Profiting From the iPhone
People try to piggyback off hype, selling spots in store lines and Web domains.
— -- Apple and AT&T aren't the only ones trying to get rich off the iPhone -- a band of pseudo entrepreneurs are queuing up to profit from Friday's rollout.
One popular way to make a quick buck is to line up at an Apple or AT&T store to secure a handset for an early adopter who has no desire to be an early riser. The going rate: about $200 to $300 for roughly a day or so of waiting.
Others have grabbed Internet e-mail addresses linked to the iPhone for possible resale. A quick search of eBay found dozens of them up for auction.
Want apple_phone_me@yahoo.com? Bids start at 99 cents.
Doesn't quite have the right ring? Try the.iphone.distributor@gmail.com -- it's also up for sale on eBay.
The capitalization doesn't stop there. Somebody in New Jersey has grabbed domain names www.iPhoneStop.com as well as the .net and .org versions of the name. They are asking $1,000.
But the bidding has been lukewarm at best.
The real action seems to be in the line-holding business. Daniel Roberts, 26, of San Francisco, is one of many people selling line services -- online, of course.
He and three of his friends -- all Web developers for startup Dynayo.com -- are seeking this onetime job through Craigslist.com. The four co-workers are paid in company equity, not cash, so they need the money.
For $200 they will hold a spot in line. All four will show up no matter what, but they hope to get four buyers.
"We're covering each other's backs," Roberts said.
Tom Allen, 37, has already hired a line-sitter. The California mortgage broker was very secretive about which store his sitter would stake out.
The waiting will probably start Thursday at noon. Sales of the phone start at 6 p.m. Friday when Apple and AT&T stores reopen.
Allen said he will bring his place holder fast-food dinner and breakfast.
But he's not being nice -- Allen wants to check up on his worker to make sure he is still there. The $300 tab works out to about $10 an hour for the sitter.
"I figure I'm going to buy at least two," Allen said. "The second phone I will sell that night to somebody and get my money back."
These fees are on top of the $499 to $599 for the phone -- plus tax -- and the monthly service plan which start at $59.99.
