The iPhone 6 has not been announced yet but some people have already started camping outside Apple's flagship store in Fifth Avenue, New York City. However, they are not camping there because they are die-hard Apple fans willing to wait weeks just to get their hands on the latest iPhone.
25-year-old actress and model Moon Ray and her husband Jason are being paid to wait in line for Apple's unannounced latest smartphone. They travelled all the way from Mississippi to New York to wait for the iPhone 6 and promote a new iOS app called VideoMedicine that allows patients to conduct telemedicine sessions with doctors. Ray says New York City is especially a good place to promote the app because 50% of the city's residents have no private cars and experience difficulty going to a doctor.
"We're being compensated for our time and food is being provided to us, and our gear," she says [video] in an interview with USA Today. "It's definitely worth our while."
Next in line to Ray and her husband are cousins Brian Ceballo and Joseph Cruz, who are veterans at waiting in line for the next Apple iPhone. For the last five years, Ceballo and Cruz have been paid to camp outside the flagship Apple store for the release of the latest Apple product. Their longest camp-out lasted 15 days and they arrived outside the glass cube Apple store on Aug. 31 ahead of Ray and her husband for the specific purpose of breaking the world record of 18 days.
Based on previous iPhone ship dates, Apple usually releases its latest iPhone ten days after its announcement, which means Ceballo and Cruz plan to wait in line for the iPhone 6 for 19 days. Only four days into the wait and the cousins have already made $1,250 apiece simply by agreeing to give up the No. 1 and 2 spots for Ray and her husband. That is also apart from the compensation they receive from BuyBackWorld.com, the reseller company that buys back used phones the two are promoting. BuyBackWorld.com also provides Ceballo and Cruz their food, camping gear and the money they need to buy the iPhone 6.
Asked if they really wanted to buy an iPhone, Ray says she has never owned an iPhone before but says she is excited about the shatter-proof sapphire glass, which she finds convenient.
"Yes, we are," says Cruz. "Because we are going to get paid for it. So I'll take it. It's a free phone and they said we could get any phone we want. So why not?"
