U.K. Teen Buys $735 Photo of Xbox One on eBay

[Proverbial Jon]

What 19 year old with a 4 year old son can afford an Xbox One? I'm 26 with no dependant family and a good job but I can't afford that sort of cash! Now I'm going to have to go on a bitter rant about spongers on state benefits...

Oh yeah, the eBay part is the most unremarkable element of this story to me!

 

[The Lugz]

Wait, a 19-year-old is a "teen" now? ...what's the legal age of majority in the UK, again?

Perhaps this is less to do with majority, and more to do with numeracy?;

thir-TEEN, four-TEEN, fif-TEEN, six-TEEN, seven-TEEN, eigh-TEEN, nine-TEEN.

I mean, you don't say twenty-TEEN or thirty-one-TEEN, at-least I hope.. so surely he's a 'teen' at nineteen? I don't see any other logical conclusion here.

 

[Strazdas]

I've already seen this story printed elsewhere, but it's worth having another go at it.

We've already covered the fact that the guy is 19 with a 4-year old son, something which hardly shows to be a paragon of self-responsibility. Also, the article I read referred to him as a student ad also that he had "saved up" to by the Xbox One for himself (sorry, his 4 year old son). More like, he was using his benefits money to buy the console. I remember being a student at 19 and being able to even save up for a console was a pipedream, even though I was working part of the time.

You can always save up. I am currently a student for masters degree, work full time, pay for my studies (half of my wage goes there alone) and still managed to save up for a new washing machine, hard drive, garage refurbishing and now am in a course of saving up for new PC (plan is february). you definitely CAN save up being a student.

snip

"Buys $735" that is the bit I'm talking about, the headline! Not the article. The fact that the pound is mentioned first in the article is irrelevant, what is relevant to my annoyance is the first mention of finicial loss is in dollars when the story is about a teenager in the UK!

Let's flip it around "an American teen bought a picture for £450"... Why did he pay in pounds?

Why did you even make a mountain out of a mole hill? I was pointing out how weird it was and you ride in making an argument about it.

Title said: Buys $735 worth photo.
Title did not said: Pays $735 for a photo.
Your example does not fit this title. a fitting one would be:
US teen buys £450 worth picture.
The title does nto say what currency it paid. The article however does, and it he paid in pounds. Which makes sense him being in UK.
I merely pointed out that you have misread the title, and in return you are trying to prove that your interpretation of the title is somehow the right one.

And little kids love video games, when she was younger my sister used to just watch me play stuff like GTA or Fallout (I avoided doing anything grossly inappropriate), she didn't even want to give the game a go herself. I expect most 4 year olds would find a game fascinating, even if they couldn't play it properly themselves. But yeah, an Xbone probably isn't the right console for a young child, this guy should have just bought a picture of a Wii instead.

I can sencond that. My sister was watching me play games since she was 2 years old. Now she is 6 and she was playing on her own since she was 5 (there were attempts at 4 as well but she didnt play got the way of handling mouse correctly then). She plays on PC and phone (parents house has no consoles).

I've been a 19 year old student, been on a full time course, worked two jobs and had a (moderate) student loan. Between helping my parents out with rent and bills getting transport, buying food, buying college supplies (yes some of us have to actually do that) i barely had enough left to maintain my relationship and keep clothed. Things like learning to drive, getting a car etc have had to be sacrificed. I didn't even have a child to look after.

You list helping your parents with rent and bills as expenses. How much spare money could you save if your parents were paying for it themselves? Would it be enough to, i dont know, buy a console every 8 years? Just because you had a lto of expenses does not mean everyone does. I am a student, paying for the studies (no loan, just paying the price every half a year while studying), working full time (8-5 work, 5-10 studies) and i manage to save up some money on top of that. Then, i dont have "relationship", so i guess a lot of money could go that way.

But lets pretned you have grown a brain in the meantime and invest wisely; inflation tracks at around 3%-4%, as a conservative estimate. I currently have bonds invested with money my perants gave my for my 18th birthday and they track 0.5% above inflation and are risk free. So lets say you get 4.5% a year yield on your accrued investment, re-investing every year.

Not sure where you came up with that numbers as conservative inflation estimates are closer to 2% and bellow. especially in the long run. I do not know how it is where you live, but currently here risk-free investments are not above inflation prices. You would be getting closer to 2% a year.

hmm, i wonder which one is the legitimate concern...

To me they both sound kinda retarded.

Someone else posted here earlier that it's very likely that the listing was worded in a very misleading manner that could make anyone but the most discerning person think they were buying the actual thing.

The article said that the person in question admited he KNEW it said that it was a photo but bought it anyway hoping to recieve the actual thing. He know it was a photo, but thought the seller would send something else than listed.

