This week, some of my housemates and I rallied together to replace one of our old, worn-out cotton couches with a new reclining leather sofa, since we were persuaded that this would increase our marginal social benefit as a house. We had already found someone willing to pick up our old couch, and since the new sofa was going to be given to us for free, there was really no downside to this exchange.
This new couch was only available with pickup from the owner’s house in Pantops which could only be picked up with the help of Paul, our only housemate who owns a pickup truck. Unfortunately, Paul's preferences are such that he doesn’t care about the couch and hates to have to use his truck. Consequently, my housemates knew that we would have to trade favors with Paul if we had any desire to obtain this couch, since he would not help us otherwise.
Knowing Paul’s preferences quite well, we told him that we would only be willing to have a house board game night (which he had been planning) if he let us use his pickup truck. Thanks to logrolling, we were playing games with Paul an hour later as we enjoyed our new recliner. Say what you will about our tactics, but it got things done!
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