iPhone Frenzy Inspires Profiteers

Scalpers find imaginative ways to take a bite of Apple
By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 28, 2007 5:00 AM CDT
iPhone Frenzy Inspires Profiteers
A group who are calling themselves "iWait", wait to purchase an Apple iPhone outside of an Apple store in Walnut Creek, Calif., Wednesday, June 27, 2007. The iPhone is planned to go on sale Friday. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)   (Associated Press)

Apple and AT&T aren’t the only ones cashing in on the iPhone craze. The Washington Post reports on strategies—both high-tech and low-brow—being deployed to profit on tomorrow's release. Many of those camping on lines around the country are being paid for their trouble; offers on Craigslist have been running as high as $1,000.

For $50, one entrepreneur will try to shoo away customers at the front of the line by plaguing them with noxious fumes, wild animals, and piercing sounds. Some are auctioning potentially lucrative iPhone-related internet addresses, while others hope to score the coveted device and resell it at a higher price. AT&T’s reaction is to offer only one phone to each customer. (More iPhone stories.)

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