eBay removes listings of phones with Flappy Bird installed

posted by Alan F. / Feb 11, 2014, 2:00 PM

eBay removes listings of phones with Flappy Bird installed

You thought you had won the lottery. Being the kind of person that you are, you jumped on the Flappy Bird bandwagon before everyone else, and you were slightly amused when it went viral. And then, when Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen decided to pull the game from app stores because of its addictiveness, you patted yourself on the back for being so prescient.

But when you read (right here on Phone Arena, of course) that phones with Flappy Bird installed were going for almost six figures on eBay, you were outright giddy. In your head, you figured out that you would sell that Apple iPhone 5s that you installed Flappy Bird on, pay the non-subsidized price for a new phone, and have enough money left to live carefree for the rest of the year. Imagine, sleeping in until noon every day.

But it is time for us to slap you across the face. First, yesterday we revealed a website that someone had put up that allows you to play Flappy Bird using the browser on your phone or tablet, thanks to HTML5. And it is completely free and doesn't require you to have previously installed the game on your device. And if that isn't enough to bring you back to earth, eBay has canceled all of the auctions and sales of phones and tablets with Flappy Bird on board. You see, there is a little known requirement that eBay has in force for phones and tablets being auctioned on the site. Such devices must be restored to factory settings before getting listed.

Let's hope that you didn't burn any bridges with your boss before you blew that cigar smoke in his face, and told him that you quit your job. But even if he won't take you back, and you are currently unemployed, you still have some thing that many people don't have. Your phone still has Flappy Bird installed on it.

"After reviewing your eBay account, it appears that you have not followed eBay's guidelines to list a device that can hold media or software. As a result, we've taken the following action:

- Listings have been removed.
- We have credited all associated fees except for the final value fee for your listing(s).

Smartphones and tablets must be restored to factory settings before they are allowed to be sold on eBay. Please remove all content from your device, including the game Flappy Bird, before you attempt to list your item again. Please be sure your current and future listings follow these guidelines, keeping in mind that additional listing violations could result in the suspension of your account.

We understand that you may have been unaware of these guidelines, and we encourage you to learn how to keep your experiences on eBay successful.

We appreciate your cooperation.
Thanks,

eBay"

source: MacRumors

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11 Comments

1. downphoenix

Posts: 3165; Member since: Jun 19, 2010

pwnd!

posted on Feb 11, 2014, 2:08 PM 4

2. aaronkatrini

Posts: 242; Member since: Jun 06, 2012

Thanks god! it was very annoying, even here in Italy people started to sell phones with $hitty bird intalled in ebay-similiar websites.

posted on Feb 11, 2014, 2:11 PM 2

4. ihavenoname

Posts: 1693; Member since: Aug 18, 2013

Holy sh*t some guy here in Finland is selling iP5S 32gb Flappy Bird installed for 1100€ ($1500).

posted on Feb 11, 2014, 2:27 PM 1

5. SellPhones82

Posts: 569; Member since: Dec 11, 2008

What I don't understand is were these people just going to sell these phones with it still being logged in under their Apple ID instead of wiping the phone like you should do before selling it? How else would the game stay on there unless you're logged in under an ID that downloaded the game? Also, would the buyer not want to log in under their own ID. This stuff got so stupid my head hurts...

posted on Feb 11, 2014, 3:05 PM 1

3. ihavenoname

"I'm going to buy a phone for multiple times higher than list price so I can play with botox-mouthed bird" My mind can't get over how stupid can one be.

posted on Feb 11, 2014, 2:21 PM 1

6. Commbubba19

Posts: 18; Member since: Apr 12, 2012

Saw a few listings on craigslist for $5000 for a IP5c and Note 3 both with this dumb game installed. Who's more the fool, the seller or the buyer?

posted on Feb 11, 2014, 3:16 PM 1

7. Sauce unregistered

But when I read (right here on PhoneArena of course), I read your Flappy Bird eBay article about a day and a half late after I've seen numerous of other sites/fb. Still late to the ball game PA, but I still love you guys. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