Pixel-flogging student makes a million
Can you believe it...?
Posted in Financial News, 12th January 2006 16:51 GMT
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Alex Tew, the student from Wiltshire who came up with the crazy idea of flogging one-million pixels for a dollar a throw, has done it: four months after launching his million-dollar homepage to try to fund his university education, Tew has sold the lot. Every single last little pixel.
Tew decided to flog the last remaining 1,000 pixels on eBay. And, when the auction closed yesterday evening, the bidding for the last available space on this giant pixel billboard stood at $38,100 - around £21,600.
It means Tew's site has succeeded in generating just over a million dollars - or almost £600,000 - since its launch in September.
Details of who snapped up the last remaining dots has yet to be confirmed, but no doubt there will be a big song and dance made of it.
Apart from Tew's own personal success, the most interesting part of the "million-dollar pixel" phenomenon has been the number of copycat sites looking to cash-in on the craze.
One of the latest comes from a young woman not long out of uni, whose pinkmilliondollars.com site is aimed at women.
"Pinkmilliondollars is a place where women from all over the world can come together in a safe and supportive environment to discuss topics, share experiences, give advice or simply enjoy the company of like-minded individuals with complete anonymity, if desired," said 22-year-old Rupa Kanabar in a statement.
The site has so far signed up five advertisers - including a singer/songwriter and a bikini retailer - and has a heck of a long way to go before it emulates the success of Tew's original site. ®
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