Let's make a deal...

It turns out that we are all into barter. The arrival of eBay and similar Web-based commerce is changing the way we choose our purchases.

For example, if you know you will have a reasonable market for an expensive item after say 2 years, wouldn't you be more likely to splurge on a really upscale choice?

“As a society, we’re evolving into one of temporary ownership,” says Mr Nissanoff, who recently started a luxury trading site called Portero.com. “We used to buy and hold everything, let it gather dust or break, and then we threw it away.” Because people realise that the value of goods decline over time, they will start parting with them while they still have value—and use the money they make to upgrade.

This aftermarket not only exists, it is booming. On the flip side, if you simply want to buy "up" you can find steeply discounted high-quality to-die-for brands much more easily.

The world is becoming one big garage sale.