By Flappy Bird is dead, in case you haven’t heard. No, no, not the bird itself. At least, we hope that little guy is OK — all this commotion lately can’t be too good for his little heart. We’re talking about the hit game from Vietnamese developer Nguyen Ha Dong that had people going crazy for the past few weeks. Its popularity prompted hundreds of millions of downloads across all available platforms and had Dong raking in over $50,000 a day in ad revenue.
So now that the game is gone (whether it was due to legal pressure or a genuine desire for peace and quiet), how can you get it? Well, some desperate folks seem to be willing to pay thousands. And tens of thousands. And maybe even hundreds of thousands.
Head to eBay right now and do a search for “Flappy Bird,” and you’ll be treated to tons of listings for devices — mainly iPhones — with the game pre-installed. Some are going for as little as $600, though one auction is sitting at a ridiculous $99,900 bid as of the time of this writing. The auction started at $650, but a few aggressive bidders have been battling it out since early Sunday morning. The craziest part is that — 74 bids and $99,900 later — there are still more than 6 days to go before the auction closes.
While we immediately wondered if the high-valued bids were submitted by one-off shill accounts, the latest bid was made by an eBay user with a reputation score of over 700. It was the bidder’s only activity in the past 30 days, though, so we’re still not quite sure what to make of it just yet. For what it’s worth, the next active bidder has a score of 48, and has participated in more than a few different auctions in the past 30 days.
And it’s not just a one auction anomaly, either. The next closest auction with active bids is currently sitting at $99,200 after 65 bids. These two auctions have prompted many other sellers to list Flappy Bird-equipped devices with buy-it-now prices ranging from $25,000 to $75,000. One ridiculous listing even has a Samsung Galaxy S4 with the game going for a buy-it-now price of $1,000,000.
It’s worth noting that none of these auctions or buy-it-now listings have been completed or sold, so it’s tough to know if demand for devices with the game pre-installed is really this insane.
We imagine if people really are crazy enough to buy these phones at these prices, then those who were outbid on the $90,000 auctions would jump at some of the newly-listed buy-it-now offerings as soon as humanly possible. That there haven’t been any sales thus far has us pretty skeptical, but eBay has our attention regardless.
So what do we take from all that? There could be some real serious demand for this insanely popular game that is now no longer available, and some insanely rich folks with more money than sense could be looking to get their hands on it any way they possibly can. That, or some people must really love trolling auctions with fake bids more than anything in the world.
All of this is even sillier when considering you could likely buy a cheap Android device (Moto G for $100, anyone?) and find a ripped APK to sideload just as easily as you could buy one of these overpriced listings. Now, excuse me while I go put my DROID MAXX and iPad up for sale.
Brb selling my phone..
Is that game really that serious?
After that seller sees his ebay / paypal fees, he’s going to want to disappear just like the flappy bird developer.
True, but when you profit over $99,200 on the sale, I doubt you’d care about paying the eBay fees on it =P
Obviously. I was kidding :)
So somebody is selling their phone without factory resetting it? Basically they are selling their Apple ID? I can get the .apk off my android phone and host it for free. Too bad the game isn’t even worth $1.
Not that hard to figure out – set up a dummy account for just the one game (easy to do since you got a day of advance warning of the game coming off the stores) and then there’s no personal information on the phone. Wish I’d thought of it. lol
But you can’t take an apk (or at least, the iOS equivalent), host it, and easily install it on other devices. Hence, a few iPhones going for nearly $100,000.
If this isn’t someone who created bots to bid on their own fake listing… then the world needs 74 less people.
nah. I believe people are that stupid.
Hmm I’m I’ve got a tablet and a phone both with this game on brb
Anyone who would pay that is as rich as they are stupid because you can easily just download and install the APK, or get it on Cydia. Crap game anyway.
I hope he reposts the game before any of these auctions end.
No no no. The best thing to do would be to put it back up after a lot of these high number auctions end, so the buyers are seen as complete and total fools (because, let’s face it, they are).
