The average selling price of a particular smartphone was $\$ 182$ in 2011 , down $21.5 \%$ from 2009 . What was the average selling price in 2009? In 2009, the average selling price was $\$$. (Round to the nearest dollar as needed.)

Step 1 ：The problem is asking for the original price of the smartphone in 2009 before it decreased by 21.5% to $182 in 2011. To find the original price, we can use the formula for percentage decrease which is: Original Price = Final Price / (1 - Percentage Decrease).

Step 2 ：In this case, the final price is $182 and the percentage decrease is 21.5% or 0.215 in decimal form.

Step 3 ：Substituting the given values into the formula, we get: Original Price = 182 / (1 - 0.215).

Step 4 ：Solving the equation, we get the original price as approximately 231.84713375796179.

Step 5 ：Rounding to the nearest dollar as needed, we get the original price as $232.

Step 6 ：Final Answer: In 2009, the average selling price was \(\boxed{232}\) dollars.