I continued to randomly check the refurbished iPod section of the Apple Store. On Feb 1st about 12:30 a.m. the Apple Store was almost fully stocked on 5th gen iPod Nanos. I quickly went through the purchase procedure. This time everything went smoothly and completed. Of course now there are many 6th gen iPod Nanos available. I still prefer the 5th gen nano and also like my old 3rd gen nano.
iPod Nano 5th gen
I have been thinking about getting a refurbished iPod Nano 5th gen from the Apple Store. They were plentiful before last Christmas. Now they are hard to find, which makes sense since it is a previous model. I check the Apple Store periodically for availability on refurbished iPods.
Well, this morning, to my surprise, the Apple Store had an almost full selection of 5th gen iPod Nanos in the refurb section. Great, I thought, I can finally get one. I selected the color I wanted and clicked add to cart. Nothing happened. It turns out that in the minute or two I took to decide and process the order Apple sold out. I selected my second color choice and successfully added the iPod to my cart. Then I went to process my order and verify my credit card. In the less than a minute time that went by Apple sold out again. I wrongfully thought that if an item was in your cart that you had saved/allocated selected item until finish processing.
I will still continue to check availability. The hope of actually getting one is not good. I could try craigslist, but that is too iffy.