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The Anvillain: Has this man really been buying and returning an anvil on Amazon for almost a year?

28:18
 An Amazon Prime driver makes a delivery outside an apartment building in Pittsburgh, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
An Amazon Prime driver makes a delivery outside an apartment building in Pittsburgh, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Fast-and-cheap shipping is now foundational to the American way of life, thanks in large part to Amazon Prime. Still, when producer Grace Tatter sees a video of a man claiming that he's continuously ordering and returning an 110-pound anvil from Amazon with no repercussions from the tech giant, she has questions. Is this legit, or is it a Wile E. Coyote-level scheme? Unlike an anvil, the answer can't be found online.

Show notes:

  • "this guy has been buying and returning 110lb anvils on Amazon for 8 months now"(Reddit)
  • This man keeps buying and returning 110-pound anvils on Amazon (Fast Company)
  • Johnbo's TikTok

This content was originally created for audio. An auto-generated transcript is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Heads up that some elements (i.e. music, sound effects, tone) are harder to translate to text.

Headshot of Grace Tatter
Grace Tatter Producer, WBUR Podcasts

Grace Tatter is a producer for WBUR Podcasts.

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Emily Jankowski Sound Designer

Emily Jankowski is a sound designer for WBUR’s podcast department.

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Headshot of Ben Brock Johnson
Ben Brock Johnson Director, Digital Audio

Ben Brock Johnson is the director of digital audio at WBUR and co-host of the podcast, Endless Thread.

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Amory Sivertson Host and Senior Producer, Podcasts

Amory Sivertson is a senior producer for podcasts and the co-host of Endless Thread.

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