Yeah I guess that’s true – “don’t hate the player, hate the game” kind of logic there. If there wasn’t a market, people wouldn’t be selling.
The end of mankind is near. We don’t die off due to a giant meteor, nuclear fallout or environment destruction… We die off because we are now officially too stupid for life.
I once had a coworker who had a tendency to say certain people were “too stupid to live.” Ann has now gone off to retirement, and I’m convinced she was well ahead of her time. She was talking about Flappy Birds nuts, obviously.
How much can I get for just the APK?
Someone “sold” an APK on eBay for $50.00.
which is against eBay TOS – they banned selling electronic goods a long time ago – my guide to buying coach purses sold for so much :-/
I already side loaded the apk for my wife and I have about a dozen old Android devices sitting around collecting dust. I might just side load them as well and list them. Anyone know if the game will run on an OG Droid?
I’m on that right now!!!!!
I don’t buy this (no pun intended)
Wow. How stupid can people be?
So these users plan to sell their account too then? I’m under the impression that if you delete the account the apps downloaded with it go too. Correct me if i’m wrong.
We should find the buyers and shoot them for the safety of the world.
Side note, im gonna buy 10 Moto G’s, download the .apk file for the game from the known places and put it on each of those phones and then sell them for 1000 dollars.
Honestly, I’m not surprised considering the average intelligence of an iPhone user.
Their level of intelligence isn’t always the problem
It’s often an unyielding attitude towards change when they’re really used to and enjoy how a device works and looks. It’s unfortunate but true of many people (and not just in regards to mobile devices).
There’s a galaxy s4 for 1 Million
My Nexus 5 is unlocked, does that mean it would go for 2 million if I flashed the APK? Oh, its rooted and has franco kernel on it too. I think that clearly makes it worth 2.5 million.
how about this one and only… NEON VERSION of FLAPPY BIRD
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-iPhone-5S-Latest-32GB-Silver-AT-T-with-FLAPPY-BIRD-NEON-VERSION-/201034953774?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item2ece9df42e
I just downloaded it on my phone, which never had it before, werd.
You do know those are fake auctions. The people battling it out fake accounts, unless someone real got into the mix, then they are just flat out stupid. You can look at the bidders and see how there are a lot of ‘j*****l’ and ‘j******n’ bids, same person, different accounts, and low bidder scores. The people on ebay hope that someone, like Phandroid, posts a story about what is going on in the hopes that there is at least 1 ignorant person reading that will join in unknowingly. Sort those by price, lowest first, and see the real ones.
The bidders’ names show up like that because eBay protects the identification of other bidders. You’ll only see your full name in the bidder list, if you bid. Only the seller can see their full ID’s.
However, I agree that a lot are fraudulent because of the sheer amount of sellers with very low to no feedback and buyers in the same situation. Most will never receive payment. Any that do could wind up receiving it from someone who pays with stolen info.
I know that’s the reason, but the ‘j****l’ & ‘j****n’ bids are on many of the expensive bids. That isn’t coincidence, it is the same person. It is only a matter of time before ebay removes those auctions.
What was just said is right. All ebay accounts that bid are made like that with eBay to protect the buyer. If you bid your name would appear like that.
“The people battling it out fake accounts, unless someone real got into the mix”
So those are all fake, unless they’re real.
Thanks for your fascinating insight into this important situation.
this couldnt be more fake…any person with half a brain can google flappy bird n find a place to download it…for the price of; on the house
There is a Flappy Bird Galaxy S4 edition on Craigslist.
I have an extra phone laying around I could sell.
You would have to sell your device with all your information on there, because as soon as you wipe your account that apk is gone.
or you could just put the apk on the internal/external sdcard and have the new owner sideload it.
Possibly, if it isn’t in the ASEC folder.
Doesn’t matter where it is. Download the APK from the internet, put it on your SD Card and then install it.
Not at all, many ways around it. Just manually delete your info and keep flappy bird on.
