Scam alert: iPhones loaded with 'Flappy Bird' on eBay aren't selling for thousands

In a nutshell….
Looks like a bit of an almost harmless scam. The developer is already accused of driving up the popularity of a mediocre (at best) game by having automated computers buying the App in the first place. Now it looks like he is getting another laugh! The phones that are "selling" are listed and "bought" by people that have little to no history on eBay (not proven as reliable or accountable to anyone).
The fraudulent flappy bird "sales" slide though becomes no one reports them..., because the "buyer" is part of the game (prank/scam), if not the same person. No money changes hands.
eBay will not let you sell your software preloaded on a device! Software is typically sold for the end user..., not for resale. This is their policy to cover their butt…, and in some cases may actually be a more stringent policy than the software/hardware designer.
So now the average user is trying to get rich quick (first tip off to a scam)! They pay to list their phone (this is the not harmless part), then people bid like crazy. Some of the bidders..., if not all will likely be the ones to report the sale to eBay and nullify it.
In the end this looks like another brilliant, albeit deceptive, marketing scheme for the makers of flappy bird. I can only imagine the hype over the re-release of the game after all of this or perhaps they will ride the wave of this into the release of another game. “Better get it now!!! Before our developer changes his/her mind!” ;)
 
My daughter told me about this flappy bird craze and the alleged prices they are fetching. I looked on ebay, completed listings, sold items, and yes, it does seem that some have sold for ridiculous prices. I then checked sold lowest price first. There seems to be a lot sold on buy it nows for just 99p, this includes app and phone!! Thoughts anyone? I just dont understand it
 
Wrong, Actually. You can keep that app all you want. You cannot download it, Update it nothing, Its still installed via the other account. You do not lose apps that you don't know the password to, You merely cannot update or transfer them to your computer.
 
Misfit, they are not actually selling for that amount. If you read the article, it says that the accounts that are supposedly selling them have 0 feedback, and they are mostly Buy It Now offers of ridiculous prices. It is likely that the person is having a friend bid on them to make it look like it was sold, but then they don't have to pay.
 
I honestly don't think they have sold for that amount. It has to be people scamming, and making others 'think' their phone is worth all that money with Flappy Bird. I tried to sell my brothers iphone on ebay (way before flappy bird was even made). I had a buyer (with 0 feedback) 'buy' the phone. So it showed on eBay that the phone had 'sold', but the buyer never checked out with paypal, and I was stuck having to pay a 32 dollar sellers fee. I had to wait until the buyer cancelled the purchase on their end before I could be refunded my sellers fee. It's probably just people doing the above, or people trolling and forcing sellers to pay the ridiculous sellers fee associated with the sale without even completing the sale.
 
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