Market growing for refurbished, used iPods

Reuters.com picks up an article from Billboard that report on the growing popularity of the iPod secondary market as more users upgrade to the latest models. According to Piper Jaffray, "about 30 percent of the iPod purchasers are now repeat buyers who are either replacing an existing, earlier-generation iPod or adding to their range of styles (such as an iPod Shuffle and a video iPod)."

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said, "There is an emerging market for older iPods. Apple discontinues successful products that people feel some sort of connection to. They're the retro-cool thing."

Just as the iPod has created a cottage industry for accessories, "with 28 million iPods sold worldwide, the potential for iPod refurbishment and sales has created" a different cottage industry as well which the article notes.