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Original Factory-Sealed iPhones Appear on eBay for $10,000

By - Source: Techcrunch | B 43 comments

$10,000 for a piece of Apple "history"?

How much would you pay for a piece of Apple history? Probably a whole lot less than what this guy is asking for... we hope. If previous Apple product auctions have shown us anything, it's that there is some sort of demand for ancient Apple products, collectible or otherwise. Unfortunately, the original iPhone released in 2007 isn't exactly a 1976 Apple I or a 1977 Apple II.

Regardless, top rated eBay seller samsonbible hopes to sell his iPhone for $10,000:

STUNNING RARE COLLECTORS CHOICE APPLE iPHONE 1ST GENERATION 8GB AND FACTORY SEALED..!!! YOU ARE SEEING A PIECE OF HISTORY..!!!! THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE COLLECTORS SHOW PIECE..!!!! THIS WOULD BE A CROWN JEWEL FOR ANY COLLECTION..!!!! AMAZING FACTORY SEALED BOX..!!! UNOPENED AND THE COLLECTORS DREAM APPLE iPHONE..!!!!!!
THIS IS OFFERED FOR A LIMITED TIME….. !!!!!!! HAPPY BIDDING…!!!!

Who knows, with an enthusiastic listing like this, we'll just have to wait and see how much people are really willing to pay for a five year old unopened smartphone. Of course, the argument could be made that this device altered the course of smartphone history and it may someday become a very valuable collector's item.

Surprisingly enough, Samsonbible isn't the only one selling an unopened original iPhone. Another eBay user hopes to sell the device with a $10,000 "Buy it Now" but unlike Samsonbible, also has an option to bid. The current bid on the auction is sitting at $2,025 with over five days left to go. Do you think the original iPhone is worth $10,000? Will it be later?

 

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Top Comments
  • 27 Hide
    Nakal , August 10, 2012 5:34 PM
    All those caps and exclamation point make me really want to buy that!!!!







    no.. not really.
  • 23 Hide
    Anonymous , August 10, 2012 5:46 PM
    Wouldn't this be pretty easy to scam someone with? I mean if you took your old iPhone, put it back in a randomly mint original box (which would be easier to keep nice than the actual phone) and then found a way to get really professional looking wrapping back on it, that would be all you need. Clearly whoever buys it isnt going to open it, so in theory they would never know, right?
  • 17 Hide
    alexmx , August 10, 2012 5:42 PM
    Pfft! pocket cash (not really) for the average iSheep
Other Comments
    Display all 43 comments.
  • 27 Hide
    Nakal , August 10, 2012 5:34 PM
    All those caps and exclamation point make me really want to buy that!!!!







    no.. not really.
  • 17 Hide
    alexmx , August 10, 2012 5:42 PM
    Pfft! pocket cash (not really) for the average iSheep
  • 10 Hide
    xeranar , August 10, 2012 5:46 PM
    I could understand this auction in perhaps 25 years. By then with all the mobile device recycling programs out there and sheer age a shrink-wrapped iPhone will be fairly rare. I understand it's fairly rare now with almost all that were sold were used but it's less than 5 years old. There millions of that exact same phone out there. Who is seriously collecting this right now? It boggles the mind. But I guess everything has a niche for collection.
  • 23 Hide
    Anonymous , August 10, 2012 5:46 PM
    Wouldn't this be pretty easy to scam someone with? I mean if you took your old iPhone, put it back in a randomly mint original box (which would be easier to keep nice than the actual phone) and then found a way to get really professional looking wrapping back on it, that would be all you need. Clearly whoever buys it isnt going to open it, so in theory they would never know, right?
  • 2 Hide
    Anonymous , August 10, 2012 5:50 PM
    I think I'll pass this time...
  • 4 Hide
    schnitter , August 10, 2012 5:51 PM
    Not even for 10 thousand yen.
  • 4 Hide
    blurr91 , August 10, 2012 5:53 PM
    I question the historical value of any electronic gadget. How much would anyone pay for a first generation RCA TV marketed in the US? Or the first consumer radio? They're cool to look at, but they are of very limited practical value. A 100 year old car can still run. A 150 year old gun will still shoot. A 50 year old TV wouldn't even work with current broadcast signal any more. A 5 year old iPhone does what...exactly?
  • 0 Hide
    Gundam288 , August 10, 2012 5:57 PM
    xeranarI could understand this auction in perhaps 25 years. By then with all the mobile device recycling programs out there and sheer age a shrink-wrapped iPhone will be fairly rare. I understand it's fairly rare now with almost all that were sold were used but it's less than 5 years old. There millions of that exact same phone out there. Who is seriously collecting this right now? It boggles the mind. But I guess everything has a niche for collection.

    depends on how Apple does in down the line. Didn't one of Apples older computers sell for around $300k+ recently?

    IMHO, with current times, I wouldn't suggest buying it as the "Apple Juice" effect seems to be wearing off/going away.
  • 7 Hide
    scook9 , August 10, 2012 6:07 PM
    I would insist on seeing an x-ray of the box before handing over money, and even then.....this could be such an easy scam haha, does he include a sales receipt from apple?
  • 6 Hide
    house70 , August 10, 2012 6:16 PM
    Wow... I can see the buyer's will:
    "To my son, I leave an unopened iPhone box, that I paid 10grand for and I hope someday will be actually worth 10 grand..."
    With that kind of money, invest in a piece of art. At least you can actually see and enjoy your investment.
  • 6 Hide
    trapper , August 10, 2012 6:20 PM
    mdbrooks...and then found a way to get really professional looking wrapping back on it...


