I don’t question the urge to gather up loose magic. Any time you find raw power lying around, begging to be claimed, I’d say it makes sense to seize it. So far, it’s unregulated by the authorities, so I’m not surprised to see some folks trading valuables for it. If you look back far enough, people used to barter all kinds of things for goods and services—even keys and jewelry. At least ectoplasm is still going strong.