Putting aside console war BS, he obviously bought the console for himself, not his kid. Even in a few years the kid still won't be able to really play that thing, and even if they could do you really want your six year old playing CoD? Fuck this guy...

4 year old are capable of playing videogames. COD is not the only game on Xbox.

I don't understand your not understanding. 19 has always been a teen. NineTEEN. I mean... Its right there.

Language/cultural differences. "Teens" translated to my language has absolutely nothing to do with numbering. completely different words. Teens are 14-18 here, at 18 you become adult and not a teen, before that you are a child. word teen is not related to numbers in any way here, but merely represents a certain age frame. Apperently, it is different in english speaking countries, thought it sounds more like a coincidence than anything to us.

What 19 year old with a 4 year old son can afford an Xbox One? I'm 26 with no dependant family and a good job but I can't afford that sort of cash!

Its called saving up. If you got a good job and no extra expenses such as loans to pay ect you should be able to save up money for it too. If you cant you should probably take a good luck at your expenses. Either that or your good job isnt paying very good.

I mean, you don't say twenty-TEEN or thirty-one-TEEN, at-least I hope.. so surely he's a 'teen' at nineteen? I don't see any other logical conclusion here.

The problem comes probably from that fact that we dont say teen in ninteen either. completely different words in non English speaking countries.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Jesus Christ, I never realised how many judgemental dickheads were on this site. The guy was scammed by a pretty malicious and cynical scam and he is the bad guy? Also I don't see what him being a teenage father has to do with anything. It's a sad state when the site that champions itself on diversity and understanding shits on a guy who got defrauded. I think people forget that real life is not like their candy coated view and that the world is the way it is. It's not stupidity. and it was clearly proven the seller misrepresented the product maliciously I am glad he got it sorted so quickly. I got scammed on ebay and it took me months to sort it out and it was a hell of a lot more clear cut than this. But it's not my fault cos I am in my 20's and have no kids.

 

[tzimize]

not surprising considering this guy's stupid enough to have a child at 15

Teen pregnancies is a big thing in the UK I've gathered. But yeah, this guy isnt exactly a paragon of smart behavior. Facepalming is allowed.

Jesus Christ, I never realised how many judgemental dickheads were on this site. The guy was scammed by a pretty malicious and cynical scam and he is the bad guy? Also I don't see what him being a teenage father has to do with anything. It's a sad state when the site that champions itself on diversity and understanding shits on a guy who got defrauded. I think people forget that real life is not like their candy coated view and that the world is the way it is. It's not stupidity. and it was clearly proven the seller misrepresented the product maliciously I am glad he got it sorted so quickly. I got scammed on ebay and it took me months to sort it out and it was a hell of a lot more clear cut than this. But it's not my fault cos I am in my 20's and have no kids.

You know...if I understood the news article correctly, the ebay listing actually SAID it was a photograph that was for sale...so...yeah, thats pretty stupid imo.

 

[LazyAza]

Their are certain levels of stupidity in this world that derive absolutely no sympathy from me at all.

Also WHAT THE FUCK 19 year old with a 4 year old child? geezus. How the hell do people like this guy exist.

 

[Dogstile]

I see a lot of people are just latching on to the fact that he had a kid at 15... or alternatively he got married to someone with a kid recently. In any case, so many people here are definitely embracing this point and simultaneously embracing their strong "blame the victim" mentality.

See if you can spot the similarities:
This story: "This guy has a kid at 15 years old and gets conned? Well of COURSE he did, he's stupid!"

Stories of Rape Victims: "This girl dressed like that in public and got raped? Well of COURSE she did, she's slutty!"

Conning and taking advantage of innocent people is never right, regardless of who the victim is or their lifestyle.

Everyone blaming the victim here is just being disgusting...

People here have this weird obsession with rape. Its not even close to the same thing. You don't get a choice if you get raped. You get the opportunity to read about what you're buying before you buy it. You're not forced to buy it.

Except that they are the same basic thing. You're preying on another person. Taking advantage of them. He didn't have a choice in getting conned either. Someone else posted here earlier that it's very likely that the listing was worded in a very misleading manner that could make anyone but the most discerning person think they were buying the actual thing. Everyone around here is extrapolating "He's stupid and deserved this." because he has a four year old, and for no other reason. Which is the same as blaming a rape victim for being slutty because of some non-related fact (like she is conventionally physically attractive and wasn't wearing body armor, because it's "COMMON SENSE"). He checked the seller's profile and the seller had good ratings (which indicates he did not lack common sense), and ebay requires you to put information on there that pertains to the product people think you're selling. So on the surface, it had to look legitimate, and apparently, this kind of scam is pulled often, with listing worded in a VERY VERY confusing manner, where, if you were just glossing over the details, it all looks correct, because the fact that it's a photo is kind of de-emphasized, like it being in fine print.

