One dead possum: will trade for chocolate

Dead opossums, and other strange things you could be swapping on Bunz Trading Zone

BY STEVE KUPFERMAN

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 AT 2:26 PM

http://torontolife.com/city/life/bunz-trading-zone-opossum/

Bunz Trading Zone, an unlisted Facebook group where users can barter their stuff for anything except money, has become Toronto’s worst-kept secret. With over 30,000 users on Facebook and a claimed 12,000 on the new Bunz iOS app, the group generates dozens of new postings every day, most of which are attempts to swap mundane items like kitchen appliances and used clothing. Still, more eccentric trades are commonplace, with people exchanging opened packages of birth control pills, half-eaten foodstuffs and even dead animal carcasses. It’s currently impossible to join the group without administrator approval, so here, for those on the outside, are some highlights from the past few weeks, some of them potentially NSFW:

Dead Animals

The ask: “Naturally deceased small mammals for taxidermy.”
The trade: This post didn’t lead directly to a trade. But later that same day…

Dead Opossum

The offer: One opossum, dead of presumably natural causes.
The trade: The yoga instructor and amateur taxidermist who made the post seeking dead mammals snapped up this unlucky critter in exchange for a chocolate bar.

Nintendo 3DS

The ask: A popular handheld video game system, which retails for around $200.
The trade: In exchange for the 3DS, this Bunz user agreed to deliver coffee to someone at their office for a month.

Birth Control Pills

The offer: An opened package of prescription contraceptives.
The trade: The user accepted three subway tokens.

Pizza

The offer: A complete stranger’s leftover pizza.
The trade: Someone exchanged a tall can of beer for this.

A Boat

The offer: An actual, 30-foot sailboat. The owner says he lived on it for two summers.
The trade: None yet, but there have been a number of offers, including a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a trip to Australia, and free movie-production services.

Mannequin Heads

The offer: Five disembodied mannequin heads.
The trade: The user couldn’t find anyone willing to take all of the heads, but someone gave her four tall cans of beer for one of them.

Intercity Key Delivery

The ask: When a Montreal-based designer forgot to give keys to her catsitter before she took off for Toronto, she decided to canvass Bunz for a lead on someone travelling in the opposite direction.
The trade: Bunz itself didn’t lead to a solution, in this case, but the user was able to find someone through another online group, who delivered the key in exchange for a used Montreal monthly transit pass.

Massive Collection of VHS Pornography

The offer: More than 60 cassettes, each crammed with hours of low-def smut.
The trade: None yet, but the user is in negotiations for a Bluetooth speaker.

Bag of Used Dildos

The offer: This is the legendary Bunz bag of dicks, as chronicled in the Globe and Mail.
The trade: In exchange for her dildo collection, the user accepted some frozen pizzas.

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