With the highly awaited iPhone 5 now for sale, eBay U.K. is seeing a huge spike in the number of earlier generations of the Apple device listed on the site.
The number of listings for iPhones jumped 122 percent in August, according to the marketplace. The number of iPhone 4 models listed on the site saw a particularly high increase—223 percent to be exact.
Before word of the iPhone 5 release got out, merchants posted about 400 daily listings of iPhone 4S phones, according to eBay. Afterward, the number of iPhone 4S listings grew 75 percent. About 4,000 iPhone 4S listings were posted from Sept. 13 to Sept. 20.
eBay reports that the average price for an iPhone 4S is 413 pounds.
Officials note that many people, including 12 percent of sellers, list their devices on the marketplace when a new generation comes out to help them upgrade.
“Fans of the latest must-have tech products are becoming increasingly shrewd about selling previous models on eBay,” adds Laura Wilkinson, an eBay spokeswoman. “…With eBay sales prices for iPhones consistently high, those looking for upgrade can easily sell an old phone in order to fund a new one.”
