It sounds crazy, but one Canadian net-junky has managed to swap his way to owning his own house, starting out with a simple red paper clip.
Kyle MacDonald, 26, took a year to swap 16 items to meet his goal of gaining a house without spending a penny. Whats more, the internet celebrity hasn"t ruled out swapping the house yet!
The chain of events began when Kyle swapped the paper clip for a pen in the shape of a fish, then a novelty doorknob, a camping stove and then a generator. He swapped his way through a keg of beer with a neon sign - an "instant party"- following that a snowmobile, a holiday to British Columbia, a van and rather amazingly a record contract.
Bizarrely enough Kyle swapped his next deal - a year"s rent-free living in a house in Arizona - for an afternoon with Mr Poison himself, Alice Cooper. This was then even more bizarrely exchanged for a limited edition Kiss snow globe.
Suddenly celebrities joined the swapping and Kyle managed to exchange the ornament with TV actor Corbin Bernsen who gave him a paid role in his new movie. Swap 16 finally came when the town of Kipling in Saskatchewan decided they"d give a member of their community the role and gave Kyle his house, in the sleepy town with a population of only 1,140.
Still with me? Good.
The 26-year-old unemployed success story has been inundated with TV crews, interviews and media attention since finishing what he started. One of the internet"s more unique "get stuff quick" schemes, Kyle MacDonald will undoubtedly go down in online history as he prepares to move into his new house in a town he"s never even visited.
Coming soon: endless Kyle MacDonald copy-cat schemes!