People get preyed upon all the time, they're basically the same thing and instill the same kind of mistrust and lack of faith in humanity to the victims.

They're the same in preying on another person, that's where the similarities end. People should really stop making rape out to be equal to every little crime. This is fraud, where somebody tricks someone else into buying into something. They don't force anything, they just have to be convincing. Its not even close to blaming the victim, as saying someone deserved it because they dressed slutty and saying someone deserved it because they couldn't be bothered to read are two different things. Dressing slutty is fine, there isn't anything wrong with that. Not reading the description of something you're buying is your own damn fault no matter how misleading it was. If it said it was a picture in the description, 20 seconds of his time could have prevented this.

He's saying he checked the ratings now, which i'm having a hard time believing. Who doesn't read the descriptions of things they buy, but will gladly read 4 or 5 reviews? That doesn't add up. The only mistrust this guy will feel is he'll be more careful next time.

Trying to compare that to a rape victim, who will be traumatized and will have problems with people, even with counselling, is insulting as hell.

But go ahead, next time someone breaks down about their rape, just tap them on the shoulder and go "its ok, I know how you feel, i was scammed on the internet once". See how far that gets you.

 

[The Lugz]

I knew people in this country were getting stupider, and this is a sad case. Paid over the odds, a child at 15 and he chose an Xbone......very very sad indeed

Plus, "Clatworthy acknowledged that the eBay listing stated that the item was in fact a photograph"........riiiiiiight. Well, we'll be seeing this guy on Jeremy Kyle in a few years I guess, he has all the signs and potential of a future specimen.

Actually, getting an xbone may not be the worst idea for a child in a developing technologically advanced society, he'll get the idea of computers taking inputs from multiple sources, controller / mobile device battery life computer commands and what they will and will not accept, and be ready to move on to pc's by the time he is old enough to have his own kids at 15 oh, jeez.. a granddad at 30 what is the world coming to!
oh and a bunch of good games will be out by then too, at-least you'd think so.. ( although I do like RY-sis, it looks pretty, as usual. )

it's probably the most solid plan he's ever come up with and I'd bet it was by accident.

 

[TKretts3]

Well it's a good thing that EBay gave the buyer a refund and banned the seller. Anyone who attempts to cheat people out of their money by using tricks, scams, and cons such as these deserves nothing but the proper punishment. Hopefully this hasn't caused the buyer to lose trust in EBay, it really is a great marketplace.

 

[Strazdas]

I've been a 19 year old student, been on a full time course, worked two jobs and had a (moderate) student loan. Between helping my parents out with rent and bills getting transport, buying food, buying college supplies (yes some of us have to actually do that) i barely had enough left to maintain my relationship and keep clothed. Things like learning to drive, getting a car etc have had to be sacrificed. I didn't even have a child to look after.

You list helping your parents with rent and bills as expenses. How much spare money could you save if your parents were paying for it themselves? Would it be enough to, i dont know, buy a console every 8 years? Just because you had a lto of expenses does not mean everyone does. I am a student, paying for the studies (no loan, just paying the price every half a year while studying), working full time (8-5 work, 5-10 studies) and i manage to save up some money on top of that. Then, i dont have "relationship", so i guess a lot of money could go that way.

Unfortunately some of us live in the real world where our parents can't afford to constantly support us without us contributing. Again, i don't have a baby. Baby expensive. Baby very expensive. Baby deserves responsible father who doesn't spend £500 on something clearly listed as a picture.

So everyone who lives in a real world has parents who cant afford their rent?
I think you misunderstood me, i didn't say that you shouldn't help parents or that they somehow were bad for needing help, merely pointing out that your situation does not equal everyone's situation.
The point wasnt that he should have bought something listed as picture but that it is possible to save up money being a 19 year old student.

Also WHAT THE FUCK 19 year old with a 4 year old child? geezus. How the hell do people like this guy exist.

Do tell me what exactly is wrong with im having a 4 year old child?

He's saying he checked the ratings now, which i'm having a hard time believing. Who doesn't read the descriptions of things they buy, but will gladly read 4 or 5 reviews? That doesn't add up. The only mistrust this guy will feel is he'll be more careful next time.

Actually the article said he read the decription, saw it was listed as a picture and still bought it expecting it to be a real thing.

 

[Shraggler]

I'm surprised someone didn't jump down your throat about this statement being all 'times have changed' or 'thanks for the lecture DAD' or some shit like that.

