iPhone 3G S - Things Aren't Supposed To Go This Well

After a long, hard five full days of resisting, my friend and producer on the defunct SciFi Pilot talked me into upgrading from my iPhone 3G to the new 3G S. I didn't realize that I could get the updated phone at the subsidized upgrade price after only one year-- I guess AT&T changed their minds at some point and I didn't catch it.




So yesterday I made up a half-hearted excuse about wanting a better camera and video capability to capture the miracle of my daughter's growth and sorta convinced Wifey that I should have an iPhone 3G S. Well, I don't know if she was convinced, but the passive never turned aggressive, so I went ahead and bought the 16gb edition for $199. After tax, it came to $255.

It also came with a one-year warranty, which was running out on my old 3G. The cost of AppleCare to continue that warranty would have cost $69.

I told Lisa, inbetween her non-committal, non eye-contact grunts of begrudging "approval," that I'd offset the cost by selling my old 3G on eBay. I'd heard stories on Engadget of these things selling for up to $300.

So I got my 3G S, synched it up and restored my old 3G to factory settings. I do know that Jason Bourne could still get my data off my phone, but all of my sensitive names are coded, and I'm not selling the phone to Jason Bourne, so quiet you. Checked on eBay, and lo and behold these things were really selling-- some of the bidding wars had gotten up to $350 or above. And my iPhone is in great shape, 'cause I'm as anal as a rimjob when it comes to my toys. Even the accessories were in mint, new condition, because I just transferred them over from the cherry 3G S box.

But I also knew that there'd be a rush of these things, since I couldn't be the only one upgrading to a 3G S who suddenly had an extra 3G laying around. I figured every day the market would flood a little more, so I'd set a Buy-It-Now a little low, at $295, with free shipping.

Sold it in five hours.

So there will be $10 for shipping, which brings the profit on the old phone down to $285. After taxes, I paid $255 for the 16gb 3G S, so I profited $30 by upgrading. Plus, arguably, the $69 cost of the year-long warranty.

Suh-weeet. I highly recommend other iPhone owners get in on this, because the 3G S really is a lot faster, and the video camera is super-handy when you've got a six-month old trying to eat avocado. I'm already uploading stuff to YouTube.

Plus, who couldn't use a free $30?