Vintage mobile phones - price and rarity guide

Updated with the latest results from eBay - January 2020

How much is that old mobile phone sitting in your drawer worth? What should you pay for a classic phone on eBay?

Value Rarity Phone Reason why Links
1 Mobira Senator 1981 model The first Nokia phone ever
£50-£2000 2 Apple iPhone 2G The first iPhone
£1500-£2000 2 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X The first hand portable mobile phone
£50-£2000 2 Nokia 8800 Depends on finish
£50-£200 2 Motorola 8000S Cheaper version of the 8000X
£100-£200 1 Mobira Talkman transportable Very early transportable
£50-£150 3 Nokia 9000 Communicator Original Nokia Communicator
£50-£200 3 Motorola 3200/3300 The only GSM brick phone
£20-£150 3 Motorola StarTAC 130 Premier StarTAC phone
£40-£200 4 Nokia 8810 Rising star! - Ultra cool business phone
£50-£200 4 Nokia 8850/8890 Rising star! - Ultra cool business phone
£100-£250 2/3 Nokia 7280 The 'lipstick' phone
£2000 1 Motorola 9800x First flip phone with red LEDs
No recent sales 1 Nokia 1011 Nokia's first GSM phone
£40-£150 2 Nokia Cityman 1320 Nokia's first hand portable
£50-£150 3 Motorola StarTAC Other StarTAC phones
£20-£60 4 Nokia 8110 The Matrix phone
£10-£75 4 Nokia 7110 The second Matrix phone
£30-£200 4 Motorola 8500X UK market analogue brick phone
£15-£80 5 Nokia 8210 Ultra cool phone from 1999, a modern classic
£5-£100 5 Nokia 5110 Top fashion phone from the 90s
£5-£100 5 Nokia 3210 The phone that started teenage mobile culture
£10-£50 5 Nokia 3310 A collectors' must have. Everyone had one of these

How to use this guide

This guide is about how much you should pay for classic phones on eBay and other web sites. Study the rarity guide as well as the value guide. Phones that are more common are more likely to come up again.

The rarest phones are the ones most likely to increase in value.

Rarity guide

Notes

These values are a guide only. I have based them on the following assumptions:

  1. Phones are in good condition and free from major faults. Some signs or wear are expected. Mint condition examples are worth more.
  2. GSM phones are assumed to be working.
 
   
Mobile phone history