Apple kept making the iPod Classic for much longer than many expected, but when it finally called time over lack of components there were still plenty of people who wanted one. The Guardian reports that some iPod Classics are now selling for up to four times the original price.

Versions of the 160GB Classic – which can hold around 40,000 songs – are being sold as new via Amazon for up to £670. More than 3,000 of the models – the seventh, final version came out in 2010 – have been sold on eBay since the Classic was retired in October, most for between £350 and £500. Even refurbished older models now cost far more than the £229 for which the later generations retailed.

While The Guardian was looking at UK prices, the same phenomenon can be seen in the US on Amazon and eBay …

I knew I should have held onto mine. I only sold my 160GB model earlier in the year, figuring that it was redundant with iTunes Match and unlimited LTE data, but must say that I agree with Stuff editor Will Dunn who described the Classic as “a more distraction-free listening experience” where you were “more likely to get through a full album”.

But if you still have one and can bear to part with it, now would seem an excellent time to sell.

‘Father of the iPod’ Tony Fadell said at the time the Classic was withdrawn that Apple knew streaming music would kill the iPod as far back as 2003.

“It was inevitable something would take its place. You know, in 2003 or 2004, we started asking ourselves what would kill the iPod,” Fadell says. “And even back then, at Apple, we knew it was streaming. We called it the ‘celestial jukebox in the sky.’ And we have that now: music in the cloud.”

The iPod of course lives on for now in the form of the Touch, Nano and Shuffle models, but with music downloads continuing to decline, it may only be a matter of time before other non-streaming devices are also consigned to history. Remember to stock up first.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: