Sealed Original iPhone Sells for Over $63,000 at Auction

[macdisciple]

I bought a paper share of AAPL in 1996ish to frame. It cost about $40 because it was a paper share. Then I lost it and moved around a bit. I found it listed on a state unclaimed property/money site 3 or 4 years back. Submitted a claim and got a check for something like $2400 for the one share. I guess the state sold it at some point and kept the money in an account.

 

[Extoll]

Maybe it's time to sell mine.. Nah I will wait till it gets over 100k.

 

[nicolas17]

Did you have to pay $599 and AT&T line rental contract to get an original iPhone, or was that only in the UK?

You mean in the US? The original iPhone was never officially sold outside the US.

 

[helmsc]

I've got a 4GB Original still shrinkwrapped but it has the iPhone OS 1.1 type box (13th icon...iTunes Store). Wonder what it's worth.😏

 

[t0rqx]

This is why I buy two iPhones of every generation. One for personal use the other one to sell after 20 years.

 

[axantas]

Schrödinger's cat.

You know, what is inside, but you should not open it, because it will destroy its state or your illusion.

 

[usagora]

What an absolute waste of money. Glad to see people would still rather buy useless old crap than, I dunno, make a charity donation or something.

So do you give every penny of your disposable income to charity? I doubt it. A person who can afford a $63,000 collectible item might give the same percentage of their income to charity that you do or maybe even more. Their spending $63,000 on this might be the same to them as you or I spending $3000 on an overseas vacation. Are we bad people for taking such a vacation instead of staying home and giving that money to charity?

 

[surfzen21]

Is that Apples to Apples though, how much would a boxed first edition Rolex be?

Its not Apples to Apples (And I see what you did there
🍏)

There are some Rolex's that have sold for millions. But most people buy them to wear them and pass them down to family, like a bunch of friends I have.

There is this interesting phenomenon in the electronics market that seems to mirror the comic book market where people buy them to store unused and sell at a later date. There is definitely a nostalgic price point built into the sale.

I still have a Coleco from my older brother and NES with games stored somewhere. Not sure I'd sell them though.

 

[RedGT]

As others have mentioned, it would be interesting how the battery has aged sitting in a box all this time 🤔

 

[HMI]

Well, I couldn’t afford one then, and I certainly can’t afford one now!

I guess I’ll just have to stick with my 14PM.

 

[visualseed]

That would be like buying an original 128K Mac new in box for $262K in 1999.

 

[sleeptodream]

Maybe it's time to sell mine.. Nah I will wait till it gets over 100k.

You have one too? I wonder how many of these are out there anymore, and how many are owned by MacRumors members 😂

 

[Matsamoto]

Yeah a charging brick

What wild times back then.

Why did I just started to humming to "Another brick in the wall" by Pink Floyd?
🤔😁

 

[ninecows]

This is why we have inflation. There’s simply too much money out there in the hands of (some) people when you can get that for a phone without any real value.

 

[ThinCrustPizza]

I still have 3 of them. Never selling them.

 

[*MacBook*]

That's some ROI. Imagine getting a $500 dollar usable gift and being like, wrong cell company, Ill just stick it in a draw.

I need generous friends.

They were $1k ask me how I know ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[MajorWebUser]

Roughly 840% a year 😦

No. Actually, around 36.4% per year compounded annually.

 

[LevorgPenmancho]

Good luck to the new owner. Where I worked we got a returned sealed iPhone 4 box with a weight inside rather than a phone.

 

[PassiveSmoking]

I wonder how unsafe a nearly 16 year old li-ion battery that's never been charged is going to be?

 

[Thomascanndrum]

A sealed original iPhone model from 2007 has sold at auction for over $63,000 – the most ever for the device to date.

The lot, held by LCG Auctions, opened on February 2 and ended on February 19. After receiving 27 bids, the iPhone sold for $63,356.40, over 105 times the device's original $599 retail price.

According to Business Insider, the iPhone's original owner was given the device as a gift from her friends in 2007, but never used it since iPhones at the time could only be used on AT&T's network. She simply left the phone unopened for the following 15 years. The auction listing read:In August and October last year, a similar original iPhone sold for $35,000 and $39,000 at auction, becoming of the highest ever sums paid for the device. The $63,356.40 selling price of the latest listing is therefore a record-breaking new high for a sealed iPhone at auction.

Article Link: Sealed Original iPhone Sells for Over $63,000 at Auction

That's going to be one expanded battery.

 

[oldMacGenius]

I have my
- StevePhone, given to full time employees around July 20th 2007 in open box condition, with original box.
- original iPhone Apple retail Store gift shopping bag
- “Say hello to iPhone” Day One Launch Day shirt worn only once
- several of the “The wait is almost over” shirt leading up to launch day; some in new condition.

Sell? Nah. I think i’ll hold on to all of these things for a while longer.

 

[surfzen21]

No. Actually, around 36.4% per year compounded annually. Still, better than just about anybody (other than Paul Pelosi).

LMAO.

Why would you run a compound interest calculation on something that doesn't compound. Did the one phone become multiple phones when sold. No!!!

Its roughly a 126 multiple from original cost without tax. Over 15 years that averages out to about an 8.4 multiple or 840% per year.

 

[JamesHolden]

How many years do I have to wait for my sealed S0 Apple Watch to sell for that much? Probably much, much longer than 14 years... Its just an aluminum sport watch too so who knows if I'll find a buyer (collector) willing to overpay for it. 🤷‍♂️

My hunch is, you'll have to wait forever. The iPhone truly changed the world, so I understand why a sealed mint condition gen 1 would attract collectors, although I find the price sale price absurd. The iPhone dented the universe. The Apple Watch did not, so I wouldn't expect a first gen watch to be worth much even decades from now.

 

[JamesHolden]

Yikes. So I have one of these, the exact same one with 1.0 firmware, sealed. Not sure what to do with it now that it seems the prices are skyrocketing on them, it’s really hard to hold on to it when I could theoretically pay off all of my student loans with it

Don't get greedy. If I had one, you best believe I'd sell it now! A small number of people have crazy disposable income these days, but you can't count on that being true forever. You also have no idea what the collectors of tomorrow will value.

I learned my lesson about getting greedy a few years ago with a stock I bought. I got in early and it ran like crazy and for a moment, my shares were worth nearly $500K, but I was a greedy idiot and didn't get out. Then it dropped just as quickly as it ran up. I still made a profit, but I left a lot of money on the table because I didn't sell at the right time. So, when is the right time? Anytime you make a crazy, unexpected profit! Don't question it. Don't get greedy. Take the money and run!

 

[The1Biz]

Unfortunately, its not hard to reseal with a heat gun. I'm sure people do it with other products. That's why you hear people complain that amazon products they receive are sealed but obviously used.

When I bought NES games at Babbage's (in the US) when it existed decades ago, I once bought a "new" game that came with someone's cheat codes already in the game sleeve. I realized then shrink wrap isn't that hard to redo.

Buyer beware!