Apple AirPods already selling on eBay for silly money

Apple's new wireless AirPods have only been available for a matter of days and already fans are clamouring to grab themselves a pair. So much so that the earphones selling for up to £340 on eBay, meaning you could double your profits if you've been lucky enough to snag yourself a pair and haven't yet stuck them in your lugholes.

The new Apple AirPods went on sale online in the UK on 13 December and have been available to buy in-store since Monday. The £159 earphones have suffered a series of delays getting to shelves, arriving well after their intended October release date.

These delays are still being felt now, with Apple's website giving an estimated shipping date of six weeks. Clearly this is too long to wait for Apple die-hards, who are now clearing out the Christmas shopping fund just to get their hands on the lose-tastic new Apple accessory.

Yet in this case, it literally pays to be patient. A new, boxed pair of AirPods are selling for between £245 and £293 on eBay, with the highest sold bid going for £339 – more than double the retail price. There are currently hundreds of ongoing bids for the earphones on the website, with more optimistic sellers flogging their AirPods for up to £500 – that's with "guaranteed" delivery before Christmas, mind.

Even so, we can't recommend paying more than the already-high £159 asking price for the courtesy of walking around with these in your ears. While the new W1 integrated chip makes connectivity a breeze and provides truly intuitive auto-pausing magic, tired design and lacklustre audio quality make AirPods a hit-and-miss Apple accessory.

There's a high price to pay for losing them too, with Apple charging £65 for a single AirPod replacement. For that money you could buy yourself a whole new pair of headphones, and ones that won't get lost down the side of the sofa within the first week at that.