In a case like this does anyone know how a buyer can verify it's legitimate? Even with an X-Ray or MRI, could one tell between real and a very lightly used one carefully repackaged?
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Unopened Original iPhone Sells for $35,000 at Auction
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I still have my original, aluminum back is bent and the screen has popped out in one corner from the expansion of the battery.
Best I can do is $5 but I'll pay shipping also.
Good thing they didn't sell it on eBay. I sold a 20 year old first-gen 5GB iPod in the box (used, not sealed) on eBay, and 20 days after receiving the item the buyer complained it no longer worked. Of course it was sold in as-is condition, with no guarantees.
But guess what? eBay declares sellers have to guarantee everything they sell. So nearly 3 weeks after receiving a 20 year old iPod, the buyer can decide they're not happy and insist on a full refund.
eBay provided the refund, and immediately tried to debit my accounts, which I preemptively removed from my eBay account. After over 20 years on eBay and 700+ feedback, I no longer have an active account, I have a collection agency chasing me for USD$650 (LOL good luck, I'm self employed and could care less about my credit rating) all because of a 0 feedback buyer who bought a used iPod with no guarantees and their reason for a refund was it no longer worked.
Not that it wasn't in the condition described or didn't come with the accessories listed in the auction - that it 'stopped working'. Inferring that it worked upon receipt and now it doesn't anymore.
Rant over - articles like this trigger me. Long story short, I'm glad someone profited big time on a sealed gen 1 iPhone, and F eBay.
Yep a typical eBay scam buyer. That’s why i trade in my devices annually to apple even though the payment is less compared to eBay. I’m not about to play the lotto with eBay scammers. eBay always sides with the buyer no matter how much proof the seller has.
For those who say it’s a scam and there is something else or a used iPhone 2G inside, I am afraid they are right.
the original cellophane was different. It was much thinner and more important: the part where the foil is welded/glued together, is completely different and more seamless on the original.
This is obviously a scam. EAP published a video on YouTube after being scammed on eBay where he explained accurately what I wrote here.
attached the picture of the original sealing.
I can’t believe how people can be that naive when spending such important amounts of money
the original cellophane was different. It was much thinner and more important: the part where the foil is welded/glued together, is completely different and more seamless on the original.
This is obviously a scam. EAP published a video on YouTube after being scammed on eBay where he explained accurately what I wrote here.
attached the picture of the original sealing.
I can’t believe how people can be that naive when spending such important amounts of money
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Weren’t the iPhones only being sold at AT&T stores on day 1? I seem to recall Apple Store sales coming later on
Nope, Apple store had them in my area. Service was indeed exclusive to AT&T though. There was actually an AT&T store close to the Apple Store, and I contemplated whether it might be a safer bet to get one from there, but ended up at the Apple Store and was in luck.
I remember lining up at a local AT&T store and it was a very small affair, maybe 10-20 people at the absolute most. People were asking what we were lining up for and at the time we could barely explain it because barely anybody even knew what an iPhone was.
I did end up at the Apple Store not too long afterwards, I recall the iPhone launch was just a matter of days before July 4th and I inadvertently took a little swim with the phone at a big party… didn’t even last a full week…
Fair point, maybe it will be worth 1/2 of this selling price in 25 years.
I was thinking about that……but I believe they are useless, as it’s a major financial corporation and I know that MacBooks….Mac computers have some kind info put into the ROM that both identifies it as a company computer and also if you wipe the OS and try to install a fresh one, it will automatically try to take you to the company IT config site.
That is Apple DEP, same as for iPhones/iPads purchased from an Apple DEP authorized carrier retail store. Even if you iCloud wipe the devices, registration is setup for an MDM with a specific 'key/hash'. it's useless to consumers.
Yeah, that's what I was told by one of the IT people that I know.