Leave the Wallet at Home and Shop: at the Merit Shop Creativity is the Currency

All you need is heaps of talent to get some goodies

Special Collections: THE ECONOMY OF LIFE

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Creativity
Composing a song.

(everything possible / Shutterstock.com)

You walk into a store and see something you’d like to buy. After pulling out your wallet and taking out some bills or a credit card, you pay for your goods and go. But at the Merit Shop, purchases are made quite differently. Instead of using money, goods are bought with personal talent. The gorgeous website hosts an online store with merchandise such as iPods, socks and sunglasses that were purchased with original songsdrawings or creative videos. The Merit Shop isn't looking for professionals, but rather evaluates entries for their originality. And if it fits the bill of awesome, the lucky buyer’s transaction is complete.
The innovative art project is another illustration of collaborative consumption in action - reviving the practice of bartering and sharing through the electronic medium of the Internet. Merit Shop is quickly redefining currency by placing the value on personal creativity rather than money.

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