Trend Tracker: eBay goes 3G

A shortage of 3G iPhones (pictured) in Apple and AT&T stores had impatient customers flocking to eBay last month and paying inflated prices.

In late July, many of the higher-end 8G and 16G iPhones were selling for more than $1,000 on the auction site, with standard 3G phones fetching up to $900.

Part of the attraction was that some phones were billed as ‘legally unlocked’ so that they did not require the standard two-year service sold with the phone and could potentially be brought to other mobile providers.