Mynumber.com.au has a treasure hunt competition that runs until 29/2/2012. Five gold (normally $300) and five silver (normally $125) mobile numbers are for sale at $10 (plus $8.50 admin fee). I have dug up all the treasures and found an extra silver number too. To be honest the numbers on offer are not that good.
Since MyNumber is an associated company of Allphones, you can use this competition as a revenge for Allphones' $200 coupon debacle. There are two ways to look at this:
In case you are wondering why I listed only four gold numbers, it is because I bought one. Limit one number per person. Click on number to go to MyNumber's web page. If the number is not listed, then it has been purchased.
Gold numbers
04888 35645
04888 41667
04888 54811
04888 73144
Silver numbers
04888 16323
04888 21658
04888 53923
04888 67570
04888 74564
04888 90464
Yes. wget and grep/find are wonderful :-)
Here is an explanation of what MyNumber regard as platinum, gold and silver numbers. I do not know if this is an industry-wide classification or just MyNumber's. I still cannot see what makes these numbers special even after reading the explanation.
The numbers on offer are not great. A silver number I found 04888 ABCAB (but has been purchased so is not listed above) is actually better than all the other gold numbers (except mine 04888 XXABC).
Had a look at the explanations and turns out I have a gold number. My net worth just went up $300, I'm posting a profit this quarter life.
My personal view is that these numbers are not attractive enough for me to pay a premium for. $300 being the normal price for those gold numbers - you must be kidding.
BTW, I used to work for a telco a few years ago, and they paid approximately $1 a year for each number. They buy a block of 100,000 numbers at a time. So, even if you paid $18.50, they are making a 1750% profit.
Also, some carriers like Amaysim let you choose a number online, and you can find some numbers similar to the gold / silver numbers above, if you look hard enough. I picked up one which was in the format 04XX YY1 ZZ1 for $2 from Vodafone a while back.
Thank you for telling us the true cost of those numbers. I did not know that they are so cheap at $1 a year. I presumed MyNumber had to bid for the number allocations.
Estimate an average price of $150 per number inclusive of admin fee, the value of that block is $15,000,000. Estimate annual running cost of a web portal $1,000, staff cost (probably a part-time position shared with Allphones) $19,000, and number block cost $100,000.
Total cost over 10 years: $1,200,000
Potential profit: 1150%
We are in the wrong business.
If you are interested, check out http://web.acma.gov.au/numb/openAccess/inquiry/viewAllocatio… and click on 'Full Download'. Filter by 'Digital Mobile Services' and you will see who has been allocated what numbers.
If you are a telco, you can buy any of the spare number blocks
Interesting link, thanks.
I see the 04444 block is given to Telstra. Time to get the ultimate unluckiest 04444 44444 death number from them. How about it, greenpossum? :-)
Might be useful for giving to someone you want to divorce. :)
I can see why 888 might be favoured by Chinese, but I can make no sense of the other digits. Seems to me the way to save even more money is not to believe in this superstitious stuff.
Can't remember where I read it, but there was an article some time back that predicted that phone numbers would become obsolete in 5-10 years, and we would be calling people by a name / username (a la Skype) soon.
I find that hard to believe. Not all the world uses the Latin alphabet, you would have to let countries use their non-Latin characters, then for example how would someone outside China "dial" a Chinese username with small risk of getting the wrong user, etc. At least digits are universal, even allowing they are written differently in some languages there are still 10 of them.
More likely a username space will coexist with numbers for a long time.
Just found out Amaysim charges $30 for their gold numbers (numerical sequence or repetition). Numerical sequences that go up (e.g. 1234) are gold, but those that go down (e.g. 7654) are not. Go figure.
Because that would be a reversal of fortune, hahaha.
Similar to how the Chinese put the "Fortune" new year charm upside down? If so, then 7654 should be even more attractive, shouldn't it?
That actually means fortune falls at your doorstep.
a family friend of mine had 0488 888 888 and got calls from asians all the time asking to buy it for 6 figures +
Can I ask how much did your family friend pay for that number originally? Just a price indication will do.
You don't have to answer. I am simply curious. After reading about the frequent unsolicited calls I reckon that it is more a curse than a lucky charm.
He was the former CEO of a major telco so got to choose it for free.
where is 04888 99999 ?
Did you scrap all the pages to find out where the treasure is? :)
Honestly am I the only one who cannot decipher the difference between gold and silver numbers, and what's golden and silvery about them?