Original 2001 iPod in Sealed Box Sells for Eye-Watering Price at Auction

[MacRumors]

A first-generation iPod in a sealed, never-opened box fetched a staggering $40,264 during an auction run by RR Auction this month.

This appears to be a record-breaking sale price for an original iPod at auction, with the previous known record being $29,000 in 2023. The latest price fetched does include a 25% buyer's premium charged by RR Auction.

In the U.S., the original iPod was priced at $399 at launch.

Introduced by Steve Jobs in October 2001, the iPod helped Apple to become successful again, after it flirted with bankruptcy in the late 1990s.

Jobs famously pitched the iPod as offering "1,000 songs in your pocket," and he unveiled the device by pulling it out of his own pocket.

"With iPod, Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go," he said. "With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again."

Here are the features advertised on the original iPod's box:

• Holds over 1,000 songs at near-CD quality on 5GB hard drive
• Up to 10 hours of continuous playback with rechargeable lithium polymer battery
• Super portable at 6.5 ounces and only 0.78 inch thick, 2.43 inches wide, and 4.02 inches tall
• Automatically synchronizes music and playlists with iTunes on your Mac
• Unique scroll wheel for simple, one-handed navigation
• Plays MP3, WAV, and AIFF formats
• Skip protection of up to 20 minutes (yes, minutes)
• High-resolution backlit LCD display
• Includes iPod, Apple Earphones, FireWire cable, and AC adapter

In addition, a sealed-in-box original iPhone with a rare 4GB of storage (8GB is more common) fetched $81,989 at RR Auction this month.

While that is not a record price for an original iPhone, it is still a staggering amount of money for a device that cost $499 when it launched in 2007.

Article Link: Original 2001 iPod in Sealed Box Sells for Eye-Watering Price at Auction

 

[turbineseaplane]

I don’t get the appeal at this point.

One a couple generations newer with an SSD in it and a new battery is way better device, while still retaining the nostalgia

 

[Robertus]

You paid big money from the auction, open the box for the first time and found out the device no longer work anymore.

 

[aperfectcircle]

I don’t get the appeal at this point.

One a couple generations newer with an SSD in it and a new battery is way better device, while still retaining the nostalgia

The buyer either has serious nostalgic desire or is betting on being able to resell later for profit. Not in the same league, but I used to have some quite rare CDs that I donated to a charity shop. A few of those have been selling well into the thousands lately. Bugger.

 

[Arran]

I wonder what state the battery is in?

Let me guess: 80% healthy! So no chance of a free replacement at the Genius Bar

 

[Apple_Robert]

I am surprised the iPad sold for as much as it did.

 

[ignatius345]

Maybe I should finally sell my 2nd gen iPod. It's in quite good shape because I had had it serviced and then immediately stopped using it and replaced it with the color one that had just come out. Not in the box or anything, but it's not doing me any good sitting here!

 

[CWallace]

I don’t get the appeal at this point.

The "appeal" is the hope these will become objets de art that they will be able to re-sell for even more at a later date.

 

[pdaholic]

Wow just think how much the original Vision Pro will be worth in 20 years! Buy 50 of them now!

 

[attohs]

Bad investment.

If you purchased $499 worth of $AAPL on October 23, 2001 at $0.27 per share (split adjusted), you'd have 1848 shares. That would be worth over $420,000 today.

 

[CharlesShaw]

Wow just think how much the original Vision Pro will be worth in 20 years! Buy 50 of them now!

I'm thinking an unopened original iPhone was the most recent Apple device that will ever be that level of collectible.

Mac, iPod, iPhone. Sorry anyone with an unopened Apple Watch, hehe

 

[pdaholic]

Bad investment.

If you purchased $499 worth of $AAPL on October 23, 2001 at $0.27 per share (split adjusted), you'd have 1848 shares. That would be worth over $420,000 today.

If only I had done that, would’ve really softened the blow from all those Enron shares I purchased in the 90s…Ha…ha…ugh.

 

[jz0309]

If you activate it - will you be able to get AC+?

 

[contacos]

Id rather get a Labubu

 

[CarletonTorpin]

Did ancient peoples have the same fetishes for 25-year-old nostalgia as contemporary earth people seem to?

 

[pdaholic]

I'm thinking an unopened original iPhone was the most recent Apple device that will ever be that level of collectible.

Mac, iPod, iPhone. Sorry anyone with an unopened Apple Watch, hehe

I just went to eBay and was trying to find any recently sold (or for sale) Apple Watch Edition series 0 gold that went for $17k 10 years ago. Maybe I was using the wrong search terms but couldn’t find any!

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Maybe I should finally sell my 2nd gen iPod. It's in quite good shape because I had had it serviced and then immediately stopped using it and replaced it with the color one that had just come out. Not in the box or anything, but it's not doing me any good sitting here!

I sold my clickwheel 4th gen grayscale model about a year ago for about $150. I was surprised!

Wanted to keep using it but just couldn't get back into it.

 

[Polesky]

I know that collectibles have valuations that are hard to understand sometimes, but my question would be: how do you know for certain what's inside the sealed box? X-Ray?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I know that collectibles have valuations that are hard to understand sometimes, but my question would be: how do you know for certain what's inside the sealed box? X-Ray?

If anything, you should be able to tell if everything originally packaged in the box is included. I think everythingapplepro x-rayed an original unopened iPhone he bought on ebay and found out it was missing some of the accessories. He ended up returning the phone because it wasn't unopened, just re-sealed.

 

[Applewatch42]

Id rather get a Labubu

Why exactly?

 

[Dr McKay]

You paid big money from the auction, open the box for the first time and found out the device no longer work anymore.

With how many years the battery will have spent completely depleted, this is the most likely outcome, nobody should buy this expecting it to actually work.

 

[LeeW]

A good investment, as long as it stays sealed, the value will continue to increase.

 

[ghostface147]

40,264….that’s a very specific number.

 

[iZac]

my gen 1 iPod is scratched to hell with a 30 minute battery and I threw my (empty) box away last year.

Were my years of enjoyment worth 40 grand?

Maybe I should buy a Vision Pro just to sell it in 20 years, unopened.

 

[Apple_Robert]

40,264….that’s a very specific number.

$10,066 was the buyers premium. It has been my experience that auction prices from the bigger houses never end on an even note (so to speak).

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I aspire to have this much disposable income someday. Genuinely a massive waste of time and money.