Before you toss that box of old gadgets you think you don’t need anymore in the recycling bin, you might want to take a closer look. That dusty tech from your attic could be your ticket to a serious payday. I’m talking about devices that originally cost a few hundred dollars, but are now fetching a fortune at auction. The nostalgia market has exploded, and collectors are paying astronomical prices for pristine examples of tech that defined entire generations.
You don’t need a warehouse full of vintage computers to cash in. Sometimes, all it takes is one sealed device you forgot about or that gift you never opened.
The first-generation iPhone
You either had one or you played Snake on your Nokia
Go check your drawers, because someone’s sealed 4GB original first-generation iPhone from June 2007 sold for a staggering $190,372.80 at LCG Auctions’ 2023 Summer Premier Auction. That’s nearly 380 times its original $499 price tag. And it’s not a one-off either. In March 2024, another 4GB unit went for over $130,000 through the same auction house.
The 4GB model is the holy grail here. Apple only made it for about two months before most buyers opted for the 8GB model with double the storage. That short production run made the 4GB instantly rare, turning it into something of a collector’s dream. Even the 8GB version can fetch jaw-dropping sums. One sold for $63,356.40 at auction in February 2023, while RR Auction sold an 8GB model for $35,414 in August 2022 and another for $54,904 in March 2023.
What really determines the value is the condition. A used, unboxed first-gen iPhone might get you a few hundred dollars, mostly for nostalgia’s sake. But if yours is still factory-sealed and sitting in its original packaging, that could mean serious money. Right now, eBay has listings for sealed first-gen iPhones (like this 8GB one selling for $81,389), and auction houses like LCG Auctions and RR Auction regularly feature these devices.
The original iPod Classic
The sound of a generation, now the sound of money
The device that once made CD players obsolete has now become a collector’s dream. In 2023, a factory-sealed first-generation iPod from 2001 sold for a stunning $29,000 on the collectibles platform Rally. The original buyer paid just $399 plus tax at an Apple Store in Plano, Texas, back in December 2001.
Of course, that kind of sale is rare. In most cases, a first-generation iPod in good but open condition goes for around $200 to $500 these days. If you’ve still got the box and accessories, you could see it climb past $1,000. One sealed unit even appeared on eBay in 2019 with a $19,995 price tag, which is more than 50 times what it cost new.
The very first iPod came with that iconic mechanical scroll wheel and could hold an impressive 5GB of music—roughly 1,000 songs. Even newer models have collector value. I came across a sealed first-gen iPod Touch listed for a wild $60,000 on eBay, with another one sitting around $40,000. The real money, again, is in completeness. Keeping the original box, cables, earbuds, and paperwork can send the price soaring.
Nintendo Game Boy
If you licked a cartridge, you remember
That once-rugged grey handheld you left in a drawer is a sleeping investment. A sealed original 1989 Game Boy from the first production run, verified and graded, sold for around $21,000 in April 2022 through Heritage Auctions. That sale set the standard for what collectors now consider the holy grail of handhelds.
The real value comes from rarity. In 2023, Heritage recorded about nine sealed Game Boys sold, up from five the year before. Back in 2020, only one sealed unit was reported, and it went for over $5,000. Prices have been climbing ever since as collectors scramble to find untouched pieces of gaming history.
If you happen to own the standard grey “Green Screenshots” model sealed and graded, you’re already in pretty exclusive company. But even special-edition handhelds can command hefty prices. Sealed Game Boy Advance consoles and limited bundles, especially the Pokémon-themed ones, regularly pop up for sale in the thousands.
Sony Walkman TPS-L2
Rewinding a tape was a version of buffering
Before smartphones, before MP3 players, there was the Walkman. When it launched, the TPS-L2 sold for around US $150 (in 1979 dollars), which works out to about $650 today. On eBay right now, you can find serviced, working units for anywhere from about $500 up to nearly $2,000, depending on condition and how complete the set is. I even came across a boxed and complete listing priced at around $4,000.
The biggest factors are whether it still runs and whether you have all the original bits, like the headphones, case, and accessories. Since it’s a mechanical device, the cassette mechanism has to actually function, which isn’t a given after decades of use.
This was the gadget that first put music in our pockets. The TPS-L2 had that instantly recognizable blue-and-silver metal body, crisp stereo sound, two headphone jacks so you could share songs with a friend, and a “hotline” button that let you chat without taking off your headphones. It was quite revolutionary.
HP-01 calculator watch
Apple Watch walked so this could math
This was the ultimate nerd trophy, a calculator strapped to your wrist back when that sort of thing looked like a gadget out of science fiction. The HP-01 launched at a steep $450 to $850, depending on whether you went for stainless steel or gold, which made it pricier than most calculators of its time. Finding one nowadays is like striking gold. A gold-plated HP-01 from 1977 is, at the time of writing, listed on Chrono24 for $7,733, while another is listed on eBay for $5,400.
What made the HP-01 special wasn’t just cramming a calculator into a watch. It could perform time-based calculations, work with dates spanning from 1900 to 2099, function as a stopwatch with dynamic rate calculations, and handle complex time-zone math. It was a genuine computer on your wrist with 28 tiny store-ye keys, some recessed and meant to be pressed by a stylus which was integrated in the bracelet or provided with the watch.
Your attic might be a gold mine
If you look closely, there’s a clear pattern here. The reasons why old gadgets sell for jaw-dropping prices are that they are almost always sealed, complete, and in near-perfect condition. So before you haul that box of “junk” off to Goodwill, maybe take a quick pause and do some digging. Check eBay’s sold listings, browse through auction house results, and figure out what makes your specific version rare. The dusty retro device you’ve been ignoring for years might just be worth more than the smartphone or laptop you’re reading this article on right now.