Gearing up to buy an iPhone 4 when the iPhone 5 is released in the UK? Then you aren’t alone according to eBay, who is expecting a 70 per cent increase in sales of the iPhone 4 in the coming weeks following the launch of the iPhone 5 from Apple.

"With the imminent release of the new iPhone 5, eBay predicts up to a 70 per cent rise in sales of previous models like the iPhone 4," the online auction site has told Pocket-lint, suggesting that while many will be doing all they can to get their hands on the newer model, many will be happy with a cheaper second-hand iPhone 4.  

Of course many will probably be selling their current model to be able to upgrade to the new iPhone 5, but how do they know that people will be off loading them faster than a dodgy DVD salesman at a boot sale? Well according to eBay, the site sees similar trends every time a new iPhone has launched since 2007.

Angus McCarey, retail director for eBay UK said: "Our figures show that savvy shoppers are ready and waiting to get their hands on the iPhone 4 at a cut down price. The UK leads Europe in terms of smartphone adoption, which is helping to drive the triple digit growth of mobile shopping on eBay. Mobile is fundamentally changing retail as shoppers can now browse and shop on and offline in a seamless way."

eBay says that more than half a million iPhones have beenin fact been sold via the UK online marketplace since they were launched.

Not surprisingly mobile phone sales now account for 10 percent of all purchases on eBay UK and eBay mobile apps have been downloaded over 47 million times globally.

Are you getting ready to buy an iPhone 4, not iPhone 5? Let us know in the comments below.