An unsigned singer-songwriter has sold a lyric from one of his tracks for more than £11,000 on eBay in an internet first.

Jonathan Haselden was desperate to get his music noticed, so decided to try selling lines from his track Roller-Coaster on the internet auction site.

But when the 25-year-old posted the auction for the lyric: "And when you're lost, you'll always be found" for a starting price of 6p, it sparked a frenzied bidding war. The mystery buyer who paid £11,100 is believed to come from the United States.

Haselden, from Wimbledon, said: "I am over the moon. I never thought this was going to happen and this is just great. It gives me more chance of getting a record deal and puts me and my music out there."

He came up with the sponsorship idea after various attempts to get a music deals and trying to make money with a sales job.

He said: "The aim was to take a song that I have written and sell lines of lyrics to various well-known people and companies for a nominal fee to raise enough capital to promote me and my music."

"It came to me on the Tube. I was on the way back from another interview and I thought I had to do something to get my music out there and I needed to make some money." In return, his "customers" get one lyric and a percentage of future publishing royalties generated from the UK.

The idea had already taken off before the auction. Budweiser Budvar, TGI Fridays, research company Fresh-Minds and The Tussauds Group have each paid £1,000 for the privilege for a line. But Haselden is not the first to use the internet or a inventive ploy to create a buzz about his music.

Rock band the Arctic Monkeys and indie outfit Nizlopi used online campaigns to promote their unreleased tracks. Solo artist Sandi Thom also sealed a record deal after broadcasting her concerts from her basement flat to hundreds and thousands on the internet.

The final achievement for Haselden will be to win a record deal after toiling for years as an unsigned artist. He describes his music as "quite rock-based", although Roller-Coaster is a more mellow track. "I have a strong sound. But this particular sound is one I picked out which would appeal to a lot of people and radio stations would play it.

"I have been completely bowled over," he said. "It is nice to see all this interest and people rooting for me."