About 8 years ago, we had the idea to launch an auction website to connect to our travel portal, GatewayToSedona.com. It was called “SedonaYardSale.com,” inspired by the popularity of real yard sales held  every weekend around the town of Sedona, Arizona. We set up every category we could think of, from books and music, electronics, clothing, real estate, to… you name it.

The web programmer who worked with us at the time remarked, “I don’t see the point of trying to compete with Ebay.” I had not thought of it that way, but her statement nagged at me. We went ahead anyway, believing we still had a good idea. The site was launched, and then—other than a few postings—it sat, and sat, and sat with little to no activity for months on end. We realized we could do one of two things: either get on the phone and solicit for postings, or just let it go. With so many other projects in the works at that time, we had to concede and let it go.

Fast forward to 2010. We’ve just launched a custom, professional auction website narrowly focused on a niche market: the world of pigeon racing. This is perhaps the most complex website we’ve every produced, due to the many functions that must be performed flawlessly to make a top-of-the-line auction website work. But more than a generalized auction site, it appeals to a passionate segment of users. So far, we’re seeing registrations on a daily basis. Although it has been only 3 weeks, each week is seeing sales. Our business model allows for free posting, a small, optional pre-posting fee for “item featuring” like home page display, and a commission charged to the seller upon a successful sale.

For those of you with no knowledge of pigeon racing, it may surprise you to learn that top quality racing pigeons can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. The reason they are so highly valued is due to the prize money potential to race winners (examples are the Sun City Million Dollar race in South Africa, or the Vegas Classic). It’s a bit like horse racing, but not well known to the general public. That could all change when Animal Planet comes out with Taking on Tyson, a new reality show promising to bring audiences inside the “intensely competitive and bizarrely fascinating world” of pigeon racing. Read more in this USA Today article.

The other amazing thing about selling to a niche market is that email newsletters are opened and read at a surprising rate, with up to 25 % click throughs, not just opens.

To see our new auction website, visit www.pigeonracer.com.