I recently purchased a memorable number of ebay. The number was very good and the seller happy to do a deal. Can anyone explain why sometimes you can get two numbers almost the same such as 09**9 343 3434 or 08***9 343434 yet the price difference can be massive. I saw very similar to the above numbers one was price at £60.00 and the other at £150.00. Is it just a case of what the seller thinks he can get or must there be a patten to be a genuine gold number ?

Easy, supply and demand. The sellers usually have an idea of what sells.

I didn't even know this was a thing! I would have tried to get something for my old Orange number if I knew - it ended 949944. Only number I can remember except my current one and a really old girlfriend's one because it used all the numbers on the keypad in a nice pattern!

vodafone used to let you choose your number from a list,

You still can in Phones4U. You're limited to a choice of 10 though. I just told the agent to choose any for me, not bothered! People save your number in their phone anyway and probably will never look at the number.

They still do, I took out a contract in store and they turned the touchscreen toward me and told me to press the number I wanted (a few pages of numbers IIRC). The rep said that they take out the numbers often classed to be "gold" or "platinum" though.

cool that they still do that, yes people store your number and forget it, yet i like a bit of bling! my number spells out something cool in alphanumeric

Vodafone is so expensive, I did ask for a list from them. They started at £100.00 for bronze numbers it then went up to the skys the limit. I saw a really nice one but at £250.00 no way.

mine ends in 162636 and I only paid £10 years ago.

I got a load of decent numbers from some O2 free sims about 5 years ago. They went on eBay for between £20 and £100 (total of £600). The best ones were in the range 077077077xx

Only a mug would pay for a 'gold' number. Its just a number for god sake.

if there is a market and people are willing to pay then what's the problem? it's entirely up to the buyer what he/she does with their money, some people might say the same thing about designer labels! all hoodies are made of the same cloth, yet people are prepared to pay more for a nike tick on theirs for example!

Must go through my stack of free sims and see if there are any 'good' numbers in there

As well as plumbers, builders and other people who would like a n easy-to-remember number on the side of their vans to attract business.

I got mine when the mobile co did not give gold numbers.
I found you could choose and search so I wrote a script and ended up with something akin to 766677.

I doubt its worth that much though.

Problem I had with them when I was choosing the number I found a decent one and selected it. When the phone came I was given a different number and was told someone else had taken it and that happens often when picking one online.

But I do agree, I don't see the point in paying a fortune for a gold number when 99.9% of people will just save your number in their phone and then forget about it.

I think I've had my current number for 8 years, easy to remember but I wouldn't think anyone else knows it off by heart.

My number is memorable, ending with the same digit repeated three times - but I didn't pay anything for it, it just came by chance on a free Vodafone SIM card when I joined them years ago. I've taken it round the networks a few times since then!

The only network I've seen that allows you to choose your number recently is the IKEA one, Family Mobile - their numbers all start with 075500 and their website allows you to search. I've no idea what it's like as a network, though.

I can understand, why business would want a gold number. Cant understand why an individual would. Their money, so they can so with it as they wish.

Do they allow you to port out?

Yes, take it wherever you want.

Didn't mean to make that sound gay. Sorry.

similar thing with 0845 and 0800 numbers. i just bought a rerasonable 0845 one, for no extra , but some were "gold" numbers, at £999 from memory.

I suppose it maybe matters with one of those though.

A mate of mine's number ends in 888 but he's had it for about 15 years ..

One of the more extreme examples .. 9 offers though ..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VIP-Sim-Card-G...item1e6117d10a

I've removed a few posts. Please stay on-topic and don't let a silly (harmless) joke derail the conversation .

My apologies to everyone for over reacting

I'll say.

Anyway, if anyone wants to start selling these by getting free SIMs from the networks, be sure you check they're still connected before you sell them - some networks boot them off if they're not used within a certain timescale.