No matter that Apple discontinued the neon colored iPods of yesteryear as the mini is making some big bucks for owners on eBay. Commonly fetching more then what the DAP original sold for, Christmas shoppers are snapping up as many minis as they can get.

Dean Jutilla, an eBay spokesman (not for bidding, ladies) says that more then 36,000 minis have sold between $173 and $229 in the last three months! CNET reports that Patrick McHenry of Eerie, Pa. scored $275 for his pink 4GB mini!

That’s a lot for a larger and more dated product, don’t you think? Makes one wonder if dumping the mini was a good idea.

I’m glad I got my wife a blue mini before the nano graced our Apple Stores and such with its mid-summer surprise. She still loves it and I do love the color and body. Ya, the nano’s nice, but it scratches and I keep thinking that it’ll break easier. Plus, it really doesn’t have that sex appeal the mini does. I guess that’s why people are paying big bucks for minis now.

Tags: apple, nano, ipod, ebay, mini, high, demand