free link exchange worth it?

hi, i've tried to come up with a new way to get reciprocal links...on
my search engine site, users can choose to exchange links with my site
for any search term they wish. in return, i'll check for a reciprocal
link on the exact page that my site will link to. you can check out
the functionality at http://www.frigglefraggle.com/test.aspx (i've
used a crap link so people don't think i'm trying to get a link to my
site)....anyway, here is my question. does having reciprocal links
from one page to another actually get discounted? would i better
allowing them to enter any reciprocal link? i just wanted to avoid
ending up as the 5000th link on a "links.htm" page. any feedback is
appreciated.