Photo by TheHilaryClark via Pixabay.com.
Apparently, your area code says a lot about you. If you are lucky enough to use area code 310, you're seen as one to be admired. You enjoy the Southern California lifestyle. You hang out at the beach. You could be from Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, Malibu, or Beverly Hills. You may even be connected to Hollywood. At least, this seems to be the status projected by your 310 number (and, to a lesser extent, area code 818 - think Disney, Pasadena, Studio City) when it pops up in other people's incoming calls. This perception also helps businesses who buy and sell telephone numbers. One such business, PhoneNumberGuy.com, sells telephone numbers, lots of them, mostly to businesses seeking “vanity numbers” (telephone numbers that are easy to remember, easy to dial, or both). In a 2015 interview with the Washington Post, Ed Mance of PhoneNumberGuy.com stated that area code 310 telephone numbers were, by far, their most popular numbers, bringing in 6 percent of all sales. Their other popular area codes, although trailing at 3 to 4 percent of sales each, were 212 ("Wall Street" New York City), 305 ("tropical" Miami), 702 ("hotels and casinos" Las Vegas), 202 ("power and politics" Washington DC), 415 ("high tech" San Francisco), and 404 ("heart of the South" Atlanta).
We checked PhoneNumberGuy.com for recent prices on local area codes. Currently (August 2019), we found a 310 area code number for sale at $20,000. Other Los Angeles County area codes, although lacking the beach and Hollywood status, didn't do too badly. There was a 562 and 626 number for sale, each at $10,000. A 747 number was for sale for $5,000 and a 424 number was offered for $4,000. Top prices listed for other Los Angeles County area code numbers were 213 ($3,000), 818 ($2,500), 661 ($2,000), and 909 ($1,500). Of course, individual phone number prices varied, depending on what was in demand and how unique the numbers were.
If you happen to be the lucky holder of a 310 number and wonder at how much you could profit from it, don't get too excited. PhoneNumberGuy.com said that they typically did not buy numbers from random people. They found too many numbers bought on spec were found to be stolen, fraudulent, or plagued with unwanted calls. Ebay was said to have stopped allowing telephone number sales for the same reason. You may have to hold onto your 310 number and just enjoy the prestige of it.
