An “iconic” first-generation Apple iPhone sold for more than $60,000 on Sunday, more than 100 times its original price of $599.
Bidding at the LCG auction house started at $2,500 and went upward from there. Estimated to get around $50,000, the phone’s final selling price exceeded the estimation — by $13,000 — and sold for $63,356.40 after 27 bids.
This type of iPhone is coveted by collectors because it’s the first generation of technology that has totally transformed the tech industry.
“There’s little doubt that interest in culturally relevant collectibles is rapidly increasing, and despite the impressive sales numbers, many believe the space is still in its infancy,” said LCG’s listing of the phone.
But don’t get excited just yet if you’ve held onto your old Apple devices.
Karen Green, the owner of the iPhone, left the 8GB first generation unopened in its original packaging — wrapped in felt pajamas — since she received the device in 2007, per Business Insider.
When Green’s friends gifted the phone to her for a new job promotion at PetSmart, she had her cellphone line through Verizon and the mobile phone service didn’t support iPhones at the time, she told Business Insider in an interview earlier this year.
Green ended up keeping the phone on the shelf all these years and got curious years later and thought about selling at a couple of different points. She finally got it appraised on “The Doctor and the Diva” three years ago where it was estimated to be worth $5,000.
But the price has risen significantly since then.
In the last half of 2022, two other similar phones sold at the auction house, one for $35,414 and $39,399, per CBS.
“If I could hold off on the phone for like another 10 years, I probably would,” Green told Business Insider.
But the fact of the matter is that she could use the money and the iPhone is just sitting on the shelf. She told Business Insider that she is planning to use the money to grow her new business called Tattician, a cosmetic tattoo studio located in New Jersey.