I have traded up from absolutely nothing to the items Up For A Trade (also can be seen on right hand column of this page) - feel free to offer a trade for one or some or all of them to help me get nearer my target luxury car!
Welcome To Trading Nothing
My name is Andrew Henderson and I'm trading up from absolutely nothing to...
... a Rolls Royce car!
Or... a Bentley car!
In however many steps it takes. Of course.
It's my hobby.
Currently I drive a 1996 Volvo 440, arguably an upgrade from my previous car - a battered rusty old Honda Civic which I had to scrap in March - but only just... this one's rusty too!
Just so happens I've never seen a rusty Rolls Royce or Bentley, so I figure one of these practical motors would do me for a while, if only I could somehow upgrade to one...
My blog covers all my trades... and even a bit more! And all of these articles are just brilliant, I'm sure you will agree...
I am based in the north west of England, and am prepared to travel to anywhere on earth to make a trade if I think it makes sense.
Anywhere except The City of Iqaluit that is, which the rest of the world figures must actually exist because "they have a website".
Well actually I've agreed to a few postal trades now, but I am very particular about doing those.
Check out my current offerings Up For A Trade - and maybe even make me an offer!
There are no trees in Iqaluit. Apparently. Assuming there really is such a place...
Also why not check out a television crew gate-crashing my Trade 11 at Leicester Square in London! And then having the cheek to rename it "TRADE 1"!!...
They Said It, Not Me...
"I think your idea is great, like your humour!..." - Sarah (California, USA), in GuestBook*
"Just wanted to say how fantastic I think your site is..." - Charlie (Essex, UK), in GuestBook*
Kyle subscribed to my Trade Alerts service. It's free. I just send subscribers an email alert whenever a trade has happened, and also whenever I have what I consider any other trading nothing BIG NEWS to report. Has to be pretty major news to qualify as BIG NEWS though, eg. if the Abominable Snowman wants to do a trade with me, that would be BIG NEWS.
Location:
Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Offered Item:
I make amazing homemade olive bread which is beautiful with melted butter.
You could sit back and relax after a day of serious swapping with a plateful of steaming fresh bread.
It tastes best warmed up so I can send it the minute it comes out of the oven and you can just pop it into your oven for 5 mins to enjoy the sweet taste of my bread!
I love the painting, please swap!!!!
Location:
Cottage Country, Eastern Ontario, Canada
Offered Item (for Speedy the Llama):
A holiday on our property. There are two small ponds, two trout streams, a marsh, an island surrounded by marsh, pond and stream and boreal forested hills as well as a waterfall and a spring which both run down into one of the ponds.
The area is covered in tall dead cedars in the fen (fancy name for a certain kind of marsh). The hills are covered with tall maple trees.
There is a small tipi beside the spring fed pond. It has a hammock in it and a fire area in the center.
There is an open tipi, with a bit of shade at the top, beside the other end of the small pond. It has two hammocks in it, an adirondack chaise lounge chair.
There is an outhouse with a scenic view across from the island.
There are in total three tipis, one is 20' across with five old overstuffed rocking or reclining chairs in it, surrounding the center bonfire.
Musical instruments (tipi toys) are hanging on the walls.
There are 20 hammocks located in the most scenic spots in the forest, on the steep hills and on the island and in the tipis on the 12 acres.
Bonus: 600 acres of wilderness borders the property...wilderness ready to be explored.
Animals whose tracks are found or who have been sighted on the property include:
Black bear, white tailed deer, coyote, red fox, fisher (large cat-like member of weasel family), beaver, otter, muskrat, porcupine, raccoon, mink, ermine, black squirrel, red squirrel, chipmonk, star-nosed mole, mouse. Oh, and our cats and the odd dog.
Many species of owls, hawks (including the threatened Red Shouldered hawk), geese, ducks, warblers and other birds are heard or seen on the property.
Did I leave anything out? The amount of time to spend here is negotiable.
I Got The Anglo-American And World Recession Blues
Trade 21 Sarah and Trade 23 Peter, who live an ocean apart, have been busy lately creating a great record!
To hear it, go directly to the widget in Sarah's blog. (I'm planning on putting the widget on this site somewhere soon too...)
I hope lots of people around the world get to hear it through whatever channels, because although I'm no Simon Cowell, I think it is definitely worthy!
And I'm really looking forward to seeing how this end product of a collaboration-made-possible-by-the-InterWeb is received...
