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"One man's trash is another man's treasure." Inspired by this saying, a number of trading websites and forums have been set up recently in China to satisfy people's needs. And bartering has become the latest trend among young people. Let's follow China Drive reporter Zhou Jing to find out more.
 (Audio available for download)
You may get brand new bluetooth earphones for five lollipops, or trade a small toy to another online barterer for two concert tickets.
It seems your imagination is the only limit to what you can barter for nowadays. From possessions as tiny and cheap as a pencil or stuffed doll to bigger ones like furniture or a house, or even nonmaterial services, you can trade anything for what you need as long as you can find on the other end of your computer a person who wants to deal with you.
Chen, a young girl from Beijing has recently fallen in love with online trading. She has just traded some Dior perfume to another barterer in Beijing for a swatch. "My friend bought the perfume from France and gave it to me as a gift. As I already have a lot, I haven't used it yet. But I like swatches very much and wanted to buy one. So when I found this one online, I was really excited, since I could get the watch without paying money for it."
And Chen's online trades have been more than just that. "Look at these books. I got all of them through online trades. Now I've finished reading them and plan to barter them to others. I think it's both money-saving and an environmental way to deal with neglected possessions."
Chen is just one of the rising number of "Huankes" or online barterers in China today. To satisfy these people's appetites, personal trading websites and forums have been set up one after another in the country lately.
Much of online Chinese trading is inspired by a Canadian named Kyle McDonald who performed the miracle of bartering a paperclip for a two-storey house.
This May, just a few days before McDonald moved into his new house, a young Chinese businessman set up a global bartering website, www.comhuan.com, for person-to-person trade. "I had been thinking of how to explore the functions of e-business. And this April I read the news about a Canadian guy swapping a paperclip for a house. I was suddenly inspired and immediately set up a team to work on establishing the website. My instinct told me that online bartering would be a big business."
Zhu Renjie's instinct has proven right. In less than half a year, over 116,000 people have registered as traders on his site, where they have completed nearly 50,000 business deals online.
As the service has been well-accepted, Zhu Renjie and his team are already planning their next move. "Now we are working on creating a database of traders' needs and what they can offer. Next we'll do more to guarantee real trades. For example, we plan to cooperate with a reputable logistics company and we want to introduce the idea of "deposits" to protect the rights of both parties in the barter."
Today's online bartering business is more of a way to deal with people's neglected possessions and trade-offs aren't in the rules of the game. So who can be sure the miracle of getting a flat for a paperclip won't be repeated in China.
China Drive is one of CRI's radio programs aired from Monday to Friday. We pick the most interesting life reports from China Drive. Stay tuned.
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Director: Liu Chi