Paper Clips

This guy gets one little red paper clip. He barters. He barters some more. And more. He ends up with a house.

I must go through a box of paper clips every month. At least one box. What I want to know (other than how I can possibly trade up for a house) is where they all go. I clip things together every day. I send them off to various and sundry places. They are rarely returned. Where do they go? Hmmmmm... if I had every paper clip I ever used, I could build a house with them... a big house.