It's back: eBay buyer of California town puts it back on auction block

The tiny town of Bridgeville is up for sale again on eBay, complete with its dozen houses, cafe and post office.

Two years after Bill Krall bought the entire northern California town for $700,000 on the Internet auction site, he has decided to sell it. Minimum bid this time: $1.75 million (Ђ1.4 million).

Krall, a Southern California financial adviser, said personal family commitments prevented him from ever moving in to the town about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Pacific Ocean, according to his eBay listing. He said he "spent a lot of money and a lot of effort" cleaning up the 82 acres (33 hectares) among the redwoods northwest of San Francisco.

The town was once a hub for a local stagecoach route and a stop on the Pony Express, but it was run down when the landowner decided to sell. The first eBay auction, in 2002, led to a bidding war, but the winning bidder disappeared. Krall bought the town in a second online auction.

Krall said he has received e-mails and phone calls from as far away as China and Germany inquiring about the latest sale.

"The world has a fascination with being able to buy a town," Krall said. "You can come in and name it after yourself if you want and be the mayor, chief of police and secretary of interior all at the same time."

The auction, which started Tuesday, ends May 4. As of midday Thursday, there had been no bids, reports AP.

O.Ch.