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How a US woman traded a bobby pin for a $111,000 house

A woman has revealed how she managed to nab a two-bedroom home by trading up items, starting with an item worth less than $1.

A California woman is now a happy homeowner after trading up increasingly more expensive items over the past year and a half — starting with a hairpin worth around 20c.

Demi Skipper, 30, declared on TikTok in May last year that she would swap her way up to a home — and she did just that.

Demi said she’s had the home value assessed and it’s worth $US80,000 ($A111,000) in its current state, the NY Post reports.

“It has two bedrooms and one bathroom as well as a giant backyard,” she said.

She started with a single bobby pin that cost on average around 19c in Australia when purchased as part of a larger pack. These contain between 80 – 100 pins and cost between $4.50 – $5 in Australian supermarkets.

Demi said the home has two bedrooms and one bathroom. Picture: TikTok
Demi said the home has two bedrooms and one bathroom. Picture: TikTok
The Nashville property also has a giant backyard. Picture: TikTok
The Nashville property also has a giant backyard. Picture: TikTok

In the months since she began, Demi, who lives in San Francisco, acquired everything from a Peloton bike to a diamond necklace, using each item to score a bigger, better asset.

In total, she made 28 trades, according to her TikTok and Instagram, where she documented the ambitious endeavour, dubbing it the Trade Me Project.

“I’m trading a bobby pin up until I get a house,” she said in her first video.

Demi, who is a product manager at Cash App, said she used Craigslist, eBay and Facebook to make the trades one at a time.

For instance, she found someone online in need of a carpet cleaning to give her a $US95 ($A132) snowboard in exchange for her Bissell vacuum.

After that, she traded the snowboard for a $US180 ($250) Apple TV 4K.

Often, she upgraded after finding out what people were willing to take a loss for.

For example, when she found someone desperate for the $US320 ($A445) Xbox she scored, he was willing to part with his MacBook Pro, which cost about $US400 ($A560).

The bobby pin that started it all, worth approximately 19c in Australia. Picture: TikTok
The bobby pin that started it all, worth approximately 19c in Australia. Picture: TikTok
Demi and her husband will now renovate the home for someone else. Picture: TikTok
Demi and her husband will now renovate the home for someone else. Picture: TikTok

When she found a man who wanted her Jordan 1 Reverse Shattered Backboards, she told him she would part with the coveted sneakers for an iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Demi amassed more than five million followers on TikTok documenting her scheme.

As her project gained steam, she appeared in a sponsored video for Chipotle, which helped her get even closer to her home.

The fast-food company reached out to her about trading her three tractors for a “celebrity card,” which gives the cardholder free burritos for a year plus a catered dinner.

The bigger-ticket items included multiple kinds of cars, a tiny cabin, an electric bike food truck and a trailer equipped with a Tesla Powerwall 2 — the latter of which led to her home in Nashville, Tennessee, on the day after thanksgiving.

Demi traded a Peloton bike for a 2006 Ford Mustang GT Deluxe. Picture: TikTok
Demi traded a Peloton bike for a 2006 Ford Mustang GT Deluxe. Picture: TikTok

“I can’t believe this,” she said in a video after seeing her house for the first time.

“A year and a half of trading a single bobby pin until I get a house, and I’ve done it. And look at it, this just shows you — it’s possible.”

Demi told The Post she’s planning to meet with the recipient of her first trade — at her new digs.

This month, Demi and her husband moved into the house. Picture: TikTok
This month, Demi and her husband moved into the house. Picture: TikTok

“For this first trade, I went to several Facebook groups and posted that I was hoping to find a trade for a single bobby pin until I got a house,” she said.

“After many rejections, I finally found Abbie who offered me a pair of earrings she got for her birthday as long as I invited her to the house in the end.”

Demi added that she and her husband will make the move to Tennessee from California in January — but only temporarily.

“I will be renovating the house and trading the house to someone who really needs it for a bobby pin. From there, I will start again,” she said.

She wasn’t the first to trade her way up to a house. In 2007, entrepreneur Kyle MacDonald traded a giant red paperclip for a two-storey home.

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission

Read related topics:TikTok

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/how-a-us-woman-traded-a-bobby-pin-for-a-111000-house/news-story/f97492430a5df1a14614696a9abce5df