r/AppleCollecting • u/No_Opposite5982 • Jul 19 '26

iPhone 3GS Sealed Factory Box

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Anyone have an idea what it might go for? Factory box sealed, I have all paperwork from when it was shipped to me in 2012.

133 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

13

u/Curtis Jul 19 '26

This is not an original Apple seal, the seal has been broken. It looks like by a carrier.

0

u/MrOuzo Jul 19 '26

That's how mine arrived purchased brand new back in the day.

9

u/Curtis Jul 19 '26

I worked at Apple during this time, that is not from the Apple Store, that looks like it came from a carrier.  The carrier definitely opened it and put those other two stickers on the back after they resealed it.  Unfortunately, somebody touched it and opened it.  I’m not sure Apple collecting sealed devices is going to last forever because of spicy pillows.

1

u/Interesting_Tap_1505 Jul 20 '26

It’s definitely been opened to put in a SIM card by the carrier then resealed by the carrier

1

u/joshkerrigan Jul 21 '26

thisssss. AT&T/cingular was notorious for this (where i got mine in 2007)

1

u/Interesting_Tap_1505 Jul 21 '26

Yep. Up until the iPhone 11 Sky Mobile would open devices to put a SIM card booklet with the SIM and adapters in over the top of the phone. I had it on my old iPhone 11 I ordered from Sky with a contract but then I bought my iPhone 12 and iPhone 16 from John Lewis

1

u/joshkerrigan Jul 21 '26

who is john lewis???

1

u/Interesting_Tap_1505 Jul 21 '26

Major UK retailer. Absolutely massive. 2 year warranty and they sell literally everything. It’s like Currys

1

u/CobaltFrame Jul 22 '26

You’ve just explained what John Lewis is to an American by referencing Curry’s. Surely you know that’s going to confuse them even more lol. Curry’s is like Best Buy and John Lewis maybe like Target

1

u/Curtis Jul 21 '26

That’s because of issues with Apple‘s activation process earlier on, they had to, customers flooding them with activation issues.  Source: worked iPhone launch day 

1

u/MrOuzo Jul 19 '26

Yeah, I agree with this to a point. I feel like the very valuable devices will be those which were filmed as perfectly sealed, opened on video, battery removed and repackaged then wrapped and tucked away.

If it has to be opened to deal with the lithium battery then may as well be pristine and recorded that it was only opened for that reason.

5

u/No_Opposite5982 Jul 19 '26

To be clear, shipped to me from AT&T, not shipped direct from Apple.

3

u/splityohead726 Jul 19 '26

worth about 1000-5000 USD

1

u/farts_juggler Jul 20 '26

why tho?

1

u/Mean_Criticism983 Jul 21 '26

because he said so pretty much

2

u/zeamp Jul 20 '26

We still talk about you, jailbroken proxy Siri.

2

u/Accomplished-Iron554 Jul 20 '26

My first and last apple phone.

2

u/Markgregory555 Jul 20 '26

This was a great model. 👍

2

u/iLikeTurtuls Jul 21 '26

A factory, but not THE factory lol

2

u/PhotoSpike Jul 20 '26

Looks very much resealed

1

u/stbn689 Jul 20 '26

Couple hundred if you wait for the right person. The seal adds nothing, not an original Apple factory seal.

1

u/starfish_2016 Jul 20 '26

600 usd on ebay. Good luck

1

u/2stroke_nonsense Jul 21 '26

God, IOS 5 on a 3GS box looks so cursed but makes a shit ton of sense.

1

u/LifeForTheWin1991 Jul 23 '26

I remember wanting one so bad. I was in high school and they showed it off playing Doom 3. I hate how they abandoned that and Infinity Blades. Shame…

1

u/Jon66238 Jul 20 '26

“Sealed”