Trading Post
Enterprising CL user Steven Ortiz has reportedly traded his way up from an old cell phone to a porsche in Glendora, CA.
Not bad, although fellow barterer Kyle MacDonald traded up from a red paper clip to a house in Saskatchewan in 2008.
Hmmm, wonder what I could get for 10 tea bags of rich, robust Guayaki fair trade Yerba Maté?
July 29th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Don’t aim too low! How about a nice red bicycle. - S
August 1st, 2010 at 10:40 am
man man man, i wish i could do something like that….but it takes too long
August 4th, 2010 at 10:25 am
I traded up from a free hot tup, to an El Camino, to a small motorcycle (yes, it was up, the Elco need lots of work, but ran), to a boat (with the addition of $150.) I then sold the boat for $700.
I just thought it was ironic that I started with something that held the water in, and ended up with something that held the water out.
The $700 helped pay for my move…I’m disabled and still in that screwed up area of not being on disability yet (damn you Reagan conservatives.)
August 11th, 2010 at 10:29 am
How much time and effort are these people exerting to get such advantageous deals. I can understand getting a good deal for a trade and the cumulative benefits of systematic shrewd trading, but its hard to imagine getting enough variance in your trades to turn a paper clip which is essentially worthless and ending up with a house in any reasonable time frame.
August 11th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
I remember seeing the “One Red Paper Clip” on TV. My son’s class tried the experiment - he started with an eraser and ended up with bar of silver bullion. Nice.
August 27th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Kudos to American and Canadian ingenuity
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October 23rd, 2010 at 7:16 am
How much time and effort are these people exerting to get such advantageous deals.
Probably about as much as you’d expend to make the money to buy a Porsche or house and then pay down the loans on them? I’d far rather talk somebody up from a paperclip to a house than bite my nails saving a down payment, then 30 years with a mortgage hoping I don’t lose my job and then the house, or up from a broken cell phone to owning a car I will never have the job to allow me to buy.