Price of rare gold iPhone 5s jumps from $200 to $10,000

By The Rainbow
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A scarcity of the gold-colored new iPhones is driving ebay auction prices for the coveted items into the five figures.

On Monday, a single, unopened and unlocked 16GB gold Apple iPhone, which retails for around $200, sold for $10,100 following a brief but bitter bidding war.

And that's for a phone that really just gold-hued aluminum. A U.K. company is offering iPhones plated in actual gold for a fraction of the auctioned iPhone's price.


All this, for a phone that's no different on the inside from its silver and slate colored sister models.

Though the $10,100 phone is by far the highest price yet recorded for the rare gadget, many others are listed on ebay with asking prices of $4,000 and up.

According to Forbes, the extremely pricey gray market for gold iPhones is due to a scarcity that began the moment the new phones went on sale last week.

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 a year ago, it sold more than 5 million in the first three days after its launch.


SOLD! Someone is now the lucky owner of a 16GB gold iPhone 5s, retail value $199, for which he or she paid $10,100 in an ebay auction Monday


Lasted one hour: The gold iPhones were scarce from the moment they went on sale Friday. Online customers who ordered later than one hour after they went on sale must wait until October for their purchase to ship

‘This is our best iPhone launch yet―more than nine million new iPhones sold―a new record for first weekend sales,’ said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.

‘The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we've sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly.

‘We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone.’

An Apple statement added that remaining iPhone 5S orders will shipped ‘in the coming weeks.’

But according to Forbes, unless you ordered your gold iPhone in the first hour it became available Friday, it won't be shipping until October.

Stores lacked the popular hue from the moment they went on sale. The San Francisco Apple store had just 20 of them as thousands lined up for the release of the 5s.

In lieu of the rare gold hue, eager buyers could opt for the cheaper Apple 5c, which comes with a plastic case in green, blue, yellow, pink, or white.

And, of course, there's the option of buying a real gold iPhone. Or platinum or rose gold.

As Business Insider points out, the company called Goldgenie offers iPhones and iPods in the range of fine metal finishes. A 24 karat gold plated iPhone 5s costs $2,850.

As an alternative: A company called Goldgenie is offering the iPhone 5s plated in actual 24K gold, rose gold, or platinum for $2,850