The iPhone Duo goes on sale today, Friday, October 23, and some of the people lining up outside Apple Stores this morning won’t be there for their own phone. With Apple calling demand “extraordinary” and walk-in stock tight, plenty of people decided they’d rather pay someone else to do the waiting.
On Airtasker, Posters across the US asked Taskers to get in line hours before opening. On New York’s Upper East Side, one Poster set a $300 budget and suggested starting at 3 or 4 am “to secure one phone”. In Boston, a Poster set their budget at $700. One in Syracuse put up $400 for someone to wait at Destiny USA for a 512GB iPhone Duo in black, while a Poster in Los Angeles offered $120 to hold a spot.
A Poster in Newport Beach, California, went further. They asked their Tasker to text updates on their place in line, check that Apple staff were fine with a stand-in, and give them enough notice to swap in and pay for the phone themselves.
“One person’s idea of a nightmare of standing in a queue for hours is someone else’s opportunity to make a few hundred dollars! That’s the beauty of Airtasker. People are constantly coming up with new ways to save time and make money,” said Tim Fung, CEO and Founder of Airtasker.
We’ve done this before
“Paying someone to queue is nothing new on Airtasker. In fact, one of our earliest tasks involved someone lining up for an Apple product launch,” Fung added.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen people paying someone to queue for an Apple product. In 2012, we had a Tasker spend five days outside an Apple Store waiting for a new iPad for someone keen to get their hands on it.”
Later that year, when the iPhone 5 launched, Airtasker offered to hold your spot outside Apple Stores for $50.
It isn’t only phones. In June, when the Knicks won their first NBA championship in 53 years, fans turned to Airtasker to hold their spot at the ticker-tape parade. Several offered $100 for someone to grab them a place near City Hall. One offered $750 for a Tasker to arrive at midnight and wait until 8 am, two hours before the parade started.
Holding someone’s place in line is still a classic Airtasker task. If you want to skip the next big line, you can find a Tasker to hold your place. If you’ve got an early alarm and a camping chair, browse live queuing tasks and get paid for someone else’s wait.
About Airtasker
Airtasker is a trusted community marketplace that connects people who need work done with people who want to work, with its mission being to empower people to realise the full value of their skills. People and businesses can simply post a task and then choose from rated, verified and reviewed people ready to work straight away. Founded in 2012, Airtasker has grown to support more than 10 million people in the Airtasker community across Australia, UK and US, with nearly 40,000 monthly active Taskers.
Airtasker is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
