- Cosmetic tattoo artist Karen Green received a first-generation iPhone in 2007 but never opened it.
- Now she is putting it up for auction, where it is expected to fetch at least $50,000 – the equivalent of R860,000 – more than 80 times its original price.
- Last year, another original factory-sealed iPhone sold at auction for nearly $40,000.
- For more stories, go to www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
When American Karen Green got a top job in 2007, her friends gave her a gift: the first-generation iPhone, which was just released that summer.
The original iPhone had a 3.5-inch screen, a 2-megapixel camera, and the Safari web browser; it was initially available with just 4GB or 8GB of storage and sold in the US for $599, or around R10,000 in today’s money.
There was just one problem: Green already had three phone lines with mobile carrier Verizon, and iPhones at the time could only use competitor AT&T’s network. Rather than pay hefty termination fees and risk losing his phone number, Green left the phone on a shelf for years, unopened and unused, wrapped in a pair of felt pajamas for extra measure.
More than 15 years later, Green’s iPhone – still in its original packaging – hits the auction block, where it could fetch at least $50,000, the equivalent of R860,000. The auction, managed by LCG Auctions, begins Thursday and ends February 19.
Over the years, Green considered selling the phone a few times.
When she heard about another original unopened iPhone listing on eBay for $10,000, she took notice.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I think I have the original,'” she said. “I called my son and said, ‘Go get the phone and make sure it’s not unlocked.’
The device was actually unopened and the original iPhone. Curious to know what it was worth, Green appeared on the daytime TV show “Doctor & the Diva” in 2019 for a segment where a handful of viewers could have items appraised. Green’s iPhone received an estimated value of $5,000.
Green kept the phone for a few more years. In October, she caught wind of another big sale for a factory-sealed first-generation iPhone; this phone sold at auction for nearly $40,000. At the time, she had just started her business, a cosmetic tattoo studio called Tattician located in New Jersey.
“If I could wait another 10 years on the phone, I probably would,” she says. “The only reason I’m selling this phone is to support this company.”
Shocked by the big sale, Green contacted the auction house behind, LCG Auctions. But many others who heard of the October auction also called.
“We got calls from everyone, but 99% of them didn’t have the same thing,” said LCG Auctions founder Mark Montero. “But Karen had a really unique piece with a great story behind it.”
“It was shocking because we had so many misses,” he added.
Bidding will start at $2,500, but the phone is expected to fetch $50,000 or more, based on October’s auction price and its extensive media coverage.
“It took me almost a year to get it up and running, and when you don’t have an income for a year because you don’t have a place to work and you’re trying to get by on your own, your resources start to go,” she said.
“If I could wait another 10 years on the phone, I probably would,” she says. “The only reason I’m selling this phone is to support this company.”