In the context of the ManyPrimates initiative, our long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) rarely exchanged a given food item for a larger food reward at a later time. We tested whether possession of a high-value food item affected their performance and found that macaques displayed improved abilities when the value of the exchange item is reduced. This suggests that the possession of a high-value item contributed to the low performance of the monkeys in the original exchange protocol.