applelogo[1] As the new iPod Touches (iPods Touch?) have been announced, are pre-ordering, and shipping in a week or so, it’s also time to look at the “shadow market” that trails the new devices—the last-gen refurbs, for those people who don’t mind going a generation or two back in search of a bargain.

While it’s true that last-gen iPod Touches won’t have the nifty new Retina Display, their screens have been “good enough” for e-reading up to now, and won’t be made any worse by something better coming out except by comparison. And looking at the Apple Store’s refurbished iPods page (which is subject to change after this is posted, due to people buying iPods or sending them back in), I see a 3rd-gen 64GB iPod Touch refurb listed at $319, which is down $30 or $40 from what it was when I checked it a few days before the Apple event.

There’s also a 32GB 2nd-gen for $249, and a 32GB 3rd-gen for $229. (Yes, that’s right. The 3rd-gen is actually cheaper than the 2nd-gen. Perhaps someone accidentally got the prices reversed?) At the top of the page in the “Featured Products” section is an 8GB 2nd-gen for $149.

Another interesting thing to me is where it says “save (some amount)” under the refurb pricing. For current-generation iPods, adding the savings to the price equals the list price of a brand new version of the item. Doing this for older-gen refurbs generates some interesting theoretical list prices that are only theoretical, because Apple doesn’t actually sell new units of anything except the current generation. So if a 3rd-gen 64GB model would cost $369 new ($319 + $50 “savings”), it doesn’t really mean anything because you can’t get the “new” version, at that price or otherwise.

Taking a few moments for a quick unscientific survey of eBay, it looks like prices are about the same to a little higher as the refurbs on the Apple store. In some cases people are bidding more than $400 for a 3rd-gen 64GB model, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but hey, auction site.

Anyway, if you’re interested in saving a little money on an older iPod Touch, there hasn’t been a better time to buy than now (and there probably won’t be for another year until the next generation comes out).

1 COMMENT

  1. Rather than buy a 3rd gen for a hundred bucks less or so then the new price was, do what I do, and get a 4th gen pre-ordered for about a hundred bucks. The MINUTE Steve Jobs announced the new touch, I listed my old one (always in a case, scratch free) on Amazon Marketplace. Sold it for $200. Pre-ordered the $299 32gb one. I just have to live without my iPod for about a week or so.

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