iPhones with Fortnite installed hit eBay with prices as high as $10,000

Posted:
in General Discussion edited August 2020
Apple iPhones with Fortnite installed on them are being listed for sale on eBay with price tags as high as $10,000.

Fortnite on iPhone. Credit: AppleInsider
Fortnite on iPhone. Credit: AppleInsider


Earlier in August, Fortnite creator Epic Games baited Apple into removing the popular battle royale title from the App Store. But Apple has not decided to remove the app remotely from user devices, meaning anyone who previously installed Fortnite on their iPhone still has access to the game.

Some of those users want to cash in on Fortnite's removal from the App Store. A search of eBay with the terms "iPhone Fortnite installed" or "Fortnite iPhone" turns up hundreds of listings with abnormally high prices attached to them.

An iPhone X with the game preinstalled was listed with an asking price of $10,000. That appears to be on the high end, since others ranged from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.

Business Insider reported on the listings earlier today.

Fortnite, of course, is a free-to-play game that doesn't cost anything. More than that, it's a cross-platform title that's still available on plenty of other operating systems (in addition to Apple products that already had the game).

In other words, Fortnite players should be able to get their fix without shelling out thousands for a new iPhone.

Epic Games didn't just bait Apple into removing Fortnite. It pulled a similar tactic on Google, and the game was also yanked from the Google Play Store. Epic Games is protesting the 15% to 30% commission that Apple and Google takes on in-app purchases, and has lodged twin lawsuits claiming the tech giants participate in anticompetitive practices.

Because of that, there also appear to be listings for Fortnite-equipped Android devices with unreasonable prices. There are a lot fewer Androids with Fortnite on eBay than there are iPhones, however.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    I should have downloaded it  
    doozydozenjbdragon
  • Reply 2 of 25
    Won’t it be lost when the phone gets wiped?  Or would someone be stupid enough to sell their phone with their Apple ID still signed in? 
    StrangeDaysstevenozyojimbo007doozydozenkillroyleavingthebiggrazorpitmwhitejbdragonDancingMonkeys
  • Reply 3 of 25
    Hank2.0Hank2.0 Posts: 151member
    Won’t it be lost when the phone gets wiped?  Or would someone be stupid enough to sell their phone with their Apple ID still signed in? 
    Not as stupid as the person who buys the phone and then changes the ID.
    stevenozyojimbo007chiakillroyleavingthebiggrazorpitmwhitejbdragonviclauyycDancingMonkeys
  • Reply 4 of 25
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,844member
    Won’t it be lost when the phone gets wiped?  Or would someone be stupid enough to sell their phone with their Apple ID still signed in? 
    Agreed -- how does this work? Was looking for that info in this article. App Store downloads are tied to the AppleID of the signed-in user.
    yojimbo007killroyrazorpitjbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 25
    yojimbo007yojimbo007 Posts: 1,165member
    LOL..some people have gone Nuts..!
    killroymwhitewatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 25
    Won’t it be lost when the phone gets wiped?  Or would someone be stupid enough to sell their phone with their Apple ID still signed in? 
    Agreed -- how does this work? Was looking for that info in this article. App Store downloads are tied to the AppleID of the signed-in user.
    You can log out of your Apple ID and keep all the information in place. The app won’t be able to update without the seller’s Apple ID password, BUT Fortnite won’t be getting any updates because it got pulled 
    razorpituraharamainyehcStrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 25
    Anyone want to make a bid for an iPhone with the original Flappy Bird on it…?  :D
    razorpitjbdragonmainyehcpscooter63watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 25
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,299member
    A fool and his money will soon be departed.
    InspiredCodemwhitejbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 25
    It will work until Apple remotely kills the app two weeks from now.  Maybe a few days of gaming for $10,000?
    jbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 25
    Won’t it be lost when the phone gets wiped?  Or would someone be stupid enough to sell their phone with their Apple ID still signed in? 
    Agreed -- how does this work? Was looking for that info in this article. App Store downloads are tied to the AppleID of the signed-in user.
    I assume the Apple ID comes with it... otherwise it is some false advertising. They might as well just sell the Apple ID instead of the phone.
    jbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 25
    macplusplusmacplusplus Posts: 2,112member
    Won’t it be lost when the phone gets wiped?  Or would someone be stupid enough to sell their phone with their Apple ID still signed in? 
    Agreed -- how does this work? Was looking for that info in this article. App Store downloads are tied to the AppleID of the signed-in user.
    The device is "authorized" by entering the AppleID and password of the original user.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 25
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy a Nintendo Switch?
    jbdragonbeowulfschmidtmwhitegatorguybala1234watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 25
    gc_ukgc_uk Posts: 110member
    Apple can remotely remove an App from my phone I've chosen to install?
  • Reply 14 of 25
    smiffy31smiffy31 Posts: 202member
    gc_uk said:
    Apple can remotely remove an App from my phone I've chosen to install?

    The can not delete it but they can deactivate it, this is absolutely necessary, If an application activates dangerous code they need to be able to stop it working.
    svanstrommbenz1962watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 25
    LOL...Epic isn't likely to get an injunction from the courts against Apple terminating their developer account. That means they'll probably do what Apple asked them to do, which is remedy the violations in their software for now while the court case is in progress. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 25
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    gc_uk said:
    Apple can remotely remove an App from my phone I've chosen to install?
    Of course they can.  Aple control the operating system on a device that has a persistent internet connection, they do pretty much whatever they want to do with that device.  Whether they ever would is a different question.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 25
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    I have Fortnite on my phone.  Think I played it once, didn't much care for it, but never deleted it.  But I'm not sure at all about the idea of selling a phone that hasn't been thoroughly wiped and restored, even for $10k.
    mwhitewatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 25
    Rayz2016 said:
    Wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy a Nintendo Switch?
    Came here to make that exact comment when I saw the headline.  Hell, it would be cheaper to buy a really top end gaming PC than it would be to buy this.

    Some people obviously have more money than sense.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 25
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,178member
    gc_uk said:
    Apple can remotely remove an App from my phone I've chosen to install?
    I see someone else replied too.

    A couple of years after the iPhone was introduced someone had discovered odd code in iOS that seemed to suggest Apple could "blacklist" an app a user had installed. Shortly thereafter Apple addressed it.

    Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, confirmed there is a 'kill switch' built into the iPhone that allows Apple to remotely delete malicious or inappropriate applications stored on the device. However, he insisted that the so-called 'kill switch' was there as a precaution, rather than a function that was routinely used. Whether it's still an Apple option hasn't been mentioned since AFAICT, but there's no reason to believe Apple would not have that in their back pocket "just in case". FWIW Google can also do so, an obvious safety measure.

    edited August 2020 svanstromtmaymuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 20 of 25
    civaciva Posts: 78member
    Guess I should put my 8 plus on ebay, since it has fortnite. 
    I downloaded it, played once, was over it. 
    But, hey, $10K is $10K. 
    watto_cobrabeowulfschmidt
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