Wait a minute... we haven't officially done that trade yet - how did those balloons get there!
Oh well, I guess it'll work itself out somehow.
Still no correct answer received for the competition (see last post)... keep the guesses coming and ya never know! (I think the most incorrect answer so far might well be "a stuffed elephant")
Or as official as it gets here at trading nothing International.
So the question is, what is in the bag in this photo (re-posted from here)?...
I decided I may as well make this an official competition, though I'm not entirely sure what the word official means exactly, but it seems to give it some extra credibility.
The sender of the first correct answer I receive will be getting something made out of some of whatever is in the bag! (I might or might have just given you a clue).
Or that's the plan anyway. First of all the bag has to reach me safely...
Of course, this being an official competition, we need some terms and conditions, or equivalent. I guess.
So, erm. So:
Competition not open to anyone who already knows the correct answer. And that includes me. And I think you know who you are.
I will only accept guesses.
Competition closes when the bag and its contents reach me safely from somewhere in America.
If the bag doesn't reach me safely, then I will send a random alternative prize.
I am the judge. My decision will be final. And all that.
I should really pay a good lawyer to make sure everything is in order, legally speaking. I guess. But you know how long they can take...
But never mind about the fishy shirt, what's in the bag?...
!
I know the answer, and if you don't, and I would be somewhat surprised if you do, unless you are one the handful of people in the know... if you don't then maybe I can help you out with a clue.
Whatever is in the bag is what I will be getting in exchange for the four used pint glasses I sent to somewhere in America, which I can report have arrived safely in one piece. Or in four pieces I mean. If they did arrive in one piece I would be somewhat baffled.
Not the most helpful clue in history, granted, but I hope to reveal all in probably a week or so, when the bag full of ?????? ??? ????? ????? lands in my hands. So to speak. Hopefully.
Oh! and a publication called me yesterday, looks like an article will published on July 1st - I'll let you know here of course.
Oh and Oh! again, the blues recording that resulted from Trade 23 has been completed! I have heard a nearly-complete version several times, and I think it is a fantastic collaborative piece of work. I'm looking forward to the final mix, and I hope you can enjoy it too soon, though that's not my call...
If only I had known about that shirt a few weeks ago, I might have tried to cut a different deal. I wonder if four more used pint glasses would do the trick...
Never mind, wait till you see what's in the bag! That time can't come soon enough.
I've been a little quiet lately, preoccupied with relocating and starting a new job. I am now a car crash test dummy. I enjoy it, so far, but I haven't really been tested yet...
But never mind about that, high time I reported on the latest trade!
Peter had been lurking out there for over a year before he made his move on March 24, 2008...
"Hello there, I have been following your trading up since it began and am also an avid Gumtree fan. The song collaboration really appeals to me as I am a singer songwriter...
... I have a few things which I would consider parting with...
... following items which I believe have some interest in the collecting world.
- excerpts from Peter's offer by email
(Too bad Gumtree no longer allow me to point people to this website, but never mind. I know Trades 4, 8, 17 and now 23 were all made possible by Gumtree, so... Thanks Gumtree!)
Pretty soon we met up to try to work out a trade at Peter's home, where a number of possible trade items were on view. Not present were photos of punk band Buzzcocks Peter took in 1976, and, with the fascinating story Peter told that goes with them, I appreciated their place in rock history and was sure they would make a great item. Some letters by Pete Townshend of The Who also also caught my eye, and with me being a massive fan and having got the rock legend's autograph some years ago I even recognised the handwriting! Also a variety of Manchester United autographs were obviously interesting, especially the likes of Sir Matt Busby, George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton - all big players in the first European Cup triumph by an English club in 1968.
So there was a lot on the table, and I went home impressed, though we hadn't agreed a trade at that point.
I also learned that Peter likes to get involved in, well in pretty well everything. Aside from his job teaching music to autistic kids, he is a referee and a song writer and musician in a band. He also has an eco-friendly kettle that doesn't quite boil water, but I can tell you 97c works fine for me. And he was a contestant on The Weakest Link - the first to go off singing!
Oh, and it turned out Peter had been following this since right after Trade 1, when I still had the bottle opener!
With Peter's enthusiasm for the trade, and the impressive collectables he was considering trading, I was hoping we would work it out.
But in the end Peter gave us more, much more I would say.
First of all, although Peter found the photographs, he couldn't find the negatives to go with them. So to make up for that disappointment, he threw the autographs in to the deal, which I appreciate BIG TIME.
