iphone 3g – Stay N Alive

My New iPhone 3G S, My Review, and Trip to Fox 13 News

3 days ago I got up at 3:30am, packed up my truck with things like sleeping bags, camping chairs, and goodies to snack on and drink, and headed off to the Gateway Apple Store in Salt Lake City, Utah to get my new iPhone 3G S.  About 3 hours of waiting in 50-60 degree weather later (too cold for me!) I had my new 32 GB iPhone 3G S.  Just a day before I sold my previous iPhone on Ebay for $307, and that will go to the proud new owner, Unlocked and Jailbroken with the new 3.0 firmware tomorrow morning.  I documented the entire process on Qik, which you can watch here.  Fox 13 (KSTU) News here in Salt Lake City also picked up my stream and shared it with viewers – you can watch their coverage of it here.

Shortly afterwards, my friend, Kirk Yuhnke, an Anchor and Reporter for Fox 13 News texted me and asked if I could show it off in a segment today.  I obliged and this morning got to take my first venture into live broadcast TV, showing off my new iPhone 3G.  Kirk let me come back-“stage” with him and we hung out in his office waiting for our turn, and I showed off the iPhone in preparation for our segment.  Then it was our turn, and it went by too fast!  I admit if it weren’t for the video playback it would all be a blur!  I shot the following behind-the-scenes videos (shot entirely on the iPhone) of my trip to Fox13 Studios, on my new YouTube channel:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs1jiS24bJc&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_profilepage&fs=1]

The iPhone is an Investment – How I Sold My 2G for $510

iphone.jpgMy original 2G iPhone actually made me money. I mean literally – it made me $111 to be exact! I have long been a fan of Apple products. Not only is the UI superb, but Apple focuses on the entire experience – from the hype before the product launch, the purchase of the product, to the unboxing of the product, to owning the product and making every element of the product an enjoyable experience. Not surprisingly, every Apple product I’ve owned has also held its value at the time of sale. My very first iBook died, wouldn’t even boot, and with full disclosure I sold it, DOA, for $500 on Ebay. My second laptop, a Macbook, I made $200 on it after owning it for a few months (I sold it because my job at the time gave me 2 laptops and I did not need 3). I was completely amazed, that when I decided to try the same on my old iPhone, the same thing rang true. I bought my original iPhone at $399 just less than a year ago, and almost a year later, I was able to sell it yesterday (unlocked) for $510 on Ebay. Name one other cell phone that you can do that with on the market today.

If there’s one reason you buy an iPhone it should be that it, among all the other cell phones on the market, will not depreciate near as much as that of other phones. In fact, with the continued innovation of Apple and their continued edge they seem to have on the market, the hype surrounding the iPhone could just so happen to increase the value of your old phone to higher than you bought it.

I don’t know how long to expect these inflated prices to last, but so long as Apple stays innovative, and they continue to force customers into contracts on the new 3G phones, unlocked 2G iPhones actually have a value that the new 3G iPhones do not have – the ability to buy a phone, right up front, with no contract or provider tied to it. I don’t expect the price of the 2G’s to go down any time soon. Growing up my Dad (he is an Accountant) always taught me to make purchases that were the least likely to depreciate. The iPhone is a wise financial choice to make.

Have you made money on your iPhone? Please share your stories!