10 brilliant ideas that sold for pennies (10 photos)

Brilliant ideas often don't seem particularly exceptional at the time they emerge. History knows of cases where people, eager to make money, sold their ideas for pennies, only to later generate substantial profits for their new owners. Our review of the ten most famous ideas that were bought for pennies and ultimately earned millions.





A Poem by Edgar Allan Poe



Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" tells the story of a man who is visited by a raven while grieving for the loss of his beloved. Poe initially wanted to publish the poem in a friend's magazine, but it was rejected. He then sold "The Raven" to The American Review for $9.

The poem gained instant recognition and fame. It was reprinted in periodicals across the country and made Edgar Allan Poe famous. Today, "The Raven" is one of the most famous poems in history. The number of reprints, books, and even films based on the poem is incalculable. In 2009, a copy of the first book containing the poem sold for $662,500. Poe lived in poverty his entire life and died almost penniless.

Safety Pins





Safety Pins – A Half-Million Dollar Invention

Walter Hunt was a New York mechanic known for his many inventions. He held patents for fountain pens, knife sharpeners, rifles, streetcar bells, a stove, an ice pick, a sewing machine, a street sweeper, a nail machine, and dozens of other inventions.

To pay off a $15 debt to a friend, Hunt decided to invent something useful that would pay him quickly. He came up with the idea for a simple safety pin, the patent for which he sold on April 10, 1849, to W.R. Grace for $400. The inventor returned $15 to his friend, and W.R. Grace earned millions.

"Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"



"Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is the eighth studio album by The Beatles. It was released with cover art designed by renowned British pop artist Peter Blake and his wife, Jann Haworth.

The cover is essentially a collage of many famous historical figures surrounding the members of The Beatles. Blake and Haworth were paid £100 (approximately $280) each for their services.

The album became legendary, as did its cover. It sold approximately 32 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. The cover has been recognized as one of the best album releases of all time.

Jelly



Jelly - A Marketer's Dream

In 1895, New York cough syrup manufacturers Pearl and May White figured out how to turn powdered gelatin into a tasty and commercially viable product by adding fruit-flavored syrups. They called their delicious product, which was 88 percent sugar, "Jelly."

Pearl and May White acquired a long-dormant patent for powdered gelatin from Peter Cooper and decided to commercialize Jell-O. However, the Whites proved poor marketers, and they sold the Jell-O patent to their neighbor Frank Woodward for $450 in 1899. By 1906, annual Jell-O sales had reached $250,000. In 2013, Jell-O sales reached nearly $500 million.

James Bond Theme Song



The "James Bond" theme song was originally written by Monty Norman for the first film in the series, Dr. No, in 1962. The film company, dissatisfied with the sound, hired composer John Barry to rework the melody. Barry added elements of rock and jazz, increasing the overall tempo. The result was a hit that remains recognizable 50 years later. Barry was paid £250 (approximately $700) for his work, while Monty Norman received over $1 million in royalties.

Coca-Cola



Coca-Cola: From Mixture to Popular Drink

Pharmacist John Pemberton created the first formula for Coca-Cola in 1886. The drink, marketed as a tonic for the brain and nervous system, began selling in Atlanta pharmacies in May of that year. It cost $0.05 a bottle, and Pemberton only managed to earn $50 in its first year of sales.

Desperate for cash due to illness and morphine addiction, Pemberton sold the rights to the drink to other investors for $1,484. These investors, in turn, sold the patent to the shrewd businessman Asa Candler for $2,300. Candler became the sole owner of Coca-Cola and founded the eponymous company. He eventually sold his company in 1919 for $25 million, equivalent to $341 million in today's money.

Van Gogh's "The Red Vineyard"



"The Red Vineyard." Vincent van Gogh

"The Red Vineyard" is an oil painting completed by Vincent van Gogh in November 1888. This painting was the only work Van Gogh sold in his lifetime. It was purchased by Belgian artist Anna Bosch in 1890 for 400 francs (approximately $1,600 in today's money).

Like Edgar Allan Poe, Van Gogh lived in poverty and died tragically. He earned little recognition during his lifetime, but rose to fame after his death. His paintings now sell for tens of millions of dollars. Van Gogh's most expensive painting, "Portrait of Doctor Gachet," sold for a record $82.5 million in 1990 ($150 million in today's money). "The Red Vineyard" was sold by Anna Bosch for 10,000 francs in 1906.

"The Terminator" is one of Hollywood's best ideas



In the early 1980s, James Cameron was an unknown director with no money or place to live, sleeping in his car or on a friend's couch. At the time, he wrote a promising script called "The Terminator," which he pitched to many Hollywood companies.

No one wanted to collaborate with the aspiring director, except Gale Anne Hurd of New World Pictures. She agreed to let Cameron direct the film if he sold all rights for just $1. Cameron may have lost ownership of "The Terminator," but the move made him famous and the highest-paid director in the world.

Venom (Spider-Man)



Spider-Man is one of the most profitable superheroes

In 1982, a Spider-Man fan from Illinois named Randy Schueller created a storyline for an upcoming contest run by Marvel Comics. As an accessory to his story, Schueller designed a new costume for Spider-Man (black, except for the emblem on the chest, a radical change from the traditional red and blue suit that had been used for 20 years).

A few months later, Schueller received a letter from Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter: he liked the idea and offered to buy it for $220. Schueller happily accepted the offer. The storyline subsequently failed to make it to print, but in May 1984, Marvel unveiled a new Spider-Man costume. The third installment of the blockbuster film, released in 2007, alone grossed nearly $900 million worldwide.

Jack London's novel "The Call of the Wild"



After his unforgettable experiences as a prospector in the Klondike, Jack London wrote the novel "The Call of the Wild." The novel was first published in January 1903 in four issues of the Saturday Evening Post, which paid London $750 for non-exclusive rights.

That same year, London sold the full rights to Macmillan Publishers for $2,000. At the time, this was a substantial sum, something many writers could only dream of. The book was published on July 1, 1903, at a price of $1.50. Ten thousand copies were sold on the first day. By 1914, 500,000 copies had been sold in the United States, and by 1964, six million. Neither London nor his descendants were paid a cent.