Hate someone? Send them glitter!

ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com goes viral and now the creator is forced to put the website up for auction as he is inundated by requests.

As every creative knows, glitter is the herpes of arts and crafts: once it’s on you, it’s next to impossible to get rid of. And so, the stuff has become the product of one Australian company that ‘glitter-bombs’ your enemies at your behest. For the price of $9.99 Australian dollars ($8.22 USD), ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com allows you to anonymously send an envelope full of glitter to your nemesis. The website has been inundated with interest (it received $20,000 in orders and over 2.5 million visits in its first four days), so much so that its Sydney-based founder, entrepreneur Mathew Carpenter, has now put it up for auction. Metro spoke with Carpenter, 22, about his project.

Why did you start to send glitter?

I was inspired by an unknown woman, who was sending me a card containing glitter each Christmas. So, I’ve sent her a nice fat A4 envelope full of ‘craft herpes’. I’m not expecting a card back this year. [Laughs]

Do you think glitter is the worst thing to get in the mail?

Out of everything in this world, glitter is really the worst thing to mail. No one gets ‘snail mail’ these days so whenever you do it’s a sort of exciting prospect. Users receive the mail, get excited, open the envelope and then rage.

How many envelopes have you already sent?

I haven’t had a chance just yet to ship off our envelopes. It’s just me working this, so you can imagine my frustration when I receive thousands of orders from the brightest people in the country asking me to ship off stupid glitter for them.

Who are your average clients?

People who have too much disposable income. [Laughs] When you pay $8 for a service that sends glitter in an envelope, then you know that your life is heading downhill. I recommend all of our customers to seek regular medical attention.

To which celebs people want to send ‘craft herpes’?

Funnily enough politicians are the most popular. People ask to ship glitter to [Australian prime minister] Tony Abbott, [Canadian prime minister] Stephen Harper and [Russian president] Vladimir Putin.

So far, do people like sending glitter?

We’ve had over 2,000 orders since launch. I had to take the order form down because I didn’t expect this such big numbers. It’s going to take me weeks to fulfil this quantity of envelopes. After removing the order form we’re receiving emails every minute asking how to order, when we will put the order form back on, etc. It is insane!