their money on, like Warcraft: The Frozen Throne accounts that have a 50:0 score to them.
My rent is only $231. =)
viktor, the bestest you can get is best of craigslist
tipjoy | VictorYoutube tipjoy.com
$5,435.75 from 35 people latest leezw88 most lauri.h.lehtinen
details | share
beware! digital beggar at large
stop this stupidity now!
tipjoy got spammed from a user by the name of ry0, or tipjoy is having some problems reporting accurately, 5K+ is way off…
You’re right. What a dick.
Victor has $176.50 with 11% paid from 38 people.
To heck with Victor. Begging for money won’t help him in the long run. He should get a second job, skip Starbucks, turn off his cable and more until he has the ability to pay his own bills.
Damn beggars.
Don’t worry, if the banksters and fraudsters keep playing their games and people continue to get laid off or fired, RENTS that were going for $2000 (small studio) a month will be $650 or less soon.
I am looking for designers! The economy has not effected my company in a negative way. More and more are coming to Ning in hopes of creating a network that will provide them additional income.
They are spending money to make money and they all come to my site Skins4Ning.Com when looking for customization.
I receive over 7,000 visits a month on 2 ning design networks. This may seem low to most, but this is target specific traffic.
My Alexa ranking is 316,000 and should be near 200,000 after their next update.
I need designers who are flexible in all phases of design and are looking for study work.
If your interested, please contact me on my website. Skins4Ning.Com
“Cheers”
JP A.K.A. “The Ning Master”
For the people who are wondering where in the country rent is only $650 – not everyone in American lives on the West and East coasts.
Hello TechCrunch’ers,
My name is Victor and I am the guy who posted the Craigslist ad you read about in this article. Unfortunately the good people at Digg deleted my account as you already understood.
However I want to express deep gratitude and appreciation to all of you for your support and donations!! I also thank Erick from TechCrunch for setting-up the donation drive!!
I just checked right now and we had close to $70 in donations, so this is fantastic!!
It’s truly inspirational to see how many good people are still out there and amidst all the financial turmoil in my life right now, you showed something which is far more important that any amount of finances a person can ever have!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you guys!!
Victor, if you get money left over hit me up. I also need rent paid!
I now have encountered such a problem, perhaps I should also try to do so, thank you for the article!
Erick,
You’re a damn tattle tale!
Hey guys,
He deserved to be spammed!
I tried to hire this guy and help him out with a simple web design gig; $100 nothing fancy.
He messed it up big time.
It is a strange income for a freelance web designer. Definitely, he should try to work harder.
I never heard that before ,and If I were sitting in the shoe of the money I think that decission rather think to be charity rather then buying his despair “call out with his Youtube username” well I think when I write this posting the problem is solved,cause with the attentions of your thread I think many I meant many people will put attentions to put the money in advance to help this poor web designer
We are in hard financial situation. I made a video http://www.yout...h?v=UhAjrYFVEFo ,
but not sure how to proote it. I tried to submit it to Digg, but no one *diggs* it. I read that none of it is real and people create hundreds of accounts just to *digg* their own news – to push them to the top.
I don’t know if it’s true.
I placed it here: http://digg.com...with_this_video
called “What is wrong with this video?”
Please, help me to digg it, if you can?
You are so far off base with so many of your statements above I don’t even know where to start.
Hey can you give me some tips on how you are able to make that much money freelancing?
…lol
Jon,
Like I said before, you are WAY off base. I’m happy you have it so good, but if you think your work experience and income is ANYWHERE near average for a web developer then you really have no clue.
No, I’m not a web developer, I’m a DBA. But I know a lot of developers.
Jim,
Personally I think “Jon” is full of shit. (If that’s even his real name). Care to point us to some of your work and your company website / portfolio for proof “Jon”?
If you worked for 12 hours every Wednesday that’d be $120 not factoring in deductions. $120×4 != $1,200 a month. Your math is kinda shaddy.