Benzinga - A first-generation Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, still in its factory-sealed box, was sold for a whopping $63,356 in an auction.
According to LCG Auctions, which handled the iPhone's auction, the 8 GB iPhone was expected to be sold for at least $50,000, and ended up selling for more than 100 times its original 2007 price.
Bidding for the iPhone started at $2,500, and after 27 bids, it was sold for $63,356. The auction opened on Feb. 2 and closed on Feb. 19. Compare that to the price of a 2023 Tesla Model Y Performance SUV, currently selling or $58,990.
The LCG auction house has reported that the iPhone belonged to Karen Green.
During an interview on the daytime TV show "The Doctor & The Diva" in 2019, Green said she had gotten the phone as a gift from friends for starting a new job in 2007.
However, she said she already had a new phone and didn't want to switch from Verizon to activate the iPhone.
Green kept the iPhone unopened until she discovered that another first-generation iPhone from 2007 was sold for close to $40,000 by the LCG Auctions.
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Green then considered auctioning her phone and contacted LCG Auctions. She told Business Insider that after saving the phone for all those years, she decided to sell it as she needed the money for her cosmetic tattoo studio in New Jersey.
"I thought to myself, 'Oh my God, I think I have the original,'" she said. "I called my son, and I was like, 'Go get the phone and make sure it's not opened.'"
"If I could hold off on the phone for like another 10 years, I probably would," Green said. "The only reason why I'm selling that phone is because I need to support this business."
Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone on Jan. 9, 2007, at MacWorld, a trade show in San Francisco. Five months later, it became available for purchase at a retail price of $499/$599.
The iPhone included 4/8 GB of storage, an innovative touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera, and a web browser.
Last year, an early Apple computer prototype from the 1970s sold for over $677,000.
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