FAQ

What is this website all about?

It's all about this challenge I have set myself:

to start with absolutely nothing...
and trade that absolutely nothing for something(s)...
and trade some or all of that something(s) for something(s) bigger/better...
and keep trading up...

...at least until I reach my target of either a Rolls Royce car or a Bentley car!

You get the idea...

And along the way I may trade one item for more than one at any time, making a tree of trades rather than a chain of trades possible (still counts as one trade on the counter though). I may also trade more than one item for one item.

I am prepared to travel anywhere on planet Earth (and maybe further) to make a trade if I think it makes sense.

And I think that's pretty much it!

Where did the idea for this challenge come from?

I heard about Kyle MacDonald in Canada who managed to start with a paperclip and trade it up to a house (nice one Kyle!). It took him a year with fourteen trades I think.

Well, I wondered to what extreme this idea could be taken, and soon set myself a challenge to start with absolutely nothing, and see how far I could trade it up. Simple as that.

What is your target?

For this challenge, I have set myself a target of... either a Rolls Royce car or a Bentley car, and I hope to get there... before I retire!!

Regardless of how close I get towards achieving the target, I have no doubt I'll some day look back on this as a well worthwhile and interesting experience for myself and others, and therefore a success. So, even if it ends up just helping pay a few bills... gr-r-r-reat!

If the target is ever reached, well I think I will just set a new bigger target and carry on trading... we'll see.

A bigger target should be easier to hit anyway, right?

Who are you? Where are you?

I'm Andrew Henderson and I'm from England. My day job is in engineering. I have also worked in Canada and Germany. I'm doing this in my spare time.

Why are you doing this?

I thought I should take up a hobby. I didn't fancy gardening or collecting stamps or any normal hobby. So I made one up, and this is it!

How far will you travel to make a trade?

I will travel to anywhere on planet earth to make a trade if I think it makes sense.

Well actually I've agreed to a few postal trades now, but I am quite particular about doing those.

How long will this challenge last?

I have no idea!

I'll stop if I lose interest, but I don't see that happening.

Watch this space I guess.

Can I link to this website?

Yes, absolutely - please do!

You can even add this banner somewhere in your blog or site if you like. It even features the logo with working single pixel links - I hope the excitement's not too much for you!...

Here's the code you would need, and don't worry, the pixel links are updated automatically whenever I update the site logo links:

<img src=
"http://www.tradingnothing.com/images_pixels/logolinks_banner.gif"
width="468" height="60" border="0" usemap="#map_logolinks_banner"
alt="tradingnothing.com Logo Links banner">
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.tradingnothing.com/js/
jscript_logolinks_banner.js"></script>

Also don't forget to tell me if you link back to me, so I can link a pixel for you and include you in The Official tradingnothing.com Logo Links Table if I haven't done so already...

What is an adopted item?

An adopted item is something I got for nothing that I thought would make an interesting trade item, and so I added it to the mix.

Tell me some trading nothing trivia!

Erm, OK, how about...

• So far, I have traded with people in eight different countries: Greece, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, USA, Portugal and Poland.
• The three metalworks Sean gave me in Trade 6 all went to Ireland - to three different women who were from three different countries (South Africa, England and Holland) and who were living in three different counties! (Galway, Cork and Waterford)
• The first adopted item was a ten year old unused Kodak 35mm camera film for slides. I rescued it from a rubbish bin, and Corina was well happy to take it in Trade 12!
• Trade 15 was the first time in my life I have made a deal with animals, and I'm still not sure if they were tigers, or dogs.
• I have never sat in a Rolls Royce or a Bentley car.
• Both the objects that were swapped in Trade 11 - Redback the bottle opener and the replica 1870 London Metropolitan Police whistle - were very nearly confiscated by airport security, though obviously not at the same time! (the bottle opener because it was pointy, and the whistle because it could make a noise!)