Robert Samuel’s line waiting business made headlines in 2013 during the croissant-donut “cronut” craze, when everyone wanted the popular bakery product. A year before that, Samuel had lost his job as an AT&T sales representative.
Desperate for a job, he put out an advertisement on Craigslist offering to wait in line for anyone who wanted to grab the latest iPhone.
At the time, he said he would charge only $100 for it but in three years, he began making up to $1,000 a week just waiting in long lines for other people.
With his professional line sitting company in New York City, Same Ole Line Dudes (SOLD), Samuel and his team of 45 wait in lines for sample sales, video game releases, Broadway shows, criminal trials, sneaker launches, among others.
Starting at $25 for the first hour, and $10 every half hour after that, a line waiter can make up to $1000 a week to stand in line during peak seasons.
With over 8 million people, New York City is often busy and packed with lots of activities. Business has been tremendously good for Samuel these past days amid the trial of Sean Diddy Combs.
Samuel said he has received several requests from media houses, including The Washington Post, The Times, as well as news bloggers to wait in line for them.
The 49-year-old said his hourly rates for that trial are $32 an hour.
For the first nine months that Samuel started his line waiting business, he was doing everything solo before he began earning enough to hire workers. This was 2013 when his story was covered by various media outlets amid the “cronut” craze.
Now, Samuel and his team have covered various events, including Donald Trump’s arraignment, Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial, and Ghislaine Maxwell’s case, according to Fortune.com. All in all, he and his colleagues have mostly waited in line for high-fashion sample sales.
Here’s a breakdown of how much Samuel’s company charges for various events:
“Same Ole Line Dudes charges a two-hour minimum of $50, with an extra $25 per hour onwards. The business also has an inclement weather fee of $3 per hour in case of rain, snow, or intense temperatures. There’s an additional $15 charge for any line request going from midnight to 7 a.m., and a $20 rush fee for same-day inquiries. Hourly rates are 1.5 times higher during the holiday season, and for “hypebeast” sneaker drops, like Supreme,” Fortune.com writes.
Samuel has often said that his business idea has brought relief to many people who would want an exclusive product but wouldn’t want to run into long queues for that.
“People want these things like it’s the end of the world,” Samuel told The Post in 2013. “When I show up to their offices with a sleeping bag in one hand and the Cronuts in another, they know they’re getting their money’s worth.”