    many retail stores will have a shrink wrap station somewhere. When I used to work a book store I'd shrink wrap at least 1-2 items a day. You don't even need any real training. Put the box in the plastic, cut it, use the heat gun - done.
  • 0 Hide
    wildkitten , August 10, 2012 6:29 PM
    jacekringI agree, I never understood what the collecting craze is all about. Such as baseball cards. Why are old baseball cards of famous players so expensive? It's useless except to look at. I can understand original paintings being expensive, it's art, but baseball cards are NOT art....Just like mass produced 'paintings' from Walmart are worthless.I can understand collecting old things that are useful, such as guns, knives....wait...that's about ALL the old things that ARE useful. Old cars? Not useful, burn too much gas. Old TV's, I'll watch on my 58" LCD thank you very much. Old computers, right.....give me 1,000,000,000 Apple I's to equal my overclocked i7 and SLI'd GTX460 cards.I can see old gaming systems being collectible, sometimes I like to play old games...like FF1 or the original Mario games.

    Old baseball cards were not mass produced. One of the reasons they are so valuable is that we value sports hero's, even old ones and much of the old cards are indeed rare. It was when people noticed that cards were getting in demand that they started mass producing them.

    Things become valuable because people demand them. You have limited supply, such as older items no longer produced, with many people wanting them and willingly to outbid each other, then you have something valuable. The person you quoted seems to think people wouldn't care about the first consumer radio, but old radios are incredibly valuable. Computers that were models that seemed to really advance technology also are on great demand.

    Essentially what this person is doing is hoping the smartphones will be something that will be around for a long time and that enough people will see a future market where the original iPhone may be worth many tens of thousands of dollars and that someone is willing to now buy it for $10,000 in hopes to sit on it for several years in hopes it will go up in value over time.
  • 1 Hide
    wiinippongamer , August 10, 2012 6:40 PM
    I Hope it's fake, whoever buys this deserves to get robbed
  • 4 Hide
    ghakes , August 10, 2012 6:41 PM
    There may or may not be millions of them out there, but how many of them are new and sealed in
    original packageing unopened. Probably less than 25 world wide. They are probably worth that, but i
    would have to pass, i can think of other things i would rather have for $ 10,000. But a Die Hard Apple
    fan might just bite.
  • 0 Hide
    beoza , August 10, 2012 6:56 PM
    jacekringI agree, I never understood what the collecting craze is all about. Such as baseball cards. Why are old baseball cards of famous players so expensive? It's useless except to look at. I can understand original paintings being expensive, it's art, but baseball cards are NOT art....Just like mass produced 'paintings' from Walmart are worthless.I can understand collecting old things that are useful, such as guns, knives....wait...that's about ALL the old things that ARE useful. Old cars? Not useful, burn too much gas. Old TV's, I'll watch on my 58" LCD thank you very much. Old computers, right.....give me 1,000,000,000 Apple I's to equal my overclocked i7 and SLI'd GTX460 cards.I can see old gaming systems being collectible, sometimes I like to play old games...like FF1 or the original Mario games.

    The thing your forgetting is that the value of an object such as baseball cards or old cars is dependent on the person buying it. It may not have any value or use to you but to someone else it does. No as to old baseball cards not being art I would agree with you on modern cards, but those produced 100 years ago they were not pictures they were paintings of the player that were printed and sold on Tobacco products (yes I know bad idea but it was perfectly acceptable at the time). Most people simply threw them away, so there's very few of those left. One players card in particular there is only 1 full card and one that has been ripped in half. And have you ever heard the saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or one mans trash is another mans treasure? There are people who still use vacuum tubes in their audio devices because there is a quality to the sound that just can't be duplicated digitally even with the best software, even some musicians use these devices because of the sound quality. And vacuum tubes went out of style with the modern transistor based equipment in the 70's.

    For some people these old devices and objects bring back a sense of nostalgia, it reminds them of their youth, when to them times were simpler. Some cars even have a sexiness to them that modern cars just can't duplicate, they had graceful curves, clean lines. Take the original Corvette, the Shelby Cobra, Astin Martins, Jaguars, these cars have an appeal to them that just makes you want to go for a drive in them with the top down and the wind blowing through your hair. Sure they suck down gas like a fat man at an all you can eat buffet but they just look damn sexy. The original Willies CJ2A may be old but this vehicle can go places most modern vehicles can't, this was the Jeep from WWII. It's easy to work on, the flat head 4 in it was one tough engine, it was rugged and reliable, why do you think it's still used in some countries?

    As for buying a 5yr old iPhone you have to be nuts to pay 10K for one, let alone 300k for an original Apple I. The Apple I and II belong in a museum along with the ENIAC, and other computers that lead to the modern computer.
  • 0 Hide
    Anonymous , August 10, 2012 7:17 PM
    Looks like those money laundry auctions that plague ebay...
  • 0 Hide
    festerovic , August 10, 2012 7:47 PM
    Lols, Tom's is trolling you guys with Apple "stories", just look at the replies...
  • 0 Hide
    classzero , August 10, 2012 7:51 PM
    We have a shrink wrap machine at my work. How do I know what is inside the box, it's ebay no one tries to take people on that site.
  • 0 Hide
    classzero , August 10, 2012 7:52 PM
    trappermany retail stores will have a shrink wrap station somewhere. When I used to work a book store I'd shrink wrap at least 1-2 items a day. You don't even need any real training. Put the box in the plastic, cut it, use the heat gun - done.

    Gosh darn It. I missed this comment. Please disregard ^^^
  • 1 Hide
    Bricktop , August 10, 2012 7:53 PM
    If the original iPhone goes for $10,000, I wonder how much the original iPod would go for. The iPhone was basically built off the iPod. And, the iPod was the reason Apple didn't go bankrupt. Time to pull out the shrink-wrap. lol.
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