This really is the way I feel about the scenario. I feel that the way my mom raised me, how her parents raised her (her animosity towards them aside) and various other people who have told tales of what their parents did for them have set an example of responsible decisions concerning parenting.

This just doesn't sound like really good parenting and, I'll say it again, I do NOT buy for ONE second that the Xbone was REALLY for his four year old. UK, 19, decision to blow load of cash on a game console instead of general child rearing costs... Something reeks of 'this guy isn't being very responsible'.

I know I'm being judgemental and I'm not going to apologize for it. Why should we be feeling bad for this idiot? I'm feeling more bad for the kid because all I can think is stuff like 'Where's his mom?' or 'What important bills could that money have gone to?' or 'what kind of nice thing could he have done for his kid that he ACTUALLY would have appreciated?' (I.E. something besides buying a gaming console he probably doesn't even have the proper hand eye coordination to handle yet).

Now, the kid could have parents supporting him and maybe the mother still supports him too but there's not enough info here so here we are.

Now that you mention it, I'm kinda surprised too, but we're only 5 pages in!

I agree about the financial decision. $735/450£ is quite a bit of dosh to just have on hand, and to spend it on a souped-up GameBoy with a kid to take care of, it just raises some eyebrows.

I think your last sentence is necessary to establish the context we're discussing. We're going off the information in the article/OP. The situation could indeed be different, but like I said, evidence suggests that teen pregnancies are typically spontaneous and not anywhere close the the ideal environment for a child. Basing my perspective on my experience growing up, raising a child is a massive amount of work, even for two parents in their mid-thirties. From that, it's likely to be much more challenging and difficult for someone with only nineteen years under his belt.

What 19 year old with a 4 year old son can afford an Xbox One? I'm 26 with no dependant family and a good job but I can't afford that sort of cash!

Same here. Basically same age and same status.

I could afford it if we're just using "afford" as a shortcut for "have enough money for", but it would be a bad, if not outright stupid, idea. I can't justify that kind of spending, especially on something that has no practical use.

Jesus Christ, I never realised how many judgemental dickheads were on this site. The guy was scammed by a pretty malicious and cynical scam and he is the bad guy? Also I don't see what him being a teenage father has to do with anything. It's a sad state when the site that champions itself on diversity and understanding shits on a guy who got defrauded. I think people forget that real life is not like their candy coated view and that the world is the way it is. It's not stupidity. and it was clearly proven the seller misrepresented the product maliciously I am glad he got it sorted so quickly. I got scammed on ebay and it took me months to sort it out and it was a hell of a lot more clear cut than this. But it's not my fault cos I am in my 20's and have no kids.

The fact that he's a teenage father is a slightly revealing bit of information. One can infer his decision making skills based on that information along with the information about the 'incident' in the article.

I don't know if stating in the listing that what was up for auction was a picture is malicious misrepresentation, especially when the buyer stated he read that part of the description and then just bought it anyway based on category, as if some arbitrary drop-down designation has more clarity than the description of the item itself written by the seller. Caveat emptor, but buyer was aware and buyer is still an idiot. Buyer then feels besmirched and defrauded and goes public instead of hanging his head down in shame and contacting eBay privately and resolving the issue. Idiot.

Life isn't a candy coated anything, we're in agreement there. It's a constant struggle. It's painful and harrowing. Rarely is it ideal, but we can make choices in an attempt to aim it in that direction.

On one hand, I'm glad the guy got his money back. The kid shouldn't suffer for daddy dumbass, and it means that if something like this can be resolved, something far less obvious and more attributable to "fraud" can also be resolved.

On the other hand, if he hadn't been compensated, perhaps it would've been a hard lesson learned that he could then pass on.

Or he could've gone off the deep end.

Honestly, I wonder if the seller did it not out of a desire to seek something for nothing, but as an experiment to see if someone would be stupid enough to actually buy it. Once they did, I wonder if he killed himself.

 

[surg3n]

Why are ebay allowing people to do this? - shouldn't it be their job to keep this crap off their site. Too many people get conned on ebay, it can happen to anyone... don't think for 1 second that you are all too smart to fall for a con, it just needs a con-man who's smarter than you.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Ignorance is no excuse from the law.

I'm afraid you have horribly misused that phrase. It is meant to be "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."

No, I do not believe that I misused the phrase. In legal practice it is commonly known that being unaware of the law does not excuse you from being liable for it. I think I said that adequately.

 

[Caiphus]

No, I do not believe that I misused the phrase. In legal practice it is commonly known that being unaware of the law does not excuse you from being liable for it. I think I said that adequately.

