IPod Headphone Issues.?

I've had my 2nd/3rd (I can't remember) generation iPod touch for about exactly two years, and just about two months ago I started having problems with headphones. Sometimes I could just plug them in and they would work fine, but other times if I didn't hold the connector in a certain position it would sound all echo-y and the vocals weren't in time with the music. It wasn't a big deal at that point because I could still hear the music as long as I was holding the chord in a certain position. But just recently, maybe 2 weeks ago, I couldn't get it to work at all. The iPod is fully functional otherwise, and I can play songs on the speakers on the iPod and in any iHomes I plug it into. I tried my brothers SkullCandy headphones and had no luck either, and tried my moms Apple headphones. I tried various other generic brands but none of them work. I've heard that you can get the headphone jack replaced but it's really expensive, so I was just wondering if it would be better to just get a new one all together. Thoughts?