Every year or so I update my MacBook(s), as necessary and I’m always able to sell my fairly well maintained laptops for about 3/4 of the actual price, ensuring I essentially get a nice, big discount on a new MBP. Joel “To The” Johnson found out that the iPhone 3G market works quite similarly, selling his abused 16GB 3G for $300.

I just sold my iPhone 3G—a well-worn 16GB model that was listed with a nice, big picture of the crack in the plastic up around the headphone jack, and isn’t unlocked—for $300 on eBay. I’m a bit shocked, frankly. You can pick up the same model brand new at AT&T for $99, or $200 for a 3GS, with a two-year contract.

Most interestingly this wrests an iPhone 3G from AT&T’s vicious claws, resulting in a grey market iPhone that lives free in the wild.