Sydney teen auctions 25th spot in iPhone X queue for $680

Hundreds of people waited outside Apple's flagship Sydney branch in the early hours of Friday (Nov 3), in hopes of being among the first in the world to get the all-new iPhone X.

But one young man had more than just the iPhone X in mind as he stood in line.

It was all business for Lee Cselko.

The 16-year-old McDonald's employee had landed himself in the 25th spot from the front of the queue but his intentions were clear - he was about to auction his place off to die-hard fans.

The teenager then had the brilliant idea of advertising his offer on Instagram.

In a well-thought-out move, he also promoted the spot on a whiteboard he placed next by his side.

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba-8rKQFrmO/[/embed]

As if to assure interested parties, the budding entrepreneur wrote: "You will get the phone 100 per cent."

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Cselko said the whole idea blew up once his advertisement began.

"I just put a seat next to my other seat and started advertising that I was selling (my spot," he said in an interview.

His idea paid off quite literally when he received a handsome offer of US$500 (S$680) for his position on Nov 2.

In fact, the savvy teen gained inspiration from online task sharing site, Airtasker, where he saw people offering good money for others to help them stand in line.

Standing at the head of the line in spot #1 was also another teenager.

After purchasing two phones, 18-year-old Bishoy Behman told Reuters: "It's beautiful bro, what a feeling, I'm excited."

An estimated 400 people lined up outside Apple's central Sydney store to pay AUS$1,579 (S$1,651) for the 10th-anniversary model.

Thousands have lined up all around the world outside Apple stores, making the overall turnout better than the rather muted launch for the iPhone 8 in September.

ssandrea@sph.com.sg