One paperclip. 10 trades. One house.

In 2006, Kyle MacDonald traded a red paperclip for a pen, the pen for a doorknob, and kept trading up until he swapped his way to a house. Payperclip works the same way, with money instead of doorknobs.

Each rung's prize is banked before it opens. Rung 1's £250 was put in by the founder. Every rung after that is guaranteed by the Ladder Fund, which is filled by two fifths of every ticket sold on the rung before (plus a slice of every Side Trade).

Prizes grow as you play. On top of the guarantee, a fifth of each paid ticket is added to the prize live, so the more tickets sell, the bigger the win.

The figures are honest. If a rung doesn't sell out, the next guarantee is smaller than planned, and we'll show you that on this page. We never promise a prize we haven't banked.