Bootstrapping at its best

Here's this really interesting real estate scheme from Kyle MacDonald.

My name is Kyle MacDonald and I am trying to trade one red paperclip for a house. I started with one red paperclip on July 12th, 2005 and I am making a series of trades for bigger or better things. My current item up for trade is one year in Phoenix. Do you want one year of FREE rent in Phoenix? Pop your offer over to me at (oneredpaperclip@gmail.com)... You can see the current offers here. I live in Montreal Canada but will go anywhere in the world for the right offer.

None of his claims are verified, but seem credible enough. Questions I have concern the valuation of his trades. His claim of bootstrapping 'bigger and better' things from a trivial red clip doesn't account for other claims.
(1) He travels to these places to make the trades and pays for the items. Also, he blogs or talks about these trades and includes traders' pictures in his website.
(2) There is value in a "good story" that people get out of this. This value might exceed the residual value of the goods the average person is trading out.
(3) He tosses in extras (for the truck, he was willing to drive it and deliver it in person and toss in a tank of gas too), that he pays for. This is not accounted for.

In any case, a very interesting read and a fascinating story.

Cheers, Kyle.