Item #2 - Tattoo Gift Certificate

Trade number one in the Craigslist Experiment turned out to be an overwhelming success! I contacted a lady who was offering tattoo service in exchange for items. One of the items that she needed/wanted was a printer! I sent her the link to my printer on Craigslist and about 3 days later she replied. In the e-mail, she offered an hour's free worth of work. My understanding was that she charged $75/hr for her services. So, I thought it was a great deal!

The next day, I headed down to the tattoo joint after I got off of work. I entered the place and it looked way cool in there. Definitely a respectable shop. All my worries vanished. It wasn't a trailer bus with an old Betty in the back tatting up ex-cons. It was nice... So, eventually when the lady I was trading with got a moment, she headed over and introduced herself.

Now folks, this is where things take a twist for the better. We made small talk for a little bit, I told her about the printer, and where to get the software for it. She looked at me, looked down at the printer and asked, "how much did I tell you I'd give you for this???". I said, "In your e-mail you said an hour's free work which was an equivalent of $75." She kind of looked at me with a confused face. "How about $150? That's an hour and a half of work." I was stoked. I could barely contain myself. I said, sure. That's awesome! Not only was it a half an hour more of work, it was twice as much money! I was that confused one! I didn't know that they charged a $100/hr. Needless to say, I'm a happy camper... Or, barterer.