Sealed original iPod breaks record with $29,000 sale price

Apple memorabilia has been selling for record prices this year. After a Steve Jobs signed check went for over $100,000, we saw a rare 4GB sealed original iPhone smash the previous record with an auction price of $190,000. Now another world record has been set with the sale of a sealed original iPod.

As it happens, this latest record didn’t come from an auction or traditional private sale. It came from Rally, a platform that lets investors buy shares of rare collectibles.

Back in 2021, the platform opened up ownership of this sealed original iPod split into 5,000 shares at $5 share for a total value of $25,000.

This week, a buyout offer was put forward for the original iPod at $29,000 – a 16% increase over the last year and a half with owners voting on whether or not to accept the deal.

In the end, 61.98% of shareholders voted yes on the buyout offer, sealing the deal on the world record sale for an original iPod.

The original iPod had a sticker price of $399 back in 2001. Not accounting for inflation, the $29,000 record equates to a roughly 73x increase in value.

Here’s the background on this specific device that even includes the 2001 Apple retail bag and a vintage Incase sleeve:

This iPod was originally purchased for $399 + tax in December 2001 at Willowbrook Mall in Plano Texas, at an Apple Store that was actually opened just before the iPod release. Its original owner received it as a Christmas gift, and the iPod was placed unopened on a closet shelf, where it sat for almost two decades.

You can check out more of the interesting investable collectibles over at Rally’s website.

In related news, there is a big Apple memorabilia auction in progress with the company’s 2nd check ever written, a working Apple-1, and more up for sale.

• Apple’s second check ever written signed by Jobs and Woz up for auction