Sold the world for $1500 - DNForum - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

**xepio** · 06-12-2006, 05:47 PM

Hey,

Some of you may remember me mentioning www.ownthemap.com before. I'm selling the world a country at a time through eBay to be used as advertising space.

It's come a long way since it was first created. I recently added a new backend system to it so each country owner can now get access to change their associated URL (and make money themselves by selling or renting their country) or access click count statistics. Statistics are also automatically generated and output onto the site itself, including the total value of countries sold... $1500+.

It sounds a lot but, to be honest, a lot of the money has either gone to eBay, PayPal or (as has the majority) into advertising, press releases, etc. The site has gotten more popular recently and bids have risen, especially with Canada selling at $255.

I'm now looking for ways to improve it further still. What else might I add to improve country owner experience? What new marketting methods could I use to increase awareness and site popularity? What's good and what's bad about the site?

Thanks again,

Daniel
www.ownthemap.com

**dilpreet** · 06-13-2006, 03:55 AM

very nice site and method of renting out countries...

**xepio** · 06-13-2006, 05:30 PM

Thanks

Anyone have ideas for improvement?

Daniel
www.ownthemap.com

**ColdGin** · 06-13-2006, 07:16 PM

Maybe you can also start to sell cities and put the list on both sides of the map with the name of the owner.

**xepio** · 06-15-2006, 04:05 PM

That could be a good idea for the future, although for now I wanted to keep it simple.

The possibilities are endless!

Daniel
www.ownthemap.com

**domaino** · 06-15-2006, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xepio

That could be a good idea for the future, although for now I wanted to keep it simple.

The possibilities are endless!

Daniel
www.ownthemap.com

Very small suggestion, but it might be useful if you included a link to the bidding section on those areas of the map which have not been sold yet. For instance if someone clicks on the UK, then they could be taken to a page where they could bid.

**xepio** · 06-18-2006, 05:30 AM

Hey,

I considered this but wanted to sell a few countries at a time, rather than flood the market with them all. Bad idea?

Daniel
www.ownthemap.com