Ethics of buying from a kid

[coxfan]

At a University of South Carolina baseball game around mid-season, I saw that a middle-aged man had bought a HR ball, just hit by a gamecock, for $20. He bought it from a boy aged about 10 or 11. The boy's parents weren't around, as this occurred on the wrap-around concourse at the gamecocks' new stadium. People can walk around that concourse and see the game from any angle, including the outfield, so HR balls are readily caught out there.

Usually there's a gang of kids everywhere, so adults have little chance for balls hit on the concourse. But I wonder about the ethics of buying from a kid. Does he understand the true value of a potential life-long memory? Does he feel uncomfortable saying "no" to an adult?

The issue became more significant when the gamecocks won the College World Series with a spectacular NCAA run, though nobody could have predicted that at the time of this mid-season game. Opinions?

[Jules9]

He's probably the same guy that goes to Toys r us in the morning and runs to the Hot Wheels and Mcfarlane sections.

No reason to buy the ball from the kid. Christ.....it's just a ball.



On the other hand, the ball might be worth 5 bucks and the kid received more than he ever would have gotten if he tried to sell it later

[Chris78]

At 10-11 years old, if the kid really wanted the ball he would have said no to the adult. The ball is not worth $20 either so the adult is not ripping off the kid.

Chris

[sox83cubs84]

At least he gave the kid something of value. Back in the 1990s at Wrigley Field, one Ballhawk of the era used to hang buy the bullpen areas, as home runs that were thrown back were tossed to the closest bullpen once they were retrieved by the outfielder. This guy would run down and ask the kid excitedly to "see" his home run ball. The parents were almost always distracted by the game, cell phone calls, or whatever, so the kid would hand this Ballhawk his home run ball. The 'Hawk would examine it, but would use sleight of hand to pull a switch and give the kid a relatively worthless BP ball back instead of his home run. The guy once bragged to me about his switcheroos, and was proud that no kid had ever caught on to the deception. Pretty lame way to gyp a kid out of a home run ball.

Dave Miedema

[joelsabi]

This thread reminded me of when I used to set up at card shows and there was this dealer's kid that would go around and try to trade with other dealers. On more than one occassion, I saw the kid's dad go storming to the dealer that the kid traded with and demand the cards back. Us dealers use to say that it was really the dealer's cards but that another subject in itself.

I think legally you cannot trade with a minor and you can be forced to return the trade (money for goods and vice versa). I know of some dealers who at least ask the kid if he get his dad's permission before pawning off his unwanted cards. Personally, I told the kid no thanks for his offer to trade.

In your example, personally I think its unethical for the transaction to occur. To me, whether he got fair value is the transaction is not the point. It's the behavior of an adult who feels its acceptable to negotiate with a kid that is wrong. I think the best thing for the man to do is to ask the parent first before asking the child. I can see this being a difficult and uncomfortable situation for a kid. I would be upset with any man who offered money to my kid without my knowledge.

[cliffjmp33]

Not sure what to make of it all. Only thing I can hope for is that the older gentleman was buying the ball because it was his son who hit the HR.

[legaleagle92481]

Well how about on here? There are some minors on here as we saw in that post that time asking for everyone's age. I think we have a few in the 12-15 range. Would you sell them something or buy something from them from the classifieds on here?

[cincy13]

I usually ask the kid I'm doing business with, where their parent or guardian is, if I'm dealing in anything above 20 dollars. I will ask the adult in charge if the transaction is "ok". We don't ignore kids, they are our future in collecting, we treat them with respect. We just want to make sure their guardians are "ok" with the transaction. Knock on wood, we have never had a problem, in fact, we have some long time buyers because of our policy.

[gorilla777]

Well how about on here? There are some minors on here as we saw in that post that time asking for everyone's age. I think we have a few in the 12-15 range. Would you sell them something or buy something from them from the classifieds on here?

No, I would not buy or sell to/from one of the kiddies. It is hard enough to have deals go professionally with the adults at times.

[joelsabi]

Well how about on here? There are some minors on here as we saw in that post that time asking for everyone's age. I think we have a few in the 12-15 range. Would you sell them something or buy something from them from the classifieds on here?

Personally I would not feel comfortable. I do not have anything against a kid starting a game used collection and think it is great. I wish it was available to me at that young of an age. But I think in the end there are just too many possible scenarios where the transaction goes bad and the parent will run interference on their behalf. I do not want to be placed in a position where someone can claim that I have taken advantage of a minor in any shape or form. I pretty much know based on someone's posts and interaction on the forum whether they are an adult and possess a credit card to complete a transaction. Besides there is always the possibilty of completing a transaction with the parent but I would need to speak to the parent on the phone before I would consider it.