Pre-owned iPhones fetching crazy prices post-iPhone 3G launch

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 13th 2008 at 8:09PM

This little phenomenon has been going on ever since lines were wrapped around buildings as consumers waited impatiently for the iPhone 3G, but even now, original iPhones are fetching wild prices on the secondhand market. In a weird twist of economics, Apple's iPhone actually maintained the majority of its value even after its successor hit the market. Why, you ask? Put simply, first-gen iPhones purchased from eBay or other pre-owned resellers arrives sans an AT&T contract, and of course, it can be (relatively) easily unlocked to work with some other carrier. PSA: if you're still sitting on your old iPhone for no apparent reason, now would probably be an excellent time to test the market.

[Image courtesy of IFOAppleStore]

Filed under: Handsets, ATT, GSM, EDGE, Apple, iPhone OS

Tags: apple, ebay, iphone, pre owned, pre-owned, PreOwned, refurbished, unlock, unlocked, used

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highest Ranked

twolightsltd @ Sep 13th 2008 8:21PM

They fail to mention that freeiphoneswap offers more $ then all those mentioned in the article

Neutral

yoyodude64 @ Sep 13th 2008 10:16PM

thanks. im gonna do that actually.
8 gb iphone. im keepin the charger cuz the 25 they take off for not having it is less than if i ever go to a store to buy a new one. 225 isnt bad. i just got a 16 gig 3g for 300. so 75 for 3g and 8 gigs more sounds good to me

Neutral

Ayle @ Sep 13th 2008 11:36PM

I was thinking about doing that but I destroyed my iphone 4GB by dropping it too much... Crap that still pisses me off.

Neutral

Kyle @ Sep 14th 2008 2:19AM

I have a 4 gb original everything works except the mic and speaker need replaced. I'm thinking about selling it. I bought it after selling my original and bought a new 3g then decided to buy this(4gb) I soldered a new battery on and everything works. Might go up on eBay who knows

Neutral

Harley3k @ Sep 14th 2008 2:25AM

I sold my 8gb iPhone Edge on ebay for $450 last week.
I was surprised, but I guess people really want to unlock it.

I originally bought it for $599, and then got the $100 store credit thing, so $499 originally paid, means I used it for over 14 months for just $50 bucks.

Neutral

Jamar @ Sep 15th 2008 10:44AM

It probably got passed to one of the few countries without an official iPhone source. China, for example- neither GSM carrier in China wants to share revenue with Apple (and China Mobile already settled on TD-SCDMA for 3G).

Neutral

SpecialK @ Sep 14th 2008 8:16AM

This is true, got what I paid and more for mine!

Neutral

Peter @ Sep 15th 2008 10:20AM

I sold my used 16GB 1:st Gen. for amazing $640 last week in Sweden.

Neutral

THJ @ Sep 15th 2008 1:24PM

holy cow, I was going to pawn my 2G 8GB off for 150$, but they are going for 300+ on ebay as of 9-15-08. Must...stop...procrastinating.

Neutral

Bob @ Sep 15th 2008 5:28PM

I sold my 4gig for $300 around the time that the 3g came out. If yours is still under warranty, make up a flaw (intermittent faulty cell signal for example) and swap it for a new one at the genius bar in the apple store. Then sell the "new" iphone for more than your used one would have fetched.

craigslist and ebay are way better alternatives than freeiphone swap. craigslist is super easy, little effort, no fees, no shipping, and you'll get more money than freeiphoneswap

Neutral