Food
“I had just come to the US from Peru. My mom packed my lunch and the concept of a school cafeteria was so foreign to me. In my broken English, using mostly hand signs, I traded my can of pringles for cafeteria pizza. I felt Americanized.” — Bonie; Naples, FL
“My leftover fried chicken for a chocolate-covered Twinkies.” — Elizabeth; Cairo, Egypt
“I traded homemade burritos for Lunchables. I wanted the Lunchables because I couldn’t afford them growing up. The other kids wanted my burritos because they had no flavor in their lives.” — Grantis; Santa Cruz, CA
Toys
“I traded a dead car battery for two tennis balls. I loved to throw balls against the stoop and pretend that I was playing outfield for the Yankees.” — S. Jones; everywhere (military brat)
“In the early ‘80s, I convinced someone to trade their Star Wars tin lunchbox for a couple of worthless Hot Wheels cars. A few decades later, I sold that lunchbox on eBay for $350.” — Kris; Nashville, TN
Stationery
“From 3rd to 8th grade, I would go with my grandmother to Costco and procure a substantial supply of Ticonderoga #2 pencils and Uni-Ball ballpoint pens — the comparative Netflix and Amazon shares of a mid-’90s elementary school kid…
Where the arbitrage existed was in the unit cost when purchasing these supplies in bulk, indexed against the hot commodity items like Trapper Keepers, Gushers fruit snacks, Lisa Frank sticker rolls, and Pogs. My best trade was a set of 3 pencils for a new Yomega Saber-Wing Brain Yo-Yo. I felt like Michael Douglas in Wall Street.” — Alan; Shrewsbury, MA
Clothes + accessories
“My brother’s bike for a really cool denim jacket.” — Tammy; Baytown, TX
“In 4th grade, I traded a Babysitter’s Club book for a friendship bracelet. I took it apart to see how it was made and started a friendship bracelet company at school. I made $500 by selling bracelets before competition appeared and the teachers shut it down.” — Krisleigh; Dallas, TX
Cards + games
“In 1992, when I was in 4th grade, I traded a partially-eaten container Mexican candy for a brass pog slammer. I cherished that slammer and always kept it at the top of my transparent blue pog carrying tube.” — Ian; Houston, TX
“I traded a McDonald’s mini handheld video game device for a Gameboy color with 4 game cartridges.” — Samuell; Quebec, Canada
“I was a Pokémon card shark. I never showed my whole hand and I’d artificially inflate demand for common cards. Looking back I ripped people off left and right. What a time to be alive.” — Brian; Cincinnati, OH
“As an immigrant who grew up very poor, my parents could never afford to buy me Pokémon cards. I begged classmates for a few duplicates they didn’t want. I built those unwanted cards into a collection of around 60-80 cards that could rival most of my friends. I finally felt like I belonged, all without spending a cent.” — Sand; Ontario, Canada
Other
“When I was in 6th grade, I traded a Nintendo 64 game to a kid for his illegal switchblade knife. I then traded the knife to another kid for 4 Sublime CDs. Sublime became my favorite band for the next decade.” — Andrew; Cairo, Egypt
“I once traded a chocolate bar for a raffle ticket at school. The raffle ticket won me 60 seconds in a big plastic box with cash floating around. Anything I could grab and shove through a slot, I’d keep. I made out with ~$80.” — Rob; Zionsville, IN
“Kids would give me gum. I would chew and enjoy it. And after all the flavor was gone, I would make them a little figurine fashioned out of the gum. They were a big hit and I git a lot of referrals. Kept me stocked with gum. Weird right?” — Darron; Northampton, MA
“I traded 1 of the 2 pizzas included in my Lunchables for a week of servitude from my best friend. He had to save my seat at lunch, throw out my trash, and do anything else I didn’t feel like doing.” — Sasa; Philadelphia, PA
“I once traded 2 pieces of my mom’s chicken for a kid’s brand new watch. I work in sales now, so I’m not sure how much to attribute this story to my innate sales ability or my mom’s incredible fried chicken. The answer is probably both.” — Mac; Seattle, WA
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