Antiques are objects that are 100 years old or older. For special collectibles, prices are sometimes quoted that are many times higher than the original price. In the tech world, 15 years seems like enough to charge about 83 times the purchase price of a first-generation iPhone.
Such a copy in its original packaging is currently being auctioned online. The American auction house LCG Auctions seems to expect generous collective prices for the iPhone 2007. The starting bid is $ 2500. The estimated value, on the other hand, is stated on the website: “$ 50,000 – and more”.
More than 15 years ago, owner Karen Green wouldn’t have believed the first-generation iPhone could fetch her 83 times its original price of $599. According to the American news site BusinessInsider, Green received the mobile phone as a gift from friends.
Why didn’t she unwrap it?!
The reason why the device is still in its original packaging years later is its limited compatibility with contract providers at the time of publication.
By the time Green got the iPhone, she already had three phone lines with Verizon. However, the first iPhones could only be used with an AT&T connection.
According to the US media report, the 3.5-inch screen, a 2-megapixel camera and the Safari web browser, which the first iPhone was equipped with, could not convince them to change contracts.
Still wrapped in foil and wrapped in pajamas to protect it, she kept the cell phone in her closet for over 15 years. She first thought of selling it when she learned nearly five years later that same-generation iPhones were changing hands for $10,000.
She decided to wait. Only when she found out last October that a similar device had been sold on an auction platform for $ 40,000 did she decide to sell it.
The main reason behind this move is the desire to keep investing in her newly established tattoo studio. In an interview with “Businessinsider,” she stressed, “If you have no income for a year because you don’t have a job and you’re trying to become self-employed, you’re running out of resources.”
Sources
- businessinsider.com: “An unopened 2007 first-generation iPhone is up for auction and is expected to fetch at least $50,000”
- auction.lcgauctions.com: “Genuine 2007 Apple iPhone factory sealed”
- mirror.de: iPhone 2007 will sell for $50,000
(t-online/dsc)
Source: Watson
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
