SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Could the auction model represent a new financial boon for adult entertainment? Kink.com thinks so. A test of the theory demonstrated extraordinary potential when an Australian consumer bid $42,000 for a one-hour, private BDSM webcam session.

The winning bid put Kink.com performer-director Maitresse Madeline in the same hourly wage league with Oprah and Lady Gaga. Kink.com founder Peter Acworth said he believes the amount is the highest ever paid for a webcam performance.

“Webcams are one of the bright spots in the adult industry,” Acworth said. “They allow performers to really be entrepreneurs and to reap the rewards. Madeline’s an incredible Domme, and she’s really earned this.”

The auction, hosted on Kink’s Divine Bitches website, lasted two weeks. Bidding was competitive from the start, Acworth said, but not until bids passed $10,000 on the third day did he suspect the company might have triggered a landslide. By the end of the auction, four separate fans vied for the win, each bidding in the tens of thousands of dollars.

“I’ve never heard of any other adult performer making this kind of money for a cam show,” Madeline told the Kink.com-published e-zine Kinky.com. “By the time we reach these high-end bid amounts, we’re dealing with another level of customer. These types of customers are willing to pay for the performer they want, when they want and how they want.”

Madeline called the auction a bridge between traditional recorded content like adult films and the booming webcam industry. She plans to establish interactive auctions for other Dommes, offering not only webcam shows but also used lingerie, chastity key-holding and other items and services fans seek.

“Working with Divine Bitches will give these women instant exposure to thousands of serious fans of femdom,” she said. “[My] auction and the infrastructure built to support this kind of auction [were] the first offering of the project to roll out and go live. I’m thrilled with the result.”