EBay pulls Apple iPhone auction

Apple's iPhone is not due to be released for another six months

Online auction house eBay has pulled a sale of six iPhones from its site, saying that it is not confident that the seller can deliver within 30 days.

Bidding was frenzied for the phones, which are not due to be released for another six months. The top bid had reached $1,125 before the auction was stopped.

"Thanks for informing us of the Apple iPhone listings. As we understand, the Apple iPhone will not be commercially available until June," an eBay spokeswoman said in an email to Computerworld, which spotted the auction.

"Any listings claiming to be selling the Apple iPhone are in violation of eBay's pre-sale policy which requires sellers to guarantee shipment within 30 days from the date of purchase. All postings violating eBay's pre-sale policy will be removed."

The magazine contacted the highest bidder who said that he had entered the auction because PayPal offered insurance for fraud up to $2,000 and that he was therefore covered. His boss had given him $1,500 and told him to bid on the item.

Several other iPhone auctions are being held on eBay, although none is for the phone itself.

A popular item is an 'iPhone' email account with Gmail with addresses such as iphone.gb@gmail.com, new.apple.iphone.8gb@gmail.com and apple.com.iphone@gmail.com going for as little as 99 cents.

Possibly the most bizarre auction is for a set of iPhone thongs, described as either "reminding your female partner that you want one " or as a way of "mesmerising your male partner".