$26,000 Steve Jobs Autographed iPod Shuffle 4G Selling on eBay (u) [Steve Jobs Memorabilia Hot on eBay, Old But Never Used Shuffle to Sell for Thousands of Dollars]

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A few days ago we told you that Apple’s founding documents sold for $1.6 million at a Sotheby’s auction, or ten times more than it was initially believed they would sell for. The reason is quite simple, the documents bear the signature of the late Steve Jobs, and we’re not surprised to see certain fans pay a lot of money to enter possession of such papers.

We’re even less surprised to hear that an iPod Shuffle 4G signed by Steve Jobs is currently selling on eBay for around $26,000 with five days to go until the auction ends. The price has been going up and it will probably continue to climb even more in the coming days.

The owner apparently has two such boxes, autographed by the legendary Apple leader, one being auctioned on eBay and one on-loan “to one of the nation’s university galleries, featured in an [sic] Technology exhibit (until early 2012).”

Here’s the unedited story describing how the iPod Shuffles got signed by Steve Jobs in the first place, as posted on the auction page:

Background on how this iPod came to be autographed: As part of a “innovators of tomorrow” program, myself and a 3 of my colleagues were invited to attend an in-house Apple event. Before hand, we received complimentary Apple products, including an iPod Shuffle and iTunes credits. As usual, the topics covered touched base on were a number of Apple’s latest innovations, as well as a sneak peak to future plans. After the conference, we were given the opportunity to talk with Steve himself about the shift in technology to more companion-oriented devices. As the discussion wrapped up, one person in our group asked if Steve would mind signing our iPods. As the conversation went: “I hear you’re not really one to give autographs, but I just gotta ask….will you sign my iPod? It’s fine if you don’t want to. I’m not normally one to even ask for autographs”. Steve: *chuckling* “it’s quite alright. You heard that about me?? well I wouldn’t say that I don’t like giving autographs, I guess I was never comfortable with the idea solely taking credit for something, which is to me what an autograph might imply. To be honest, I think I’m the last person who should sign something. A writer signing a book I can understand, but I think if anybody within our company should sign something, it should be members from our R&D team and all the others responsible for product innovation. It’s unfortunate that they all can’t receive the same level recognition. But I suppose it’s easier this way though??….you would need a pretty big iPod to fit all those signatures”. He was very candid and very down to earth. To my knowledge, we were the only ones lucky enough to get Steve’s ever-so-rare signature.

In case you were wondering, the iPod Shuffle’s box has never been opened, and I doubt the buyer will want to actually use the device inside the transparent case that has the signature of Apple’s co-founder and former CEO. Will you bid for this particular eBay product?

Update: It looks like the auction has been pulled with no explanation.

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