But more than that, Peter was inspired enough by this still-unfolding trading nothing story to write and record a song called about it, called "Trading Up". And Peter made just one CD with both versions - full mix and light mix - to give to me, to do whatever I wanted with. Well, to me this was another perfect item to trade on... so it became another Trade 23 item.
I returned to Peter's home on June 2nd to make the trade, and Peter played me "Trading Up" for the first time. I liked it, it's a catchy song, and a great effort for a home-made solo recording I thought.
We also found a couple of extra small things to include that Peter wouldn't miss - always helpful to me - and then we did the trade...
(In the photo, I am actually handing over my flash memory stick storing Sarah's blues instrumental track for the trade, which I had just downloaded from an email that day, which I thought was perfect. The track was then copied from the stick to Peter's PC.)
On the way home I played the CD over and over on my new car stereo. Was a strange feeling, but a good one too. I had a big smile on my face, and was trying to sing along, probably out of key, whatever that means...
If you want to offer me something "bigger/better" for this/these and/or any other item I have up for a trade, please go ahead! (give me a shout or fill the form)
As always, ALL offers welcome...
Peter and I hope to do another trade of some sort at some point, we'll see...
Other news... two trades are in motion, we should have news about those soon.
I stayed up late last night, very late, to listen to Trade 21 Sarah live on the radio (the Antique Blues show on WPKN FM from Connecticut, USA).
Except I didn't hear it on the radio - not much chance of that, me being across the pond in the UK - but the show was put out live through the website, so I could still tune in.
And, much to my surprise, Sarah even explained trading nothing and her blues recording trade...
Nice one Sarah!
So the first (I believe) mention of trading nothing on the radio happened in another continent, an ocean away.
Sarah put on a great show - I enjoyed it, she enjoyed it, they enjoyed it... - and if you missed it hopefully you too will be able to enjoy soon, because Sarah will probably be putting the recording up on her website www.sarahlemieux.com.
A MASSIVE THANK YOU to the one and only anonymous Trade 18 Izzyrider in Portugal for sending me this super shiney book...
I wish I could show y'all the hundreds of superb photos and illustrations, but I read the legal stuff in the book carefully and well you know...
But never mind, I'll try to make up for that disappointment by showing you this photo of my latest car, a 1996 Volvo 440...
This rusty baby is a move up from my last vehicle, an exceptionally rusty old Honda Civic which I had to scrap, I think you'll agree.
Look, it's even equipped with headlight wipers, an incredible luxury...
As magnificent as it is, I think most would agree this car can't hold a candle to a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley, if indeed it could hold a candle in the first place.
So the trading will continue.
(As if I would stop doing this just because I own a luxury car now).
(Should that full stop have been inside or outside the brackets?)
The next trade is due to happen in the next few days. There are also other potential swaps we're looking at doing soon...
Sarah LeMieux's offer arrived by email on March 23rd, 2008...
"Hi. You just followed me on twitter, and I followed you back. I would love to trade you something for that lovely lotus picture...
... how about this? I will record and produce a really neat instrumental blues track, and someone else, wherever they may be, can record a vocal, and I'll mix it in and master it all nicely. Plus a CD. Whaddaya think?
- excerpt from Sarah's email to me
I agreed without hesitation, and so we had a deal!
This was another offer of a super cool experience open to practically anyone, practically anywhere on planet earth, I figured. Somebody, somewhere would get the chance to record vocals on an original track by one highly talented Indie blues musician!
I was excited, and so was Sarah when I accepted!
Admittedly, I was a tad nervous about sending the Lotus painting in the post, but send it I did.
And we waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Days turned to... more days...
Tempers flared...
Fingers were pointed... across the Atlantic.
People were named, blamed and shamed...
Then of course, without fuss, it arrived, on Saturday May 3rd, 2008.
How the postman squeezed the Lotus into Sarah's mailbox, I will never know...
Maybe it took him a few days. Yeah, that would explain everything...
Now, normally I would at about this point invite offers for this new item up for a trade... but I have agreed to trade it on already!
More about that very soon. But for now, if you haven't already, why not go check out Sarah's music...
So here's yesterday's page 6 news from Lancashire...
(Thank you MeMe for taking that fastastic photo!)
And here's a guy who has an awful lot to answer for...
His name's Law, Peter Law, licensed to... trigger all this mayhem!
