Son's eBay Account and PayPal

ianheidi on 02/11/2020 - 00:21

Hi, need advice. My son who is 10 opened an eBay account, apparently didn't need to provide his age, and sold a game (for $15) with payment to be sent to his email. How does he get the cash, considering that he is not old enough to open a PayPal account which would be linked to his email address?

We encourage him to be enterprising and self reliant and he opened the account, listed the item, and managed to sell it without any assistance from us. Now he doesn't seem able to get the cash.

Since he used his name and email address, it's a bit difficult to use my PayPal account at this stage.

Is there anyway he can get his money?

Thanks

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Comments

  • Boioioioi on 02/11/2020 - 00:27
    +2

    Congrats to your son making the sale! You try talking to ebay support?

  • thatonethere on 02/11/2020 - 00:29
    +2

    The first time sell on eBay your funds are held for a period of time (21 days). Will have to wait then.

    No point trying to cash out as all the fees will chew up the sale amount. Just spend it on something you can buy with PayPal.

    Then close the account as PayPal will potentially figure it out at some stage and freeze the account even years later.

  • ianheidi on 02/11/2020 - 00:31

    Would they talk to me, considering confidentiality issues and that personal information is involved? I mean, I can't talk to the bank about my wife's bank issues due to privacy legislation.

  • AustriaBargain on 02/11/2020 - 00:37
    +2

    Why doesn't he just spend it. Why bother transferring it back, order a Lego set or whatever using the $15 in PayPal he'll have, or you'll have if you set up a PayPal account linked to that email. Or whatever, just spend it anyway. You spend it and you give $15 cash to your kid, what difference does it make.

  • The Value on 02/11/2020 - 00:40
    +2

    Welcome to eBay.

    15% fees.
    Send the game as a large letter.
    Don't send it as a parcel unless you want to pay $8.95.

    • AustriaBargain on 02/11/2020 - 08:34
      +1

      I'd send it express with tracking just to avoid two weeks of "why hasn't it arrived yet" emails.

    • JimmyF on 02/11/2020 - 09:30
      +2

      Send the game as a large letter.

      Then watch out for the item not received claim……

      Always send items with TRACKING.

  • ibuy on 02/11/2020 - 00:54

    He can request that the funds be deposited to a bank account.

    Just message bank details to the buyer.

    If the buyer does not want to do this and insists on paypal you may need to link your paypal account to his ebay account. The other option is open a new paypal account in your name and attach it to the eBay account. The paypal account will need to refer to a different bank account and phone number. Note that with eBay and paypal fees the amount deducted can be as much as 16%.

    If the funds have been sent to his email then he will receive a note in his emails from paypal. You can setup an account under your name with his email. That way you will receive the funds and then need to withdraw to your bank account.

    It is possible to reject the payment but you should inform the buyer first and let then know to make a direct deposit to his bank account.

    Worst case scenario if they disagree you may need to cancel the sale.

  • pegaxs on 02/11/2020 - 08:17
    +5

    After eBay take their cut and PayPal take their cut and Aus post take their postage, I would be surprised if he isn’t in the red over the deal.

    • AustriaBargain on 02/11/2020 - 08:34

      Elon Musk was no dummy when he started PayPal.

    • toomuchdogfur on 02/11/2020 - 09:19

      $12.67 after eBay & PayPal fees.

      Less $9.20 for a prepaid AusPost regular satchel and you'll have $3.47. I really wouldn't recommend sending it as a letter of any type - you're just asking for trouble with an untracked, technically-breaching-conditions letter. AusPost won't give you the time of day if said letter is lost (or "lost") in transit.

      Good thing to be enterprising, but yeah get your son to run the numbers through an eBay fees calculator before selling next time!

      • plmko on 02/11/2020 - 09:33
        +2

        Risking it with a letter is worth the price when money is so immaterial in this case.

      • whooah1979 on 02/11/2020 - 11:18

        Sellers learning about losses early on is how the market shake out the weak hands.

      • Cuchavira on 02/11/2020 - 11:53
        +1

        You can get domestic letters with tracking. They are really good for sending small things on eBay. They start at $2.95 and move really quick in the mail.

        https://auspost.com.au/sending/send-within-australia/compare…

  • JimmyF on 02/11/2020 - 09:33
    +2

    How does he get the cash, considering that he is not old enough to open a PayPal account which would be linked to his email address?

    A Paypal account linked would have been required by ebay to list the item.

    and managed to sell it without any assistance from us. Now he doesn't seem able to get the cash.

    While it is great your son did this by himself, you really should be monitoring your 10 year old on the internet and not letting them do whatever they want.

    You'll have to get your son to show you their ebay account and see what they used as part of the payment section.

  • Ocker on 02/11/2020 - 10:03

    Today he sells a game, tomorrow the family car!

  • coxjon on 02/11/2020 - 11:17
    +1

    Mum, can I borrow some soap?

  • foxmulder on 02/11/2020 - 11:53

    Open a bank account for him then have the bank account link to paypal. Not sure if it's free for a small amount transfer, thus watch out for any fees.

    Or reuse the funds in paypal to repurchase supplies such as AusPost satchel or prepaid envelope with tracking or padded bags or boxes.

  • Drakesy on 02/11/2020 - 11:54
    +1

    I'd get him to start with gumtree/marketplace first, much harder to get scammed and you get cold hard cash with 0 fees.

  • bobbified on 02/11/2020 - 14:57

    My son who is 10 opened an eBay account…

    Since the account is currently in credit, might need to be careful when talking to eBay.
    I don't know what they'd actually do when they find out (they could possibly void the account!), but their policy states that members must be 18 years or over.

    I would find a way to get the money out first, before discussing with them any "future use" of the account, etc.

  • Jugganautx on 02/11/2020 - 22:00

    your son wont be receiving anything as the buyer won't be able to go through checkout if the seller does not have a paypal/debit card linked to the ebay account, unless it was cash in hand.

    • Quantumcat on 02/11/2020 - 22:57

      You don't have to have a PayPal account associated with an email to receive money to it. You just won't be able to do anything with the money until you create an account at that address.

  • realfancyman on 03/11/2020 - 20:13

    Can u send the money from his paypal to yours, then transfer out to bank account from your PayPal?

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