How far can a bobby pin take you?
Last May, when all of us are still learning the ropes of Zoom and being hyperaware of everything in our house, Demi Skipper has set out on a journey.
She had just finished a Ted Talk by Kyle McDonald, who’s more commonly known as the “red paperclip guy”. The man traded his red paperclip for a fish-shaped pen, which eventually led him to a two-story farmhouse in Canada.
Skipper wanted that journey. She wanted to “buy” a house just like how McDonald did it.
She posted the challenge in her then “zero-follower” TikTok account.
As everyone else is saving up to buy their very first home, Skipper only has a trinket for a ticket. She wanted to turn her bobby pin into a house. And no, we’re not talking about “fine prints” like a dollhouse or a birdhouse. We’re talking about a full-scale property.
Her mission, much like any outrageously sounding ideas back then, was met with skepticism. This did not deter Skipper, however, as she made her first trade proposal.
Facebook, Craigslist, and eBay became Skipper’s new best friends.
She posted a picture of the bobby pin with an explanation of her mission attached to the post. The first flip came from a woman on Facebook who traded a pair of earrings for her bobby pin.
Then, the earrings turned into four margarita glasses, and those glasses turned into a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner became a snowboard, then the snowboard became an Apple TV.
At that point, the trades just kept on getting more valuable.
The Apple TV was the first branded item she traded. From a measly bobby pin, Skipper can now trade for bigger ticket items.
People’s eyes were now turned to her and the trades. The more scores she got, the more support she garnered. Her TikTok blew up and people kept messaging her for offers. Eventually, the Apple TV became an electric bike food card, which then became a Mini Cooper.
Then came her last trades.
Skipper turned her bobby pin into three tractors. At that point, her TikTok had amassed 5 million followers. With this big of an audience, some establishments stepped in. Chipotle traded the tractors for a “celebrity card”. This card gives the owner unlimited free Chipotle food for a year plus a catered dinner for 50 people.
Her move was met with more skepticism. Some of her followers said that it was the worse trade of her journey thus far since she’ll never find someone who’s willing to take it off her hands while giving her something of worth.
That is until an email came.
A woman called Alyssa says she’s a big fan of Chipotle. She’s willing to take it off Skipper’s hands by trading an off-grid trailer with Tesla power wall and solar panels.
But Skipper needed a house, and a house she’d eventually get. As they drove the trailer home, Skipper was talking to a woman who has been following her journey from the beginning.
She said that she’s been flipping houses and owned about 15 different properties at a time.
The woman was willing to trade the off-grid trailer for a house in Tennessee.
The day after Thanksgiving, Skipper found herself holding keys to the house.
The long journey has come to an end but Skipper says she’s not done yet. She said that she wanted to become the first person who did the challenge twice. And this time, she’ll get a house for someone who needs it the most. How? With a bobby pin, of course!
Watch how this woman turned a measly pin into a house.
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