When the hugely popular Flappy Birds was pulled from the App Store it triggered a glut of smartphones and tablets complete with the app already installed to be listed on eBay. In fact, some buyers have got themselves in such a flap that these smart devices have been listed for up to £150,000!
It’s always fascinating to watch eBay trends, especially when it comes to unexpected must-have items suddenly popping up out of nowhere.
So, it’s little wonder that people across the US and UK are listing their devices with the app installed – and they might as well be printing their own money!
One eBay UK user ldixon88 stands to make a serious amount of money from an iPad Mini 2 and iPad Mini 3 16GB they have listed. So far, there have been 76 bids and the price for both devices has shot up to £152,958.
eBay user benm142685 has Flappy Birds listed on his Excelvan 7” tablet, which now stands at £2,655 – but there’s more! He’s also listing other pre-loved devices which boast the cult game.
Meanwhile, Stateside
A user called poloricansfa’s iPhone 5S with Flappy Birds installed has now hit $16,200.
Just how genuine are these bids?
It is worth bearing in mind that Flappy Birds was a free app to begin with. Anyone who loaded it onto their smartphone or tablet before it got pulled from the App Store can continue playing it without any issues.
However, once these devices have been sold to the highest bidder, they will still be linked to the original owner’s accounts. So, people may run into potential difficulties when they try to play the game.
So, why did creator Dong Nguyen cull the birds?
Well, the unassuming chap announced he would withdraw the app on Saturday (9th Feb). His reason being that the hugely successful game had generated so much unwanted attention that it had ruined his “simple life”.
It was nothing to do with legal issues, he simply couldn’t handle the pressure. Nevertheless, whilst he will continue making games, but he refuses to sell his most popular app.
So what’s the big deal?
Like many other popular games for smart devices, it’s a simple concept. You just tap the screen to push a little bird through a network of pipes. In fact, some people have been highly critical of its popularity. First released in May 2013, it didn’t really take off until December of that year. Were bots involved to push Flappy Bird’s ratings up the games downloads charts? Naturally Mr Nguyen has risen above such accusations and refuses to comment.
However, what we can say for sure is that if you have Flappy Birds installed on your devices and you don’t mind parting with them, you need to list them now!
