The small 13-acre town of Albert, Texas, 50 miles north of San Antonio, is for sale by the owner Bobby Cave. On eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY). Yes, it’s for sale in the traditional real estate markets with the help of real estate agent Eric Meissner, but Mr. Cave has also listed it on eBay. Cave says he won’t accept any bid less that $2.5 million for the town. Does Cave really expect to sell Albert, Texas on eBay? Or is this simply a publicity stunt to get free publicity to help sell Albert, TX?

I believe Bobby Cave has pulled a genius promotional coup here. I don’t think he has any expectations of selling this property on eBay—I think he hoped it would create some great exposure and free publicity for selling this property. And wow, was he correct! Now everyone is talking about this little town called Albert, TX that no one had ever heard about before today, and the only reason we’re talking about it is because it was put up for auction sale on eBay. Cave is getting all this buzz and promotion for free. Genius! Mr. Cave, my hat is off to you.

The eBay auction closes on Nov 23, but I can’t even find this auction on eBay today. Who knows if it’s still even on there? I don’t think it matters when the auction closes or if it’s still active. Bobby Cave has already gotten his payoff by listing Albert, TX on eBay—it’s become national news. And Cave is loving it, I’m sure.

Many small businesses and stores flourish on eBay. It has become one of the new busiest marketplaces of this Internet era. It’s a low-cost way to attract new customers and increase sales. Why don’t more traditional big businesses utilize eBay to gain more customers? Perhaps because they feel they can’t compete with the typically lower prices buyers can get on eBay. Perhaps they don’t want to deal with the hassle of trying to sell their items piecemeal—one at a time; it’s simply not worth the effort. Maybe more businesses should take a tip from Bobby Cave and Albert, TX, and see the tremendous publicity value of a establishing a presence on eBay, whether or not you actually sell anything on it.