First-gen iPod sells for $29K or P1.6M
It looks like nostalgia sells as yet another first-generation Apple product has sold for tens of thousands of dollars online.
Barron's reports that a first-generation iPod has sold for a record $29,000 or P1,630,626 based on current exchange rates. The iPod was the sole asset of a limited liability corporation (LLC) created by Rally, a collectibles investing platform. The iPod was a 2001 Christmas gift for a Texas teenager who had left it unopened on his closet shelf.
As the LLC's singular asset, the iPod had 360 investors who had 5,000 shares in the product. The investors paid $5 a share, putting the device's value at $25,000. Late in July, a private collector paid $29,000 to buy all the shares and essentially be the iPod's sole owner.
The iPod was bought in 2001 from a recently opened Apple store in Plano, Texas. At the time, the teenager who received the gift did not know what to do with it and left it on a shelf. It was only many years later that he was able to rediscover the iPod after cleaning the house he grew up in after his father died. The device was even in its original blue Apple store bag.
This is just the latest Apple device to sell for a huge amount. Back in July, an unopened first-generation iPhone sold for $190,373 ( P10,383,987) at an auction held by LCG Auctions. The huge price tag is being attributed to the fact that the 4GB model was discontinued just two months after its launch in 2007 since customers preferred the 8GB version. During its launch, the 4GB iPhone model was sold for $499 or P27,218 based on current exchange rates.
Back in August last year, an unopened first generation iPhone sold at auction for $35,414 or P1,931,673 based on current exchange rates.
It isn't just Apple electronics that rake in the big bucks. Late in July, the auction house Sotheby's put up a US size 10.5 Apple-branded sneaker on its website, with the price set at $50,000 or P2,728,226 based on current exchange rates.
The shoe is described as being custom-made for Apple employees and was also a one-time giveaway at a National Sales Conference in the mid-'90s. The shoes feature the old school rainbow Apple logo in a predominantly white shoe, and will feature an alternative pair of red laces provided by Sotheby's in the box.
