An original 2001 iPod sold for $29,000.
An original first-generation iPod was sold on the Rally online auction site for $29,000 in the package.
This iPod was purchased for $399 plus tax as a holiday gift in December 2001 at the Apple Retail Store at Willowbrook Mall in Plano, Texas. The Willowbrook Mall Apple Store opened just before the first iPod was released. The original owner received the iPod as a Christmas gift, and for some unknown reason, the unopened unit was placed on a closet shelf, where it remained for nearly two decades.
The Rally platform is unique in that it allows groups of users to buy shares of rare collectibles. The original iPod lot had 5,000 shares at $5 each. In the end, the “shareholders” voted to buy back the lot at a price of $29,000, which means that the revenue per share was $0.80.
The first metal iPod with 5GB and 10GB hard drives and a mechanical scroll wheel was released on October 23, 2001 and marketed with the slogan “1,000 songs in your pocket. The second generation of iPods with 10GB and 20GB hard drives were released in the summer of 2002. The last Classic series iPods with 160GB hard drives were released in September 2009. Official support for the iPod Classic ended on September 9, 2014.