Exactly. Which was not totally relevant to the rest of your first post, unless I'm reading it totally wrong:

If it was clearly printed in the description then that's on you

"I still thought I would be getting an Xbox One, despite the description" is not ignorance of the law. That is ignorance of the facts or of the situation. Which may or may not be relevant depending on the consumer rights laws of your country. I would imagine most countries have an objective test to be decided by the court as to whether conduct was deceptive or misleading.

Ignorance of the law would be the buyer saying "I thought that I would be protected against all misconceptions on my part. Therefore I should be."

 

[FLSH_BNG]

How the heck is a four year-old kid going to be able to use an XBONE?
Why would you pay twice as much for one on ebay when you could just go to your local supermarket or tech store?

 

[AngloDoom]

Weird assumptions in this thread:

- It's always right if you can get away with it
- Some people genuinely value their photographs of products at hundreds of pounds
- Nobody ever makes mistakes as a teenager
- Nobody matures with age or learns from their mistakes
- Aged four, you cannot use a gaming console
- US prices are the same as UK prices (I'm not even going to point out how tragic it is that the same people who are mocking the father for not properly reading the description didn't properly read the article. Oh, whoops.)
- When you become a parent, it is totally unacceptable to buy anything that isn't solely for child-rearing purposes.

Keep classy, Escapist.

I think he could make better use of his benefit money than spending $700 on a console 'for his kid' when his kid is far too young to even use it. This whole thing just screams "I'm an idiot".

Except you - your avatar is too hypnotic and oddly adorable for me to stay mad. Come here, you!

 

[camazotz]

First.....here's the deal about the scammer: he listed it in the console category apparently, and obviously it wassn't. If he was legit then it should have been in art, photos or something else. As a periodic seller on ebay I hate con artists like this because they make it harder for legit sellers like myself to sell our products when people are worried we're all going to "get them" on the fine print.

Second, it's impossible not to head-scratch about the guy who fell for this, too. I wonder if he asked for a refund on the Trojans when he was 15 and discovered you did not take them orally to insure protection?

 

[camazotz]

Weird assumptions in this thread:

- It's always right if you can get away with it
- Some people genuinely value their photographs of products at hundreds of pounds
- Nobody ever makes mistakes as a teenager
- Nobody matures with age or learns from their mistakes
- Aged four, you cannot use a gaming console
- US prices are the same as UK prices (I'm not even going to point out how tragic it is that the same people who are mocking the father for not properly reading the description didn't properly read the article. Oh, whoops.)
- When you become a parent, it is totally unacceptable to buy anything that isn't solely for child-rearing purposes.

Keep classy, Escapist.

I think he could make better use of his benefit money than spending $700 on a console 'for his kid' when his kid is far too young to even use it. This whole thing just screams "I'm an idiot".

Except you - your avatar is too hypnotic and oddly adorable for me to stay mad. Come here, you!

It is extremely rare when I see such wisdom and common sense in these forums. Kudos!

 

[camazotz]

How the heck is a four year-old kid going to be able to use an XBONE?
Why would you pay twice as much for one on ebay when you could just go to your local supermarket or tech store?

I don't know about your neck of the woods but around here it will be mid March before I can find one for sale. Most local retailers had far more preorders than stock on hand, and the backlog is astronomical.

As for four year old kids, my kid is 2 and he plays "The Pooyoos" on the PS3 just fine. It's probably not that noticeable to those without kids, but these consoles actually do have content aimed at young kids, families, learning and education. It's buried, yes....but it exists. And my kid can already navigate the PS3 menu well enough to play Pooyoo as well as load netflix to watch his Barney's and Thomas the Train shows. Welcome to the next gen...they're going to own our asses on the tech side, make today's current generation look like a bunch of luddites by comparison.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

What 19 year old with a 4 year old son can afford an Xbox One? I'm 26 with no dependant family and a good job but I can't afford that sort of cash!

Its called saving up. If you got a good job and no extra expenses such as loans to pay ect you should be able to save up money for it too. If you cant you should probably take a good luck at your expenses. Either that or your good job isnt paying very good.

OK, fair enough. I could have worded my post a little more thoughtfully. I have savings yeah, I'm not that hard up. By "good" job I meant it was steady and reliable, not that it pays particularly well, which it doesn't. I could afford an Xbox One right now if I really wished but it would be waste of my saved money and could be considered an irresponsible purchase. It's not a priority and sinking that much money into a single luxury purchase is just the sort of thing I have to think twice about now I have to pay my own way.

I will admit I have been given a taste of my own medicine. Such cruel irony, it's not nice to be judged online by people who know nothing about you. Bravo my good man, you humble me.