Young Scammers - Possible recourse?

[Drewk86a]

In the recent past we have read about two obvious scammers using eBay to dupe people out of their money.

The first was the infamous eBay box break by Callofhockeybeast who, it turns out is only 14 years old.

Now we have lilkid_16 who employs a bait and switch technique. Luring you into his auction with a high end card or product, only to bury in the description that you are actually buying some else, something worth almost nothing. (I am working on the assumption that lilkid_16, lsike call of hockey is a teenager)

The age of these kids could pose an interesting problem for them and for eBay. In the US (don't know about Canada) it is illegal to enter into a binding contact with anyone under the age of 18. So, if these, or any, kids scam someone, the buyer should be able to demand a full refund on the grounds that there was no contract. the age of the seller makes a binding sale impossible.

Ebay, for their part, may say they did not know the seller was underage. Do they make you submit your birthdate when registering? (it's been so long!) But with evidence, like the callofhockey chat log where he says he is only 14, that should be enough to nullify the sale.

[FlamesFan2428]

How about if its the parents account? (The parents just dont know how stupid the kids are being on ebay, or they do and thats another story...)

If its the parents account then I would assume you would be entering the contract with the parents and the kids would I guess be the salesmen?

I dont know it seems so easy these days to scam people...damn technology.

[leopards40]

Im only 13, and I woul never do that to someone, and i can honestly say im more trusty worthy than most adults

[flemingc04]

How about if its the parents account? (The parents just dont know how stupid the kids are being on ebay, or they do and thats another story...)

If its the parents account then I would assume you would be entering the contract with the parents and the kids would I guess be the salesmen?

I dont know it seems so easy these days to scam people...damn technology.

Even in that case, I would think the contract should technically be voided because, the buyer agreed to the contract with the impression that the deal was made with another adult while really it was the minor that made the agreement on the adult's behalf.

[FlamesFan2428]

True, I guess that makes sense if you figure your buying from an adult then I guess the contract should be void if you find out the age and how responsible the
person is.

Its a shame though, not going to lie I started selling on Ebay when I was 16 years old, coming close to 1000 feedbacks now none of which negative or neutral. Its a shame that there are kids on there that abuse the system but I guess maybe the system will have to be fixed?

[leopards40]

this post can be deleted

[FlamesFan2428]

Thats great how you do on Ebay I just think for every 3 or 4 responsible kids and parents you might find 1 account where the parents dont care so neither do the kids using them. If your parents help you out with it I find its time for good bonding and they make sure everything you do is up to speed but some parents wont do that and this is where some problems might come in. Thats just my opinon.

[leopards40]

yeah exaclty

[2010CTyler]

It's critical that we keep these punks out of our great hobby. However, it is a little much to suggest that a little kid on YouTube has the maturuty to do a box break with integrity. Ebay is different, you don't exactly see who you're buying from

[Sabres26Bolts4]

im 14 goin on 15 ive been a pretty highend collector for the past 2 years it depends some people dont know stuff about the hobby and some do but im pretty high end collector thing like a 4000$ card collector etc but im pretty high end and some kids my age are pretty good traders collectors etc like myself