Selling Nothing: An Experimental Journey

A couple of weeks ago I read a thread on here entitled something like “selling nothing to make a million”. I can’t find the thread anymore or I would link to it.

After 20 years of working in sales and marketing I can normally spot ideas that have traction and I knew there was something going on here.

It was an interesting concept and one that stuck with me.

Big question: Will people buy nothing?

Artworks sell for hundreds of thousands that are empty glass boxes or frames with no picture.

Retreats are sold for people to sit in silence

Silent songs get streams

And in a world where people can sell shit in a can, farts in a jar and skanky bath water then is it really so nuts to think of selling nothing.

But why do people clever intelligent people buy nothing?

If the answer is indeed yes then why did I feel that the original poster hadn’t quite got it right.

What were they missing?

here is the problem:

“is someone going to buy something (or in this case nothing) just to make you rich? “

I mean it’s possible (never underestimate the power of story) but it’s unlikely.

This is the issue the original idea was more about the poster than the purchaser.

The solution:

The psychology needs to be switched.

The principles of selling something and selling nothing must surely be the same if you attach enough value to it then people will buy.

And to get value you start with sales 101 WIiFM what’s in it for me?

So what can you offer someone as value who is buying nothing? Answer that question and you unlock this whole mystery.

The idea stayed with me and slowly (as is the case with me) several different half finished concepts that I had locked away in my brain vault started to pop their heads up.

I started to play with these concepts tearing it apart rebuilding it attaching different ideas.

If I take this and add this and do this then you would have this. But would that sell?

this is 3d chess at elite level.

Then out of nowhere (well if you count 20 years of experience and having read 500 books as now where)

Eureka!

Like the matrix it all came together.

Clarity absolutely clarity.

First I solved the question of why someone would buy nothing. Clue it wasn’t to make me rich.

This solved the how to position the product problem

Like a download from heaven a brand name appeared.

A common phrase that could be the brand name and even a marketing slogan. One quick check and damn the domain name is premium.

But wait there’s a variation of the phrase. Yes it’s still available (or it was )

Then a second concept attached itself.

Some ideas are so insane you immediately think, “No one in their right mind would do that.”

Well… I’m doing it.

I am going to be selling nothing.

Think this is impossible? Think this forum newb is nuts great let me know why you think this will fail.

It’s all fuel to the fire.

Oh and before I finish for today remember that second concept I mentioned well this makes selling so much harder and will definitely have people thinking I have boarded the crazy train. But that’s for another day.

and buyers should have option to "pay for nothing" too

Rose Knight said:

and buyers should have option to "pay for nothing" too

Click to expand...

You saying I am doing the public a favour? Even meeting a need.

I love the mental gymnastics here, you basically turned sales psychology into a board game.

Invisible statues.

I’ve been thinking about invisible statues.

Yes, invisible.

Statues you can’t see, can’t touch, but you can “own” for 13k.

No lies give it a google.

And What does the buyer get for that a certificate of authenticity and instructions on how to display it, that’s it.

And then I remembered something else. Strange how my brain works

Two guys bought some cheap stuff—garage sale junk, thrift store odds and ends.

A few dollars here, a few dollars there. $128 in total.

Nothing special.

Then they did the twist.

Each item got a story. Not just any story—a fully fictional narrative written by a real writer.

And yes, they made it clear these were made-up tales (I am not constrained by these ethics).

The results? Insane.

£3612.51 in sales from junk

Thirty times the value. Just like that.

Think about it.

It wasn’t the objects themselves. It was the story.

The meaning. The experience attached to them. A dull old lamp becomes priceless because it exists in a story.

People buy significance, not stuff.

And that’s when it hit me.

Why can’t this work for nothing?

Nothing is the ultimate blank slate.

No object. No weight. No matter.

But the same principles apply. You give it a story. You give it ritual. You give it significance. You give people the chance to co-create it in their own minds.

The certificate, the instructions, the story—these aren’t gimmicks. They create the object in the buyer’s perception.

I’m not just thinking about selling air in a jar or invisible statues.

I’m thinking about a product that exists only in imagination, backed by story, ritual, and psychology.

Think this is crazy?

People will pay for meaning, even if the “thing” itself doesn’t exist.

And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Add a story to it and suddenly nothing is everything. So now I need a story…

Remember when I said I had a second concept attach itself to my initial idea.



I just realised I didn’t actually tell you what that thing was…



So here it is: a zero budget business.



No marketing budget,

no fancy tools,

no shortcuts.



Just ideas, hustle, and stubbornness.



I started thinking about how to sell nothing without spending anything.



Platforms like eBay and Etsy seem the obvious channel but it feels like playing in someone else’s yard.



The risk of people looking for something else whilst there and forget of my little nugget seems a risk I don’t want to take.



which options represents the best opportunity



I kept sketching out ideas, tearing them apart, and rebuilding them in different ways.



Every new concept made me ask the same question: does this create value?



Because even nothing needs to feel meaningful to someone.



But the harder I pushed, the more I realized ideas alone weren’t enough.



Execution matters



Therefore, a small investment in making the business tangible started to look more like a necessity than a compromise.



Today, I faced the ultimate decision.



To spend or not spend that is the question



A website would give the project a home, something people could see and interact with and potentially an asset to build



But spending money on… nothing Feels absurd.



And yet… I relented.



So how much have a spent



£1000



£500



£100



£10



£1



for a domain and hosting my current outlay is 59p.



Ridiculously small, but somehow monumental and disappointing.



This business is now a real business.



I just need to build a website now (I have an interesting idea of how to do this with AI).



And now I have decided to go it alone I have another problem. By forsaking platforms with in built audiences I must now build my own audience.



So how do you promote for free?



Reddit

Tik tok

YT Shorts

X

Pinterest



Will these work for selling nothing and how do you do it on each platform.



My background is KDP and I have two special techniques I use to sell books every month.



But one isn’t really free



the other is a little iffy so may not be best employed here but you guys would love it.



So many more questions to be answered



So as I ponder them I leave you with a question.



If you were selling nothing would you use scarcity?



Total spend 0.59