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(WCCO) Minneapolis When Ben Boughton rides his bike to work, he can't help but think about macaroni and cheese. That's because a couple of weeks ago, Ben found out that 35 boxes of macaroni and cheese are not just a bunch of garbage, even though he found the boxes -- some past expiration date -- in a dumpster.

"I've eaten worse things," said Boughton. "I'll tell you that. I'm not going to go into specifics."

With his processed boxes of pasta in hand, Ben logged onto the Minneapolis section of Craigslist, an online classifieds service, and posted them in the barter section. His ad read: "35 boxes of Mac & Cheese for a bike."

In three days, he received three phone calls. One of them was a local man who was willing to trade his five-speed Raleigh bicycle for the 35 boxes of food.

Boughton's deal isn't the only example of bartering we found on Craigslist. We found an ad from a man looking to trade for a haircut. It included a promise that "if you have those texturizing scissors, I loooove to clean." Another seller wanted to unload his 1938 Dodge Coupe (wheels not included) for a trailer.

Bartering "is huge, (and) it is going to get bigger," said Dr. Rich Rexeisen, a marketing professor at the University of St. Thomas Business School, adding that bartering is a bonanza for consumers, but tricky for the government because it's almost impossible to tax. But, Rexeisen sees the upside to the trend.

"What's exciting is it makes us begin to think about what really does value mean," he said.

Ben Boughton learned a little something about the value of a dumpster dive for processed cheese. He turned something that had no value, something that was literal garbage, into a bicycle. He credits his luck to Craigslist.

"It's just a more efficient way to organize resources," he said. "You can't just go knocking door-to-door to see if somebody wants 35 boxes of Mac & Cheese."

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