[url=http://spring.newsvine.com/_news/2007/07/01/812167-iphone-not-quite-the-cash-cow-ebay-sellers-were-hoping]Corey Spring[/url] has posted an analysis of iPhone listings on eBay over the weekend, and he has concluded that the average listing generated US$54.43 in profit. That's not a very good return for those who waited in line for hours, or even days, in hope of flipping an iPhone for big bucks. The median return was even worse, at $34.16, which means that half of iPhone auctioneers made less than that amount, notes CNET.

Spring notes that users were largely selling just the 8GB model, with only 13 percent of listings being devoted to the 4GB model. The other obvious (and more substantial trend) was that many of the iPhone auctions weren't selling, slightly over half came and went without a single bidder (52 percent to be exact), he adds.

"Among those auctions that did close successfully, few were having the large markup that many expected to see the iPhone go for from third-party sellers ... and a significant amount were only making their money back, even closing at a loss," Spring says. "In fact, the average profit on the iPhone (including the ones that didn't sell at all) during the analysis was $54.43; the median profit was even lower at $34.16."