Were you in line to buy the first batch of iPhones on Friday? If so, you’re probably the proud owner of a $1,500 phone … at least. The base price for the two models is $499 and $599, but you probably could you resist getting some accessories. Did you spend 5 hours in line? 10? A day and a half like Robert Scoble? How much is your time worth?
If we’re looking at $100 an hour (and frankly, almost everyone in the famous Palo Alto line is in a higher bracket) the real cost of an average iPhone purchased on iDay could very well be $1,500 or more.
But hey, you could have done worse… by buying a spot from this poor(?) fellow for $5,000 (photo credit: Engadget). (Oh, wait, it came with a free chair, what a deal…)
The real losers are those who stood on line all day in the hope of making a quick buck on eBay. Corey Spring posted an analysis of 933 eBay auctions, and came to two conclusions:
- Half (52%) of the iPhone auctions expired without a single bid,
- Those that actually concluded with a deal, yielded an average profit of $54.43 (yes, a lousy fifty bucks).
Factoring in the time they spent in line (or the average $15/hour some paid for their “stand-ins”), it’s probably fair to say that eBayers are at a net loss. And they did not have the experience, either 
Update: The cutest iPhone users 🙂
Related posts: Scobleizer, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Official Zooomr Blog, Guardian Unlimited, Thomas Hawk’s Digital …, B.L. Ochman’s weblog, Incremental Blogger, Feld Thoughts , CNet, Newsvine and Macsimum News
Zoli, lot more to the TCO. Base At&T service over 2 years $ 1600. Plus texting, plus domestic wifi roaming plus intl calls on a locked SIM at 99 to 3.49 a minute, plus intl data plans. Plus telecom taxes. Then you have to send in periodically for battery refreshes, and I am sure Apple fans will buy all kinds of accessories…
Yes, of course, I did not even want to get into the subscription part, just wanted to point out the cost of spending a day in line.