The iPhone, still factory sealed, sold for $52,797 at LCG Auctions (a premier auction house in the US) with a 20% buyer’s premium fee bringing the total sale price to over $60,000.
Karen Green, a tattoo artist in the US, received the 8GB smartphone as a gift for starting a new job at PetSmart in 2007, according to a report.
This was the first iPhone featuring a 3.5-inch display and a 2-megapixel camera, retailing for $599. Green’s device fetched over 80 times the original sale price at the aforementioned auction.
Originally released as an AT&T exclusive, the iPhone did not work with any other carriers at launch. Green chose to keep the first-generation iPhone sealed in order to avoid losing her Verizon phone number.
Her decision to stay with Verizon has paid off handsomely, since it meant that the iPhone was preserved in mint condition. The cost of original iPhones has risen dramatically in recent years, with a sealed, original iPhone selling for $35,414, and another one going for $39,340 in 2022 itself.
Meanwhile, Apple’s upcoming smartphone iPhone 15 Ultra is expected to launch at a starting price of $1,299. The current iPhone 14 Pro Max’s starting price is $1,099.