The potlatch host says, "I won't take anything from you now. Today I am giving the gifts." He hands you one of the valuable copper shields. "You are my honored guest. Take this copper as a token of our bond of friendship."

Congratulations!
You didn't have to trade any of your stuff. But you have a social debt, really a form of credit, you must repay in the future or suffer loss of status in the Kwakiutl community.

The potlatch shows how trading is about relationships as well as economics.