Plot Synopsis

Featuring the thriving subculture of cashless trading, BARTER KINGS follows two entrepreneurs, Antonio Palazzola and Steve McHugh, two of the best barterers in the business, as they trade up from low value items to items worth thousands more. In a time where cash is hard to come by, Steve and Antonio have figured out how to get what they want without spending a dime. There is no limit to what these two set their sights on, and they will carry out strings of trades based on inherent value in order to get there. Cash is never exchanged and value is subjective, but these guys know the current market well and they will trade multiple times over to get to the objects of their desire. In each 30-minute episode, Steve and Antonio each identify a new object they want and then pick an item to start bartering. In the premiere episode, Steve starts with Elvis gold records and hopes he can trade up to a speedboat before his family goes to the lake on the weekend, and Antonio picks a used laptop computer as a starting item and will try to barter up for a huge lifted pickup truck. During later episodes, Antonio will trade up for a horse to surprise his daughter for her birthday, a pair of jet skis for some family fun on the lake, a car for his son, and much more. Meanwhile, Steve sets outs to bargain for an over-the-top custom golf cart, an amazing diamond as a surprise for his wife on their 18-year wedding anniversary, and a pool table for the warehouse. Antonio has been in the bartering business since 1973 -- when, as an eight-year-old, he traded a handful of plastic marbles for two large glass marbles -- and, as the son of a junkyard man, he grew up surrounded by second-hand items, helping him learn their value. After getting laid off from his job as a car salesman, Steve was forced to start bartering to support his wife, Cindy, and their two young boys, and now he runs a trading post with Antonio, his good friend and business partner, earning an extra $3,000 to $5,000 a week trading. BARTER KINGS returned for its second season on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 10pm ET, expanding to hour-long episodes and featuring Antonio and Steve in the Season 2 premiere attempting to trade up to a joint family vacation house.
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A&E presented the Season 3 premiere on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 at 10pm ET/PT. In the season opener, Steve and Antonio wanted to trade up to a "Monstrous" item for their parking lot sale -- but to close the deal, one of them may have had to get shot by a taser.