Peter Law was a work colleague of mine. One morning he came into work shaking his head saying he just heard on the radio someone traded up from a paperclip to a house. I think my mind whirred momentarily at that point, I'm not sure.
In case you didn't catch it the first time, Peter Law is his name. And he wants you to find him on Facebook.
Peter Law.
(Thanks for picking up yesterday's news Peter Law).
I didn't use any trick photography, by the way - that's actually how big Peter Law is.
I'm still in Ireland, just received a text from England - the Lancashire Evening Post gave us half a page today it says, so that's good!
Hopefully I will somehow get hold of a copy tomorrow and post it here.
And I made pretty much all the site updates today, apart the report on Trade 21, so you can now read about my latest offering - the chance to sing on an original Sarah LeMieux 12-bar guitar blues recording - here!
I'm actually sat in a plane as I write this, at Birmingham Airport. The plan(e) was to fly direct from Manchester to Cork, but some poor helpless needy souls got stranded in Birmingham so we swung over to pick them up.
I think the crew should call all the major airports in the UK right now, and all the seaports, to make absolutely sure we don't leave anybody else stranded before we head across the Irish Sea.
So, the P1 ad space deal is still on, and it's looking likely we'll have some action on that front sometime next week...
And I was hoping to officially announce Trade 21 by now, but the Lotus painting still hasn't made it to its new owner.
Oh! Looks like we are over the Irish sea now. Yes that's definitely the Irish Sea, I'm sure of it, I wonder if we'll be stopping off at Dublin on the way...
Now even though I haven't really let on to the world the details of what I will be getting in Trade 21 to trade on, I did let two people who were keen on Trade 14 in on the scoop early, and they are both very keen on this one too. So I hope we can work something out soon, not least because Sarah is eager to "get it on".
And even more news to report... looks like we're making it back into the Lancashire Evening Post this coming Monday. I won't be around in Lancashire to buy the paper, but a man called Peter told me not to worry, so that's good.
OK, I'm in Ireland now with a glass of red... and news just in: the Lotus painting has reached its destination! So Trade 21 is now officially official!
So that's good!
And I have even more news, and more still, but it'll keep.
I was going to wait until the Lotus painting arrives at its destination, but I think now is the right time.
Trade 21 was agreed on, let's see... looks like April 23.
This is the first trading nothing Twitter trade. From me, Twitterer sarahmomma - that's American blues musician Sarah LeMieux - will be getting the Lotus painting - hopefully! - and from Sarah Twitterer trading nothing - yes, that's me!! - will be getting the chance for someone to sing on an original Sarah LeMieux blues recording (final version on CD).
I have a feeling this one will be traded on sooner rather than later, but I have been known to be wrong on occasion. (Allegedly).
That's all today folks!
Tomorrow I'll announce a deal with another twitterer.
"I regret to inform that Speedy has moved on... He had a run in with a parasitic worm and wasn't strong enough to win that battle.
- by email from Speedy's owner Sean
So Speedy is no longer with us.
I never owned or even met Speedy the llama, but he was still a big part of this story, gave us a lot of fun, and the papers loved him too (see here, here, here and here) ...
I mailed off the Lotus painting today, to the Trade 21 (probably) recipient, who is somewhere in the state of Connecticut in the United States of America.
From the beginning, the intention was to do every trade in person, and for the first thirteen trades that's exactly how it went...
Then for Trade 14 I made an exception, because Jody's enthusiasm to be part of this, with the offer of a unique experience and her desire for the replica 1870 police whistle, was clear to me. And besides, I figured we would eventually meet and take a photo after the event, which did happen in Amsterdam.
And then, some months later, I agreed to trade on that said unique experience to a friend of Jody's with the chat room nickname Izzyrider, who wished to remain anonymous and lives in Portugal. Again, the enthusiasm for the trade really won the day, but the difference here was I knew I might never actually meet the trade recipient...
So we were in new territory - long distance trading territory, if you like.
The next trade will also almost certainly be long distance - I have agreed to send the Lotus painting in the post, in exchange for another unique experience. More on that in a few days I hope.
And there are several other long distance trades I think have a good chance to materialise in the near future...
Sure the trading in person aspect is important because this whole thing is about the traders - trading nothing would be literally nothing without the traders, after all! - but I've come to accept there are people too far away for me to feasibly trade with in person, who have so much enthusiasm to be part of this that I want to try to work out trades with them.
So the upshot is, I now regard long distance trades as perfectly acceptable and I think we'll be doing more of them.
