Last month, an Apple I went on auction with a starting bid of around $91,000 and an expected sale price somewhere between around $157,000 and $267,000 (€120,000 and €200,000). The auction was posted by a German tech antiques team, Auction Team Breker. Placed anonymously, the bid that secured the Apple I was an astounding $630,000.
This June, an Apple I went on auction at Sotheby’s in New York and sold for $374,500, setting a record price that was shattered with this most recent sale. Both the Sotheby’s and Breker auctions were for working Apple Is, whereas a previous auction at Christie’s in the UK wasn’t for an operational unit, and ended up not selling at about $80,000.
As computer historian David Greelish lays out, the price of Apple I auctions have been increasing over the years, with the first auction going for $17,000 on eBay in 2009, one selling at Christie’s for $212,267 in 2010, and now with this monumental $630,000 anonymous bid. The highest bid for an Apple I on eBay brought in $75,600, which is probably disappointing to the seller now that one sold for $630,000.
Due to the differences in marketplace exposure between sites like eBay and global, prestigious auction houses like Christie’s or Sotheby’s, it’s a little difficult to pin down an average price of the actual unit should you fancy owning one. However, it’s definitely a cheaper bet to scour eBay than it is to go head-to-head with anonymous bidders that can drop over half a million bucks.
Apple I computers aren’t exactly commonplace, but there are about 40 to 50 units known to exist, along with however many undocumented ones are sitting forgotten in basements across the world. If you’re in need of some cash, offer to help your grandparents clean out their basements, then cross your fingers.
