If you’ve been wanting to pick up your own Kindle, or you want to grab a second one for that family member who won’t leave yours alone, the used Kindle market is finally turning in your favor. SmartMoney notes that as Kindle 2 devices are released, owners of the first generation device who choose to upgrade are finally selling theirs online through sites like eBay (boo) and CraigsList (hooray). The result is that prices for the Kindle 1 are starting to drop significantly, so long as you’re willing to buy a previously owned one.

There will be a couple of drawbacks, of course: you might not get any warranty protection, and since Kindles have only been out for a little over a year, there’s still no real information on how well they hold up over time.  I still think it’s a good way for bargain-hunters to grab a Kindle–unless you really need the text-to-speech function of the Kindle 2, there’s not much else going for it to justify the full price if you think you’d be just as happy with a used device.

SmartMoney advises that you wait another few weeks, though, so the the Kindle 2s can start flowing and push more of the Kindle 1s to the secondary market, where hopefully they’ll drive down the price a bit more.

“How to Get a Kindle on the Cheap” [SmartMoney]