Most expensive in-app purchase ever: Apple Pay used to buy $1 million Aston Martin
In what is claimed to be the largest-ever transaction made with Apple Pay, a customer used their fingerprint to authorize the purchase of a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 priced at over $1 million.
British automobile auction house Coys of Kensington announced this week that the classic car was bought via Apple Pay for £ 825,000, or over $1 million U.S. The historic automobile specialist says the transaction is the largest known in-app purchase ever made.
Coys also claims the 1964 DB5 -- like the one featured in the James Bond film "Skyfall" -- was the first-ever classic car sold via social media. The Apple Pay transaction was completed on the platform Vero.
Upping the value of the Aston Martin was the fact that it was a right-hand-drive silver birch model with red leather trim. The previous owner gave it a full restoration, including a rebuild of the engine, and overhauls of the suspension and gearbox.
Prior to it being restored and sold, the DB5 was in dry storage for 20 years, where it was not used.
The anonymous buyer got to see the Aston Martin in person at the Mondial de L'Automobile Paris Motor Show, then placed the "buy now" order with Apple Pay through the Coys profile on Vero.
"He was overjoyed to see the car of his dreams and didn't want to lose it," said Coys Chief Executive Chris Routledge. "He was keen to quickly get in front of the queue, so a few days later he hit the 'Buy Now' button on Vero to guarantee the purchase, leaving two other collectors disappointed in his wake."
Other historic cars remain available on the Coys Vero account, though none of them are as pricey as the DB5 nabbed via Apple Pay. They include a Ferrari Daytona valued at £ 800,000, and a Ferrari Dino 246 previously owned by Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant priced at £ 400,000.
Apple Pay launched two years ago with to key components -- point-of-sale tap-to-pay functionality, and in-app purchase authorization. Both components require special hardware in the form of Apple's Touch ID fingerprint sensor and secure enclave for storing payment information.
British automobile auction house Coys of Kensington announced this week that the classic car was bought via Apple Pay for £ 825,000, or over $1 million U.S. The historic automobile specialist says the transaction is the largest known in-app purchase ever made.
Coys also claims the 1964 DB5 -- like the one featured in the James Bond film "Skyfall" -- was the first-ever classic car sold via social media. The Apple Pay transaction was completed on the platform Vero.
Upping the value of the Aston Martin was the fact that it was a right-hand-drive silver birch model with red leather trim. The previous owner gave it a full restoration, including a rebuild of the engine, and overhauls of the suspension and gearbox.
Prior to it being restored and sold, the DB5 was in dry storage for 20 years, where it was not used.
The anonymous buyer got to see the Aston Martin in person at the Mondial de L'Automobile Paris Motor Show, then placed the "buy now" order with Apple Pay through the Coys profile on Vero.
"He was overjoyed to see the car of his dreams and didn't want to lose it," said Coys Chief Executive Chris Routledge. "He was keen to quickly get in front of the queue, so a few days later he hit the 'Buy Now' button on Vero to guarantee the purchase, leaving two other collectors disappointed in his wake."
Other historic cars remain available on the Coys Vero account, though none of them are as pricey as the DB5 nabbed via Apple Pay. They include a Ferrari Daytona valued at £ 800,000, and a Ferrari Dino 246 previously owned by Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant priced at £ 400,000.
Apple Pay launched two years ago with to key components -- point-of-sale tap-to-pay functionality, and in-app purchase authorization. Both components require special hardware in the form of Apple's Touch ID fingerprint sensor and secure enclave for storing payment information.
Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_Card
(... assuming this is covered by the 0.15 percent transaction fee announced when Apple Pay began)
Nice chunk of change.
Still a testament to the security of Apple Pay when someone like Amex would allow such a large purchase. Even though you can have a card with a high limit, that doesn't mean that limit still applies just because you add your card to Apple Pay (for example, tap purchases at terminals have various limits for transaction size and daily amounts).
I still have my 1960's toy (boxed) model of the aston.
This was the car with the revolving number plates, heavy weaponry and an ejector seat.
Classic Vehicles are for some people serious investments.
Probably not. For transactions this large, the fees are typically negotiated differently. Sometimes they're treated more like a check or EFT. Sometimes, they just roll it into the price.
Typically, you call the charge card company and say you want to charge $X on your card. If it's abnormally large (e.g., $1m if you've only ever spent $5k at a time through them before), they will ask for proof of assets before approving the charge. If it's 1.5x-3x your past spending habits, they normally approve it without a fuss. If it's in line with your past spending, you don't even have to call them.
Great bargaining tool, name price offer immediate payment.
I also got them to eat the "fee".
Thats right. Except for the DB5 in Thunderball, Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, and Spectre
Drives like shit compared with a DBS V12 (Casino Royale)
Bond trivia: in the novels Bond's vehicle of choice was Bentleys, like in the Cambridge picnic scene in the movie From Russia with Love.