Apple IPad 2 Lines Led by Gray Marketers Eager to Resell Abroad

When Apple Inc. releases a product, the store lines are typically led by fanboys clamoring to be first with the latest gadget. At the downtown San Francisco store for the iPad 2 debut, the gray market got there first.

Dennis Ng, 20, said he was being paid $10 an hour to arrive before 5 a.m. on the day Apple began selling the device at its stores. He said he was in a group of about 35 mostly Chinese immigrants at the front of the line, waiting to buy the iPad for somebody else. Resales of new electronics in countries where they’re not yet available feed the so-called gray market.