Question for any other CAG parents

[y2jedi]

My 8 year old son is trying to come up with a plan to raise $150.00 for a DS and Mario 64 DS. He is doing several extra chores around the house and in 4 weeks he has made it up to $25. He has put his thinking cap on and is now contemplating trading in some of his NGC and GBA stuff @ EB. I know he won't get near the value for his stuff trading in @ EB and he would be selling his stuff on eBay.

So, the question is:
Is introducing my 8 year old to becoming an eBay entrepreneur a good or bad idea?

P.S. I also told him about the upcoming DS lite. Has anyone seen any actual pictures/scans that I could show him ? That might keep him grounded for awhile and I could get a few more months work out of him.

[encendido5]

I'm not a parent, but you can also try trading on the trading forum here. There are several people selling or trading their DS and you could possibly have what they're looking for. You can also post a list of what your son has and I'm sure people here will give you an estimate of what it's worth.

As for DS Lite pictures, you can check out this thread:

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84345

[The Successful Dropout]

also, check the ad threads in the deal forums....you can get the DS with Mario for $129.99 i believe at Target this week and i think somewhere next week

[soonersfan60]

I have an 11 year old son, and I have sold things for him on eBay and told him about it and given him the money, but I would not let him sell on eBay because I am sure he would find more things to buy than sell.


Dane.

[WebScud]

I'm not a parent, but I think step one would be to not let him trade/sell in anything good. ;)

Here's a thread I created: Acutal DS vs DS Lite Images (No Mock-Ups!) (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85160). Hopefully that will help him wait.

[y2jedi]

Thanks for the help gang.
I knew my fellow Cag'ers would step up to the plate.
I'll get his list together tonight and post it later.
He is 8, so I'm sure all of the Pokemon stuff is still sacred.

[pimpinc333]

If anything Don't let him trade them in a EB. Maybe if you were to make a Salelist here on CAG some of us CAG's would probably buy some things off of him. I would be interested in some GBA stuff for my 8 year old nephew. Just an Idea instead of going the Ebay route.

[javeryh]

I have an 11 year old son, and I have sold things for him on eBay and told him about it and given him the money, but I would not let him sell on eBay because I am sure he would find more things to buy than sell.


Dane.

I think this is about the best advice you can get. There's no way I would allow my kid to freely buy and sell on eBay. At most I might let her view the progress on her auctions once a day or something but never give her any passwords or anything that could lead to trouble.

[js1]

why don't you your self sell it on ebay for him. I did that for my two of my nephews . and just took some of the money to cover fees.

[y2jedi]

Oh yeah,
That's what I was planning on doing. I was just wondering if it was a good idea to clue him in on the process. Y'know, how the bids work and so on. Or if I should just tell him they are listed and tell him what they sold for.
But, I'm going to get his list tonight and post it here.

I stumbled on this site a few weeks back and this is by far the most feedback I've seen on anything I posted. Nice to see I'm not alone in my "Gaming for the Kiddos".

[Wlogan31]

Welcome to CAG! I'm in Louisville, KY so if there is anything interesting on your son's list, maybe I can meet ya somewhere to buy them (although I'm 21 and my tastes are probably a little different than his :)). Good luck selling them here, or on Ebay, but as was said before DO NOT TRADE THEM IN TO EB.

[AlanSaysYo]

I think guiding him through Ebay would be a great learning experience, and selling there would likely get you more than if you sold here. Since he's not actually a CAG and really doesn't have any connection to the community here, I'd have him used Ebay to make more money.

[schuerm26]

I agree with the above post. More money for him means quick access to a DS. He's 8 so that would probably make him very happy.

[browneyedgal68]

I see doing ebay no different than doing a paper route or what not. You'd still need to know the process, whatever job there is. We sell on ebay as a part time business, and I've often talked about in a couple years when our son is 7 or 8 (reading age) he'll be able to work stuffing envelopes for shipping. Hey, it's the family business.

[Mr Unoriginal]

I don't have children, so I may be way off base, but can an 8 year old fully understand what it means to sell their games and never get them back? Seems to me that there is a good chance that he will think this is a quick easy way to make money and will end up being dissapointed in the end.

[soonersfan60]

I don't have children, so I may be way off base, but can an 8 year old fully understand what it means to sell their games and never get them back? Seems to me that there is a good chance that he will think this is a quick easy way to make money and will end up being dissapointed in the end.

That's not only a problem that 8 year old's have... :razz:

Dane.

[Chacrana]

My 8 year old son is trying to come up with a plan to raise $150.00 for a DS and Mario 64 DS. He is doing several extra chores around the house and in 4 weeks he has made it up to $25. He has put his thinking cap on and is now contemplating trading in some of his NGC and GBA stuff @ EB. I know he won't get near the value for his stuff trading in @ EB and he would be selling his stuff on eBay.

So, the question is:
Is introducing my 8 year old to becoming an eBay entrepreneur a good or bad idea?

P.S. I also told him about the upcoming DS lite. Has anyone seen any actual pictures/scans that I could show him ? That might keep him grounded for awhile and I could get a few more months work out of him.

Introducing your son to Ebay isn't a bad idea, but you'd obviously absolutely have to do some handholding. I honestly wouldn't even consider giving that much responsibility to somebody who's only 8. But yeah, for making money, it's great.