Hi, I'm Demi. I started to trade me project in May of 2020 with a quest to trade a single Bobby pin for a house. The rules are simple. Find people who are interested in the item I have and are also willing to trade. These people can't be anyone I know. And the trades can't include any cash. Sounds easy, right? These trades take days to plan, prep and execute. I research a ton to understand the actual value of each and every offer before I trade for it. In the end, with a little determination, I'm able to make a great treatment. I started with that single Bobby pin, and to start with really was taking anything. So it's amazing to go from your at the point where you're at the mercy of somebody else and just saying I will take anything you have for this single Bobby pin. And slowly but surely I got the earrings and then from hearings dot for margarita glasses. And from that a vacuum. And so things really started to shape little by little all corners of San Francisco just to get a trade. I've lost trade, and then I found them in the mail. I've become a sneaker head, and I've learned the ins and outs of all sorts of electronics, all while on this crazy journey to trade a Bobby pin for a house. Even though the journey seems impossible, I now have over three million of you guys during me on every step of the way. There's no way I'm stopping.
This TikToker swapped a single bobby pin for a house
It took 1.5 years and 28 trades!
Updated: 9:55 PM EST Dec 15, 2021
It seems impossible — especially with today's housing market! — but one woman literally traded a single bobby pin for a house.Back in May 2020, Demi Skipper started the Trade Me Project on TikTok, in which she documented a series of trades until she ended up with a house. She finally completed her mission after a year and a half, scoring a home at the end of November.In her 28th and final exchange, Skipper traded a trailer worth $40,000 for a house in Clarksville, Tennessee. Along the way, she traded items including a vacuum, diamond necklace, Peloton, and even a Mustang."For a lot of people, homeownership feels far out of reach, so the entire journey was just about proving it was possible to trade a single bobby pin for a house," Skipper said.When she set out on this adventure, she didn't have a specific location for the home in mind.Wherever it was, though, she planned on living in it. But now, she's made a more generous decision: "After meeting so many amazing people along this journey, I've made the decision to trade the house to someone who really needs it — for a bobby pin," Skipper explains. "Meaning that person will get the new home, and I will get a bobby pin to start the journey all over again."The challenge was inspired by Kyle MacDonald, who completed a similar quest starting with a red paperclip in 2006."I'd love to be the first person who is crazy enough to do it twice," she says.We can't wait to see how she'll do it next time. Now, all we need to satisfy our curious souls is a tour of the inside of the Tennessee house!
It seems impossible — especially with today's housing market! — but one woman literally traded a single bobby pin for a house.
Back in May 2020, Demi Skipper started the Trade Me Project on TikTok, in which she documented a series of trades until she ended up with a house. She finally completed her mission after a year and a half, scoring a home at the end of November.
In her 28th and final exchange, Skipper traded a trailer worth $40,000 for a house in Clarksville, Tennessee. Along the way, she traded items including a vacuum, diamond necklace, Peloton, and even a Mustang.
"For a lot of people, homeownership feels far out of reach, so the entire journey was just about proving it was possible to trade a single bobby pin for a house," Skipper said.
When she set out on this adventure, she didn't have a specific location for the home in mind.
Wherever it was, though, she planned on living in it. But now, she's made a more generous decision: "After meeting so many amazing people along this journey, I've made the decision to trade the house to someone who really needs it — for a bobby pin," Skipper explains. "Meaning that person will get the new home, and I will get a bobby pin to start the journey all over again."
The challenge was inspired by Kyle MacDonald, who completed a similar quest starting with a red paperclip in 2006.
"I'd love to be the first person who is crazy enough to do it twice," she says.
We can't wait to see how she'll do it next time. Now, all we need to satisfy our curious souls is a tour of the inside of the Tennessee house!
