Town Not Really Sold On eBay To Actually Be Sold On eBay?

Too Much Free Time

from the about-time dept

Okay, following the bouncing publicity attempt here… Back in 2002, we noted how you could buy a small, mostly deserted, town on eBay, and how selling odd things on eBay was becoming a way of getting extra publicity. Except… it didn’t work. That town that supposedly sold for $1.8 million didn’t really sell on eBay, highlighting the downside to using eBay as a platform for publicity: you get a bunch of bogus bidders. Whoever bid $1.8 million never actually showed up to claim the town (and certainly never provided the money). Instead, a year later, the town had to be sold via conventional methods for about $700,000 — much less than the original eBay bid. A couple of years have gone by, and the new owner has made some improvements and is betting that this time he can actually sell the town on eBay, and has put it up for bid. Once again, this move is attracting the attention of the press… and we’ll find out soon if it also attracts the attention of the bogus bidders.