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

Status
Not open for further replies.

xeranar

Honorable
Aug 9, 2012
2
0
10,510
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.
 
G

Guest

Guest
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?
 

blurr91

Distinguished
Jan 9, 2004
339
0
18,780
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?
 

Gundam288

Distinguished
Sep 23, 2011
281
0
18,790
[citation][nom]xeranar[/nom]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.[/citation]
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.
 

scook9

Distinguished
Oct 16, 2008
826
0
18,980
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?
 
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.
 

trapper

Distinguished
Jun 23, 2005
679
0
19,160
[citation][nom]mdbrooks[/nom]...and then found a way to get really professional looking wrapping back on it...[/citation]

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.
 

wildkitten

Distinguished
May 29, 2008
816
0
18,980
[citation][nom]jacekring[/nom]I 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.[/citation]
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.
 

ghakes

Honorable
Aug 10, 2012
4
0
10,510
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.
 

beoza

Distinguished
Oct 23, 2009
329
0
18,860
[citation][nom]jacekring[/nom]I 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.[/citation]
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.
 

classzero

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2011
434
0
18,780
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.
 

classzero

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2011
434
0
18,780
[citation][nom]trapper[/nom]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.[/citation]
Gosh darn It. I missed this comment. Please disregard ^^^
 

Bricktop

Honorable
Apr 22, 2012
32
0
10,530
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.
 

classzero

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2011
434
0
18,780
[citation][nom]wiinippongamer[/nom]I Hope it's fake, whoever buys this deserves to get robbed[/citation]
Really? No one deserves to be robbed, you must live in a pretty hateful world.
 

jalek

Distinguished
Jan 29, 2007
524
1
18,995
I have one that still works, only bounced across a sidewalk once.
Erm.. I mean.. GOOD CONDITION, FULLY TESTED
Nah, still wouldn't be worth selling.
 
G

Guest

Guest
For collectors: the phone inside the sealed box must be an Original Iphone.
For physicists: inside the box can be an Original Iphone or Not; no one knows for sure unless the box is opened. Until then what is inside can be both the Original Iphone or something else, or neither.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.