In an update to our story, The $1000 iPhone Application, which was subsequently pulled by Apple, we’ve learned that the enterprising app was able to sell 8 copies before being delisted. Selling 6 in the United States, 1 in France, and 1 in Germany, I Am Rich produced a total of $5600 in revenue for the ambitious dev and $2400 for Apple.
According to the LA Times, the developer of I Am Rich, Armin Heinrich of Germany, said:
I have no idea why they did it and am not aware of any violation of the rules to sell software on the App Store. I am sure a lot more people would like to buy it — but currently can’t do so.
Interestingly enough, it appears at least 1 of those 8 purchases may have been made accidentally. A review was listed in the App Store for I Am Rich before it was pulled; basically, a plea to Apple to help reverse the charges for what was apparently a mistaken purchase (shown below).
The screenshot reads:
This is not a joke. I need someone from Apple to help me with this scam. I saw this app with a few friends and we jokingly clicked “buy” thinking it was a joke, to see what would happen.
I Am Rich joins a growing list of applications that have been pulled, including Aurora Feint (since relisted), Light, Netshare, Box Office and PhoneSaber.
lesson learned, don’t let your wife mess with your laptop, lol
haha what a sucker deserves to lose money!
What gave him the idea that any app’s price in the App Store could be a “joke”. Maybe he bought it as a dare (drunk?) and was royally screwed by this wife later? Just a thought.
Even that this guy is a dick for putting up an app like this, Apple has no right to take it down. I wouldn’t want to buy that app and would be pissed if I did! …but just because we don’t like the app doesn’t mean apple should take it down.
Eh, but then again I wouldn’t want a million of these apps to pop up on the app store!