Land question: Am I missing something?

I've been doing a bit of hopping around on the map looking for some nice land, free of ads (and excessive particles). Landed on some estate land by mistake, as it looked like mainland.

It's up for 'sale' and the owners are asking L$ 1 million up front for 4096 m2 (244 pm2!) for land that according to the covenant cannot be resold, joined or subdivided.

So you pay a million for land you don't really own and have no rights over.

Am I missing something, or is this perfectly normal and do people actually enter into these kinds of covenants?

Either 1) it's a joke, 2) they would never charge you tier fees, or 3) they are wishfully thinking. My bet is on #1.

Is this plot in Cloud Cuckoo land by any chance?

If it's a joke, it's rather a large one, as I checked some other parcels in nearby sims for sale and same owners, same deal. The covenant refers you to a website that gives you upfront prices in $US or euros and the monthly tier fees.

Admittedly, the up front prices on the website are much lower (EUR 98 for 4096) than the L$ million (EUR 4000) given on the parcel itself.

Maybe the L$ million price tag is there to make you pause (I became catatonic) and check out the website for the real prices.

I think some people put outrageous prices on land to discourage landbots while they set it to sale to a normal person. For this particular land plot, they want you to go to the website and read the covenent before purchasing the land.
And if some freak happenstance comes along where someone wandering by the land sees the 1 million price tag and decides they "just have to have it", well, then the buyer has just made 1 million $

Its a form of advertising so it shows up on the map in yellow.

Right. Most likely that it's just a means to get the attention of those who chase yellow squares on the map, priced such that nobody would actually buy it, but instead read the covenant for information on how to actually purchase.

Landbots don't search estate land, only mainland.

Ah, the plot thickens.

Some people do it just to see who will bite. They are not really interested in selling their land, but if someone wants to part with an obscene amount of cash for the plot, they'll take it. I find this highly annoying when I'm land shopping. Waste of my time.

Putting the land up for sale at an outrageous price has long been a way of advertising a business in SL. Some people will do anything to get bodies into their stores....except spend the time to build desirable content and market it well