How Much is an iPhone with Flappy Bird Worth in 2025? Around $2,000 to $5,000
Back in 2014, phones preloaded with the viral hit Flappy Bird were selling for crazy prices upwards of $100,000! Why? Well let‘s take a deep dive into the history and legacy of this iconic mobile game to understand why collectors still covet devices loaded with Flappy Bird today.
At the peak of Flappy Bird mania in 2014, an iPhone or Android phone with the game installed could easily fetch between $10,000 to $20,000 on eBay. Mint condition models or especially high Flappy Bird scores could push asking prices up over $50,000!
But today in 2024, you‘re more likely to see price tags ranging from $2,000 on the low end up to $5,000 on the high end for phones still containing this elusive title.
To understand why, we have to go back and understand Flappy Bird‘s explosive rise and sudden fall from app stores in 2014.
The Viral Rise of Flappy Bird – And How It Disappeared Overnight
Flappy Bird was released in 2013 by indie developer Dong Nguyen, as a simple yet frustratingly challenging mobile game. The goal was to tap and flap the titular bird between a series of Mario-style green pipes.
Despite (or perhaps because of) its crushing difficulty, Flappy Bird went viral almost overnight. At its peak, it was reportedly generating $50,000 per day in ad revenue for Nguyen. The game was downloaded over 50 million times in a matter of weeks.
But with fame came scrutiny and stress. Unable to handle the sudden popularity, Dong Nguyen made the shocking decision to abruptly remove Flappy Bird from both the iOS App Store and Google Play store in February 2014. Just like that, the viral hit was gone.
Flappy Bird‘s sudden removal combined with its sky-high difficulty created a kind of myth and allure around the game. Getting a high score or even just playing it at all became a status symbol.
Flappy Bird Devices Skyrocket in Value Due to "Digital Scarcity"
Once Flappy Bird was pulled from digital stores, the only way to experience it was on devices that still had the game installed. This created a kind of "digital scarcity" that boosted the value of phones with Flappy Bird into the stratosphere.
Listings on eBay saw iPhone 5 and 5S devices preloaded with Flappy Bird selling for between $1,000 to $10,000 at first. As hype grew, prices for Flappy Bird phones topped $20,000, $50,000, even over $90,000! Highest prices went to mint condition phones with high scores.
By some estimates over 100,000 devices were sold preloaded with Flappy Bird during the initial mania. But still, compared to the overall number of smartphones in circulation, Flappy Bird phones were incredibly rare.
This combination of scarcity and mythical appeal around Flappy Bird led to utterly insane resale values. It was the perfect example of digital supply and demand economics.
How Much Can You Get for a Flappy Bird Phone in 2024?
Today in 2024, the hysteria around Flappy Bird has diminished considerably. But there remains a niche collector demand for phones loaded with rare or significant games and apps.
For example, when Fortnite was removed from the iOS App Store in 2020, phones with Fortnite still installed began selling on eBay for $2,000 to $5,000. Similar to the Flappy Bird craze originally.
Based on recent completed listings, here are current price ranges for phones still containing Flappy Bird:
- iPhone 5/5S – $2,000 to $4,000
- iPhone 4/4S – $1,500 to $3,000
- Android phones – $500 to $2,000
Higher storage sizes, condition, and rare Flappy Bird high score milestones can push prices higher. But the most anyone is likely to pay today is around $5,000 for an ideal Flappy Bird phone.
So while the extreme speculation around Flappy Bird phones has ended, collector demand still supports a healthy premium price for devices loaded with this landmark mobile game.
As both a gamer and tech enthusiast, I still get nostalgic excitement spotting a vintage phone with Flappy Bird up for bid online. It instantly takes me back to the height of mobile gaming mania in 2014!