TikToker Trades Up From a Bobby Pin to a New House
Whenever we hear the word "trading" nowadays, baseball cards or Pokemon cards come to mind. If it isn't that type of trading, it's about stocks and shares. But that's not really what this TikToker is all about.
On Monday (Dec. 20), TikTok user, Demi Skipper, or better known as TradeMeProject on the short-form video platform, appeared on TODAY to give an exclusive look at her new home in Clarksville, Tennessee that all started from trading a bobby pin. According to her, it all started when she was inspired by a TEDTalk from 2016 where a man eventually received a house from trading a red paper clip.
"I went to Facebook groups, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and one person replied," Skipper told TODAY, and, from that moment, that marked the beginning of her trading journey. She traded her bobby pin for a set of earrings, then some margarita glasses, a vacuum, a snowboard, then an Apple TV. The value in trades continued to go higher and on her 28th trade, she got the house she dreamed of getting. It took a year and a half worth of trades and throughout her quest, Skipper gained 5 million followers on TikTok.
Her last trade to get the house? A solar-powered mobile home worth $40,000 from a couple who wanted to give back to their community. "It was an off-the-grid trailer," she began to describe. "It has solar panels, a Tesla battery, a full fridge inside. [..] It's all about finding the right person."
But the Clarksville couple aren't the only people wanting to give back to their community — Skipper does too. The TradeMeProject TikToker plans to renovate the home and trade the home for a bobby pin to a single mom or a family in need. And after that? A new journey to trade from a bobby pin to a new home begins again.
Skipper ends her segment on TODAY saying she'll be trading bobby pins "forever."