Country owners earn the right to display an image or advertisement in the world map located on the EarthIsOnSale.com home page.
The unique idea has attracted the interest of thousands of curious web surfers and advertisers from around the globe, resulting in an huge growth in visitor numbers to the site. Companies, individuals and even rock bands are among the early country owners, all vying for the attention of EarthIsOnSale.com visitors.
As countries are sold the world map on the EarthIsOnSale.com home page is slowly populated, creating a visually striking illustration. The gradual evolution of the map encourages visitors to return many times to check the progress of the idea.
Mike Casey of band management company Disco Manifesto bought Iceland within days of the launch of the website. "I just liked the idea of owning a country, but my ad on Hamish's site keeps surprising me with an increasing number of referrals to our website," he said.
As the website proves itself as an effective place to advertise, Laude anticipates countries to begin to sell quickly.
"Capturing the imagination of many is critical for the idea to be a success. Early signs are all good: the number of new visitors jumps every day and I've been receiving a tonne of positive feedback. The challenge is to keep up with the emails and keep up the selling momentum," he said.
Laude is putting the proceeds from the sale of the countries towards an OE. He describes an OE as a "must for all young kiwis" and will commence his trip to each of the 125 available countries once all sales have been successfully completed. He intends to maintain a blog on the website to keep future visitors informed of his travels.
"I could save for an OE the way most kiwis do - working a regular job - but this way is far more challenging, exciting, and hopefully much faster," he said.
Laude has derived the cost of each country relative to its population, calculated by dividing total population by 500,000. For example New Zealand has roughly 4,000,000 people, so costs $8 to purchase. There are over 40 countries available for less than $20. China is the most expensive country, on sale for $2,646.
Laude developed the idea following a working holiday in the USA between university semesters, where he was frustrated by the high costs of travelling and the level of American knowledge about New Zealand.
"This website will provide a much needed geography lesson, and enable me to embark on further travel," he said.
"As I sell the countries I'll dig out some fundamental local facts, and hopefully the super-sized representation of NZ will help teach everyone what and where NZ actually is."
