An unopened iPhone just sold for more than $190,000 at auction
An original, sealed 4GB iPhone just sold at auction for $190,372.80, more than 381 times its original price of $499. That's also three times the price of the next-highest sale of an original iPhone: a sealed first-edition 8GB iPhone that fetched $63,356 in February of this year.
This iPhone, sold on July 16 by LCG Auctions, likely fetched a premium thanks to two factors. The first is the rarity of the item itself; the auction house notes that the relatively minor price difference between the original 4GB iPhone ($499) and 8GB iPhone ($599) models meant more people opted for the doubled storage space.
The 4GB model was discontinued on September 5th, 2007, about two months after its June 29th release, making it a rarer find.
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The second factor that likely contributed to the item's eye-watering price is the unique origin story of this particular phone. "The consignor was part of the original engineering team at Apple when the iPhone first launched," LCG Auctions notes.
Elizabeth is a digital culture reporter covering the internet's influence on self-expression, fashion, and fandom. Her work explores how technology shapes our identities, communities, and emotions. Before joining Mashable, Elizabeth spent six years in tech. Her reporting can be found in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, TIME, and Teen Vogue. Follow her on Instagram here.
