Woman Trades Hairpin For House Through Series Of Shrewd Swaps

A woman in the US has managed to trade a hairpin for a house through a series of shrewd swaps. Watch her complete her mission here:

In May 2020, Demi Skipper - like millions of us - was bored in lockdown. Also like many of us, she resolved to get creative and make the most out of the free time. But unlike many of us, she actually followed through with this resolution.

The 30-year-old, from San Francisco, stumbled upon a TED Talk by Kyle MacDonald, in which he detailed how he managed to swap a paperclip for a house over a period of a year, and she resolved to accomplish the same feat 15 years on.

She started out with a humble hairclip, and after just four swaps, she had managed to upgrade it to a snowboard.

Still, the road ahead was long, and Demi spent countless hours outside of her day job at Cash App scouring the web for potential trades, sending thousands of messages to prospective swappers on Facebook; in fact, she even got temporarily banned from the social media platform due to her suspicious activity.

But fast-forward to the present day, and 28 swaps later, she has finally got the keys to her very own home in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Speaking to LADbible, Demi said: "It wasn't until I saw the house in front of me that I was like, 'Holy crap, these keys go to this house and I own this house.'

"And that's when I like cried in the front yard. I'm sure the neighbour was like, 'What the hell, our new neighbour is insane.

"It was really, really surreal."

These tears of joy, pride and relief were all the more sweet, given their had been plenty of unhappy tears along the way after trades which set her back on her quest.

Demi recalled: "I think those were the toughest times, as when you realise how bad a trade was you can't go back, you can't spend any money to fix it. You can't undo a trade.

"So like, the diamond necklace stands out. I traded for a diamond necklace that I thought was $20,000 (£15,000), and it was $2,500 (£1,800).

"Once you have it, the jeweller isn't gonna pay the retail price, they're just gonna pay whatever they think it's worth at the time.

"So that was bad. I'm pretty sure I cried outside of a jewellery shop."

But what now for Demi, having been on this incredible all-consuming journey, which has seen her amass five million followers on TikTok?

Well, she and her husband are going to move into the house, renovate it - and then Demi wants to swap it for a hairpin and start all over again. Honestly.

She explained: "Sitting on the floor in the house, actually, I turned to my husband and I was like, 'I'm gonna start trading again.'

"And so I'm going to start, hopefully trade the house for a bobby pin [hairpin], and then start the whole thing again - get another house, give away that house. So, it's insane. Absolutely insane."

Well there you go - she set out to get herself a house, and she ended up finding a new way of life.

No doubt her next trade will be her easiest one yet.

Featured Image Credit: Demi Skipper

Topics: News, Viral

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey