Here’s a job for spider man

Of course, there’s more to online outsourcing than simply dog-walking and furniture assembly. Here are some of the more unusual jobs advertised on Airtasker recently:

Who: Queuer

Task: Line up for new iPhone Budget: $200 Last September, when the iPhone XS was officially released, one Sydney user put the call out for somebody to queue outside the Apple store, on George Street, overnight on her behalf. “Need someone who is up for the adventure of camping,” she posted, somewhat incongruously.

Who: Scuba diver Task: Find GoPro Budget: $100 In January, a Cottage Point man needed a diving tasker to help track down his missing underwater camera. Apparently his GoPro had snapped off its hand-held grip during a rock jump at Jerusalem Bay, NSW, and sunk 2 metres to the bottom. Unfortunately, the device was never found.

Who: Italian speaker Task: Sort rental car dispute

Budget: $30 After holidaying in Italy last August and hiring a car for a week, a Melbourne couple received two fines from the authority of Siena and two additional fees from the rental company.

Disappointingly, the car hire office repeatedly hung up on them every time they spoke English. Eventually a fluent Italian-speaking Airtasker was able to resolve the matter.

Who: Some brave soul

Task: Spider removal Budget: $30 Sarah, an arachnophobic, needed somebody to haul off a deceased spider from her property in New Farm, Queensland, in February. “Spider has been sprayed. Not sure where it has gone. Body must be located. Bed may need to be turned onto its side,” she posted. Sadly for Sarah, no offers were made on this task.

Who: Greek home cook

Task: Produce cookbook

Budget: $200 James, a culinary resident of Narellan in Sydney, is advertising for someone Greek to help curate 56 recipes for a traditional Greek cookbook he’s putting together. Successful applicants must have past experience in Hellenic cooking and/ or recipe development. Perhaps Money’s Effie Zahos and Maria Bekiaris could be of some assistance …