A recent trend observed by MailOnline has seen classic 1990s models by Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola commanding four-figure sums on eBay and other resale sites.
While they may lack features, these retro phones are simple to use, have batteries that last the week and are practically indestructible compared to their smartphone equivalents.
‘Some people don’t blink at the prices, we have models at more than €1,000 (£810 or $1,360),’ said Djassem Haddad, who started the site vintagemobile.fr in 2009.
‘The high prices are due to the difficulty in finding those models, which were limited editions in their time.’
French online shop Lekki, which sells a range of vintage, revamped mobile phones, claims simplicity is the way forward.
Because of its striking appearance and thin profile, the Razr was initially marketed as an exclusive fashion phone, but it was not until a year later when the price was dropped it became a huge success, selling over 50 million units by July 2006
‘Too many online social networks and an excess of email and applications, have made us slaves to technology in our everyday life,’ it said on its website.
‘We have two types of profiles: the 25 to 35 year-olds attracted by the retro and offbeat side of a telephone that is a little different, and those who are nostalgic for the phone that they used when they were younger,’ said Maxime Chanson, who founded Lekki in 2010.
‘Some use it to complement their smartphone, but others are going for the vintage, tired of the technology race between the phone makers.’