The incredible adventure of Demi Skipper, the woman who through internet bartering achieved a home of her own

For Demi Skipper, the key to a home of her own began with a simple barrette or hair clip.

The 30-year-old American went on a curious adventure last year that led her to get a property through the ancient method of bartering.

Was inspired by Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian blogger who began swapping items with a red clipboard until she got a home in 2006.

And that was the very goal of Skipper.

“For me it was just part of a challenge. I was thinking: ‘Is it possible to do it?’ I was very curious ”, he tells the BBC.

His adventure began in May 2020, when the covid-19 pandemic began, and he became interested in the idea of ​​bartering objects, which leads participants to unexpected results.

In the first exchanges he got four glasses to drink margaritas.

Later he got a vacuum cleaner, which he exchanged for a table of snowboard, which later changed for headphones, and these for a laptop that became a camera.

In the process there were several pairs of prized Nike shoes, before getting an iPhone and then a 2008 Dodge Caravan truck.

“It was not something that mattered to me that no one else knew (…) So I began to make exchanges and record myself to remember what I exchanged”, confiesa Skipper.

“And then it was crazy because from the third exchange, people started commenting and then all of a sudden people started following me and I was like ‘Wow, people are really into this,'” he explains.

His adventure became very popular in his videos of TikTok and Instagram.

He turned to sites like eBay, Facebook, and Craigslist to find the best exchanges.

In total he made 28 exchanges over 18 months.

Win and lose

The first changes were made in person, in San Francisco, California. But then Skipper had to continue his project nationwide, making trips across the United States.

By sharing his adventure on social media, he gained a lot of popularity as the challenge became more exciting. He explained that his ultimate goal was to get a house, as Kyle MacDonald did.

But a moment of disappointment came when he had a Mini Cooper convertible.

He traded in the car for a necklace that he thought cost about $ 20,000 but that it was actually valued at $ 2,000.

On his way, there was also work to do, as some of the objects were improved. For example, he made repairs to the vehicle before putting it on sale.

The way to a house

“To be honest, when I had the final exchange, I was very skeptical. It said ‘There is no way this is so,’ “Skipper tells the BBC.

After a frustrating two weeks of searching, Skipper traded in the necklace for a $ 1,800 Peloton stationary bike.

The Peloton bike was traded in for a Mustang car, and in December 2020 Skipper gave it up in exchange for a small cabin in the woods.

The cabin was converted into a Honda CRV, then three tractors, earning him a Chipotle fast food restaurant card, entitling him to one year of free food and party food service.

Then the path to the house was made.

Skipper managed to trade the card for a $ 40,000 trailer with a Tesla Powerwall battery and eventually made his last trade: the trailer for a house near the city of Nashville, more than 3,000 km from San Francisco.

“There was something very surreal about having the keys in your hand,” he recalls.

“It was like this feeling that you can’t describe. Like I’ve worked so hard on this one thing and finally got it, so i will remember forever”.

The exciting video that shows the moment when he saw his house for the first time is one of the most popular of his networks, where some 5 million followers were watching the adventure.

“The exchanges will continue for sure. It is exhausting, but there are very important moments ”, he explains.

“Like the mom who needed the car or the person who needed the vacuum cleaner. There’s something so special about this that I thought, ‘It can’t just be over.’