Understanding the rules on trades

So, i think i have to do the following:

Trading a local spec miata guy nb1 bumper and headlights for like kind and quality nb2 parts. 

I just document on the recoup page with a zero for amount, as it is a square rrade, correct? 

If it was me Trading up or down, id document the amount gained or lost on recoup as a positive or negative number,  but quare is zero. Right?

Like, trade scongy interior and ten bucks for wheels, fmv on interior of 50. Id put that with a 50 dollar recoup and wheels in budget page at ten. Right?

So, tom, am i right?

My understanding is you have to assign a FMV to the items being traded.  The value of the item Leaving your possion counts against your allowable $2000 trade/recoup limit.

"Trades count towards your recoup limit, and must be recorded on your budget sheet at purchased value, FMV or Relative Retail Value (as specified elsewhere in the rules) as traded items leave the budget."

So you give 1 NB1 bumper - FMV $100

You receive 2 NB2 headlights - FMV $150

Your budget shows 

Trade NB1 bumper for NB2 Headlights - $100 

and you still have $1900 to trade or Recoup.  

Because that is the FMV of the item LEAVING your possesion.  You may recieve more valuable (or Less valuable) parts depending on how desparate both parties are to make the trade.  

Nocones has it right. "Trades count towards your recoup limit, and must be recorded on your budget sheet at purchased value, FMV or Relative Retail Value (as specified elsewhere in the rules) as traded items leave the budget."

And his example is good, too. FMV on the headlights is irrelevant, your total budget didn't increase, but you lost $100 of recoup by trading away that bumper. 

The intent is to limit trades.

Ahhhhh they closed the red paperclip loophole. Tricksy hobbitses. 

Ok. Thanks y'all. Not the answer i wanted, but it gives me the answer i needed.

To simplify things a bit, I updated the budget template on the site--should be a bit more obvious now.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Would it be different on self trades? In other words for self trades would you need to sell the item leaving at FMV and then "buy" the item coming in at its respective FMV? 

So in the example given $100 goes to recoup and then $150 is spent out of budget, net $50 budget expenditure? 

In reply to Bigben :

That sounds right to me. First, I don't think it matters who you're doing the transaction with (yourself or someone else), the math should be the same. Then, given the 2 separate sides to the budget ($2000 for purchases, actual or FMV, and $2000 for trade/recoup), I don't think it matters how you combine them. If you want to buy something for $150, you should be able to use $100 of trade/recoup plus $50 from your purchase budget, as long as all of the math is legit (including establishing FMV when applicable). It's definitely a bit of a trickier budget "game" now, figuring out the most advantageous but legitimate form of transaction (straight trade, recoup & purchase, partial recoup-partial purchase, partial trade-partial purchase, etc.) where the math still maths.