Plot on moon is yours for $20

Plots for sale on MOON

Kenneth Sewell was startled to find an out-of-this-world offer on the back of his Pak 'n Save receipt this week.
The New Plymouth man was scanning the back of his docket for good deals when he discovered, amid the vouchers for cheap pizza and accommodation, an advertisement encouraging him to buy an acre of land on the moon for $20.
"I thought, `what the heck's this?' and wondered if it was a scam," he said.
"It says it's filed with the United Nations so it seems bona fide."
But he still was not keen on investing in a piece of prime moon real estate. "If you can't plant a tree on it, walk on it, stand on it or even get to it, what would you do with it? Stake it out with a piece of string?"
The advertisement directs potential buyers to the website redeem.co.nz, where they are informed that because of a legal loophole, the sale of moon land is legitimate and filed with the UN.
"So unless someone currently lives there it's yours. There are no ongoing charges and taxes and unless you borrowed the $20, no mortgage," the website says.
This is, however, followed by a quick disclaimer.
"While all this is ratified it is a novelty gift. So don't get bent out of shape if you do visit it and some shack is there."
Superdockets, who are responsible for much of the advertising and vouchers on the back of supermarket receipts, did some research on the deal before running it and were satisfied it was not bogus, promotions manager Perrin Reilly said.
"It makes a good gift. You get a nice framed certificate to put on your wall – it's not 100 per cent guaranteed, but I think people understand that," he said.
"As long as the consumer sees value in the advertisement, we're happy to run it."
While a mere $27 (including packaging and postage) might seem like a reasonably cheap deal for an acre of moon land, daily deal website ilovedeals.co.nz offered a more competitive price of $24.55 in their recent deals.
Either option is a bargain compared to buying directly from the supplier Hursh Saha, the "Authorised Reseller for the Lunar Embassy (for New Zealand)", who sells title to a parcel of moon land for $40, unless you want to buy it bundled with a stake of the dwarf planet Ceres for $50.
Harcourts real estate agent Ian Gundesen has been in the property game for 30 years and says he would be more than happy to call an auction on the moon if given the opportunity.
"If someone was prepared to send me I'd be up for the trip. My advice to the buyers though would be to check the title out with a lawyer first.
"It would be a fantastic sale to be part of but I don't know that I would be doing too many open homes up there," he said.
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Other odd online buys:
An acre on Mars: $40
Chunks of dinosaur bone: $14; or a tooth: $120
The ability to name a star: US$54-$489
Dirt from Roswell: US$4.99
The soul of an American: US$5
Nothing: 5.99