Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $63,356.40 at Auction
An original iPhone from 2007 that has never been opened sold for $63,356.40 at auction yesterday.
The sale was handled by LCG Auctions which listed it for an estimated $50,000, started bidding at $2,500, and received a total of 27 bids(Opens in a new window). It's an 8GB iPhone model released on June 29, 2007 for $599. Apple recently trimmed the trade-in value for iPhones, so the owner Karen Green will be very happy she didn't decide to use it to get some money off an iPhone 14.
Green appeared on the Treasure Hunt segment in an episode of The Doctor & The Diva three years ago where her iPhone was given an estimated value of $5,000. You can watch the segment in the video below, which begins at the 7:15 mark.
In an interview(Opens in a new window) with Business Insider earlier this month Green detailed how she has the phone networks to thanks for the iPhone remaining sealed. At the time her friends bought the phone for her, she had three phone lines with Verizon and the iPhone only worked with AT&T. Rather than going through the hassle and expense of switching, she simply put the iPhone aside (wrapped in felt pajamas).
As to why Green decided to sell now, she started her own cosmetic tattoo studio in New Jersey last year and told Business Insider, "The only reason why I am selling that phone is because I need to support this business." Otherwise, she was intent on holding on to it for another decade.
You may remember last year a sealed original iPhone sold for $39,000, so the price is certainly going up. And it's not just the original iPhone that can fetch huge valuations—an iPhone X modified to have a USB-C port managed to sell for $86,001 back in 2021. You may also remember when PCMag reviewed the original iPhone, which
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