A buyer said they were only 16, can I get in trouble for selling them stuff?
A buyer had asked me to combine multiple items into one listing. I messaged back and forth with them for a bit, then they bought the listing.
After they paid, they messaged me and said "sorry for being such a pain, I'm only 16 and I'm a kid, I'm sure you could tell working with me."
When I looked at their account, it says member since 2023. They have 7 feedbacks as a buyer within the past 6 months.
According to ebay policy, you must be 18 to have an ebay account. I know this person could be lying, but am I under any obligation to do anything here? I guess I'm just concerned since they clearly stated in the message system that they are underage...
Edited to add: it's just clothing, nothing adult-oriented.
20 comments
inhawaii
·8 months ago@mamacassidy
Your title reminds me of this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYMbWDfn8Yo
squinkercat59
·8 months agoThen again, I know some teenagers who are a heck of a lot more responsible then many adults I know.
nh_sales_lv
·8 months agoThey start shopping in other Countries at 8-9 years old. For example my Cousin would go to the store at 9 years old and buy my Grandpa Cigarettes and Whiskey. She wasn't bullied by the Man. lol
gurlcat
·8 months agoWhen I was as young as 12 I would take the city bus all over town by myself, to shop with my babysitting money. I'd grab a burger at McDonald's, make a layaway payment at KMart, buy a new cassette at the mall music store, etc. I remember one time keeping a bag of aquarium fish warm under my coat while waiting at a bus stop in the snow, LOL.
Who can count all the ways times have changed, from this^ paragraph. 🤣
pickapaper
·8 months agoI once had a situation where a buyer was under 18. That is the only time I have ever contacted eBay CS for verification/confirmation of something. They told me that eBay has no way to verify the age of any user and, even though they state in their policies that a user has to be 18, they have no way to enforce it, nor do they want to.
Even if a user is under 18, a lot of them have their own money, have a parent's permission to use their card, etc. No one can know what another person's position is.
rugerskick
·8 months agoI would not ship, cancel the order. Kid admitted hes under 18. No legal authority to enter a binding legal transaction, you can get screwed over as the seller.
toomuchstuffagain35
·8 months agoHow do you know the kid isn't emancipated?
gurlcat
·8 months agoThis is an interesting scenario I've never seen brought up before, thanks for sharing it @mamacassidy !
inhawaii
·8 months agoIt's the responsibility of the owner of the account to police who uses/buys with it, not you and not ebay.
I would go ahead and ship.
caldreamer
·8 months agoChildren cannot enter into a legally binding contract. Sale could be "reversed" if they used parent's credit card without permission.
wastingtime101
·8 months agoIf the child made the purchase, the credit card will typically hold the parent responsible.
If the dispute is "didn't recognize the transaction" eBay offers seller protections if certain criteria are met.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/payment-dispute-seller-protections?id=5293
bashort
·8 months agoYes there could be a chargeback and if it was shipped to the address on file ebay will cover it
bashort
·8 months agoas long as you ship to the address on file this falls well within the not my problem category
12345jamesstamps
·8 months agoReally hard to obtain a credit card at 16 years of age if that is how it was paid...parent's credit card maybe?
It's not the 3 suits for 'grown men'?...that won't usually fit a kid 16 years of age.
I don't think it's a kid.
I would never have know my clothing size at that age.
Sounds like you might be getting played.
Ship it and see what plays out.
mamacassidy
OP8 months agoIt is the 3 men's suits. That's why I was totally surprised when they messaged me afterward and said they were only 16.
I'm going to send them out, and I'll follow up and let you all know if anything weird happens.
wastingtime101
·8 months agoI had a feeling it was the suits and it's relatively low value which factored in my advice to just ship. If this was a $4k electronic we may be having a different discussion. 🙂
gurlcat
·8 months agoTeens can get their own checking accounts. I had one when I was 16 back in 1991, working at Waffle House! "Waffle on two, order over medium, order scrambled cheese plate, scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, topped, diced. One sausage. One bacon!!" 🤣
-Then with any bank account you get a debit card.
As for "Sounds like you might be getting played." -How?
luckythewinner
·8 months agoMy kid had access to a PayPal account at 15.
wastingtime101
·8 months agoI'd go ahead and ship. You don't know if they're using their own (against policy/underage) account, or if their parent created the account and supervises their use (which is allowed), and it's really not the seller's business to dig into that.
If the buyer becomes problematic later (I mean a serious problem, not easy stuff), that's different and you can ask eBay to perform an account review if needed. Chances are you'll have a smooth transaction.
mamacassidy
OP8 months agoThank you, I appreciate your help!