Apple officially stopped offering the iPod Classic MP3 player in September, but since then there's been an explosion in sales on eBay and other outlets with nostalgists paying more than twice the original retail price, reports Billboard.

The 160GB iPod Classic model, which can hold around 40,000 songs, is a hot seller this holiday season. Apple sold them for a retail price of around $250, but numerous new and used versions are being snatched up on eBay and other auctions for more than $400. Currently, over 5,000 160GB models have been sold on eBay, where sellers list them as "vintage" and "rare."

One boxed MP3 player sold for an incredible $899.99 on Nov. 29.

A company named Kailone Tech is selling new 160GB iPod Classics for $492.88 on Amazon.com.

Used players are selling on Amazon for about $250.

If nostalgia has you yearning for a model with LCD screen, there's a first generation 5GB player listed at $189.99.

There's also a new, first generation Apple iPod 5 GB in factory sealed box and packaging being offered for an unbelievable $30,000.

Launched in 2001, iPod sales plummeted earlier this year due to the popularity of streaming music services like Pandora and music-playing devices, like smartphones. It seems more people are willing to pay for access to music these days, rather than ownership.

"We couldn't get the parts anymore," Apple CEO Tim Cook said at an October conference, referring to the reason Apple had to shelve the iPod. "We would have to make a whole new product ... the engineering work to do that would be massive."

Apple revolutionized the music industry a decade ago with the 16-gigabyte iPod Classic that holds up to 40,000 songs. Although the company continues to sell the iPod Touch, Shuffle and Nano, none of these digital music players have near the high MP3-storage capacity of the Classic.

Related