Man trades up from a single penny to a plot of land in Bulgaria

In fewer than six weeks gardener Luke Seall has turned 1p into a plot of land in Bulgaria, through a series of astute trade-ups. The 27-year-old started his project on New Year’s Day, planing to see how much he could make from his initial investment over the year. He began by buying three goldfish from a friend, before turning down the first offer for them – 2p and a can of beer.

Mr Seall, of Brighton, later swapped the fish for a guitar, saying: ‘The main advantage a guitar has over fish is you don’t have to feed it. And you can’t kill it.’ From there, the enterprise began to gain attention online on Mr Seall’s Twitter and Facebook sites – and the offers started flooding in. He swapped the guitar for a mountain bike, which in turn was sold for £50. Mr Seall followed up that transaction with an online appeal for suggestions on how to spend the money.

And he was astonished to receive a call offering him a 10sq m (107sq ft) plot of land near the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria. He said: ‘The seller said I can do anything with the land, including camp on it, build on it, grow things on it or even use it for a memorial for a dead dog. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. I am now an international landowner.’ Mr Seall said he was already looking to swap the land for something more valuable, to build on his project’s impressive start.

He added: ‘I have absolutely no idea what will be next. I don’t really have any big aspirations of what to end up with. I just started it as a bit of fun and adventure.’ He could not remember the name of the village his land was in but said: ‘I would like to visit. It looks lovely from the photos.’ However, as soon as the land deal paperwork arrives, Mr Seall will try to trade the plot. ‘I’m willing to consider offers of cash or other items or land,’ he said.