I`m wondering how much my GNote 3 it is worth now with the same game?
Nice. I listed my iPad and iPhone.
Would love an easy way back to Android. :)
Really? You just HAD to join the inane feeding frenzy? Oh… iFail. Of course.
Huh?
If somebody wants to buy my iPhone just because it has that app on it, I will gladly let them. How do you have a problem with that?
Yes, I have a problem with RTard frenzies.
Youre an idiot. It cost him nothing to list the phone and he might make a good profit out of this. If you dont understand that then i dont know what to say.
It costs dignity, but you have to have some first.
There’s nothing wrong with someone trying to make some money. And you can shove your so called dignity in you know what ;)
If he doesn’t have dignity then it won’t cost a thing!
Obvious troll is obvious.
Either way, ebay is deleting these items.
Darn, no one wants the Note 2 with flappy bird. Highest bidding I saw was $100.50. Guess I’ll have to squash my dreams of selling mine for $700 in order to get a Note 3.
btw, I didn’t really think I could get that much $$$. Was curious if the Note 2 turned up any insane fake bids.
why do I still see it in the play store, I downloaded it this morning lol…
Probably a fake.
Uhm no its the real one I would know I downloaded it early this morning
Well, it is not there now.
Well funny its there right now for me
SMH for 5 minutes. Pathetic.
Anyone thinking of posting on Craigslist? lol. Just post you are selling the game for $100.00 ,and then side load it on to their device.
I listed my Nexus 5 on eBay 3 hours ago at $600. Had a couple people watching it. Then all of a sudden, the post is gone. Doesn’t show up in My eBay and the link in the email confirmation takes me to a dead page. Is eBay pulling these things down?
Figured it wasn’t going to result in anything for me, but who knows just how dumb people really are? Was worth a try.
hmm i have an evo 3d and evo lte lying around…easy to move the apks with airdroid…
Depends on if it is in the asec folder or not.
craigslist NY got iphones going for $4000 cause of flappy bird….what kinda crap is that?
There are lots of fake bids by people (phony email addresses) on eBay, the above is one of them.
Sounds like a magnificent marketing campaign.
Flappy Bird still accesible here http://download.hellshare.com/flappy-bird-apk/19021393/
Flappy Bird still accesible here http://www.megafileupload.com/en/file/497848/flappy-bird-apk.html
I can still download it
The last sentence was a most excellent way of finishing up the article!
Meanwhile Android users just can install the apk from a friend. The beauty of Android. Time to sell my old GS4 and download Flappy birds onto it.
the stupidometer has exploded..
Looks like it’s time to sell my note 3 with flappy bird in it (waits patiently)
lol, exactly…$50 prepaid phone + apk = profit!?!?
A fool and his money are easily parted.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181322345412?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221372274248?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_get_flappy_bird_after_it_was_deleted
The game is still on play store!
http://www.sevenspecs.com/2014/02/samsung-galaxy-s5-full-specifications.html
Just got it from 4share.com gonna sell my cell now
https://sellfy.com/p/FxHG/ its not 10000$ just 1 and its work for me
ill sell my galaxy s2 for $1000
мʏ ɴeιɢнвօʀ’ѕ мօтнeʀ мαĸeѕ $77/нʀ օɴ тнe ʟαքтօք. ѕнe нαѕ вeeɴ ғιʀeɖ ғʀօм աօʀĸ ғօʀ ѕιх мօɴтнѕ вυт ʟαѕт мօɴтн нeʀ քαʏ աαѕ $2111з ʝυѕт աօʀĸιɴɢ օɴ тнe ʟαքтօք ғօʀ α ғeա нօυʀѕ. ʟօօĸ αт тнιѕ SaveJury.com
Todays magic “word” is APK.
How are people so gotdamn stupid?
Wow.
Check new game from Tooflya Inc.
Flappy Jorney
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tooflya.flappyjorney
According to eBay policy, I believe your device has to be completely restored to be available for sale or bidding.