Is Your Old iPod Classic Worth Big Bucks?

Death is a great career move.more

It's long been true in music—just ask the Presley and Jackson estates—and apparently, it also applies to consumer electronics. Earlier this year, when Apple launched the iPhone 6, it also announced it was discontinuing the iPod Classic. Now, for those readers under the age of 25, this was a device that simply held and played lots of music without enabling the user to send text messages, take photos, check email, or do anything else the iPad and iPhone can do.

In killing the iPod Classic, Apple essentially bet that most people stream their music these days, and besides, CEO Tim Cook said, the parts are getting hard to come by, and building these things no longer makes sense. But as DigitalTrends.com reports, lots of music fans still want this dinosaur device, and they're willing to pay big bucks for it.

On Amazon, 160gb models have been listed for $479, and on eBay, they're routinely selling for upwards of $460—way more than the suggested retail price of $249. The situation is the same in the U.K., the Guardian reports, as even refurbished models are fetching fat stacks of pounds on eBay.

"There’s still a huge affection for the iPod Classic and it’s not hard to see why—Spotify might offer 20 million songs, but 120GB of music is more than most people need, and your iTunes library doesn’t carry data charges or a subscription fee," said Stuff editor Will Dunn all the way back in 2013, predicting the rebirth of the player even before it was dead. "Also, I think the Classic is a more distraction-free listening experience—I’m more likely to get through a full album on one."

Wait, what's an album?

Photo: Cate Gillon, Getty Images