Presents For Bad Kids Head To eBay, Rather Than Kids
from the how-nice... dept
Well, normally, people wait until after they've received presents to dump them on eBay. However, one father who felt his three sons were being particularly bad lately decided that to punish them he's putting their presents up for sale on eBay. To be honest, this sounds like a bit of a publicity stunt -- and it seems likely that, now that this is getting attention, that casino that seems to be buying every random quirky auction item will snap this one up. Update: Whoops. It's apparently already happened. Indeed, the casino in question has decided to buy the undelivered presents. This is sort of an update on our story last year about how sellers were increasingly looking to use eBay as a publicity generating tool. It appears that's now being used by buyers to generate publicity, as well.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Next
Phase 2: Buy items on eBay for PR value.
New Business Model: Come up with some original, quirky, offbeat items to sell on eBay, then generate publicity so that the phase 2 buyers will want to pay you thousands of dollars over the actual value for the privilege of buying it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I think I know what the problem is
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Get A Grip
First, how is this a publicity stunt for the father? What kind of publicity is he hoping to gain from this? The buyer may be trying for publicity, but I'll take the dad at his word until somebody else proves otherwise.
Also, I saw a news report that said people were accusing the father of child abuse. Sounds like great publicity, eh?
Those fools claiming child abuse are more people who need to get a grip. Since when is not giving somebody a present abuse?
In an interview, the father said that he was still giving the children other presents, just not their biggest presents (the Nintendo DS and games).
Second, as to Beck's claims, how are Nintendo DS game systems "quirky"? I agree that the grilled cheese auction was certainly bizarre, but you should have posted about that there. This doesn't seem to fit your "new business model".
Finally, as to Sean Kerr's claim that $700 was too much to spend on presents for three kids, step into the 21st Century. That $700 was for three Nintendo DS systems and three games (per system, I believe). At $150 per DS and say $40 per game, that's $270 per child. That doesn't sound like they were "buying them everything they could ever want".
I bought my 13-year-old daughter a $200 electric guitar package plus a lesson book and guitar stand. Are you claiming that I'm now a "problem parent". Get a grip, Scrooge.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Get A Grip
It's not the Nintendo, it's the auction content, the way he went about selling the stuff on eBay. Writing about how he's selling the gifts because the kids misbehaved. It's like the guy who sold the wedding dress by wearing it for the photo. Lots of wedding dresses are sold on eBay, but not by having some guy with a beard and tattoos model it. That auction for a dress generated lots of publicity and the dress sold for a lot of money. So I absolutely should have posted here.
You could have bought your daughter a rock star Barbie for $10.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Get A Grip
The point is not whether children should have expensive presents, but whether they deserve/need them. It seems that half of the children I meet have fifteen-item thousand-dollar Christmas lists and expect everything on the list whether their behavior is good, bad or indifferent. Way back in the old days good children got a gift (yes, one) and bad ones got coal. It did not traumatize them or stunt their emotional growth - it taught them that some things are earned not given.
Also, there is a big difference in my mind between a musical instrument (which requires work and patience to master) and a game console (which has few minor dubious benefits besides "keeping them quiet").
Just my $0.0125 after taxes.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Get A Grip
> bizarre, but you should have posted about that there.
> This doesn't seem to fit your "new business model".
I am not so sure, I guess beauty is in the eye of the cheese-holder!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Barbie?
Regarding the story, so what if he described why he's selling the stuff? Lots of people do that, but it doesn't make the items "original", "quirky" or "offbeat", as your post mentioned.
I suppose the description could have been designed to garner extra attention for the auction (which it obviously did), but, again, so what? Isn't the idea of advertising to generate a buzz so people want to buy your product? That casino is paying $5300 for the Nintendos, which will pay for a new heater at the family's church, and the game systems will be donated to needy children. How horrible!
As for buying my daughter a Barbie, did you miss that I said she was 13? She's way past Barbies. And exactly how would a doll encourage her musical talent?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Barbie?
The fact that $700 was spent for Christmas isn't the problem. If you'd read a bit closer, you'll notice I said '$700 in video games'. And people wonder why their kids are slobs and don't go out and play sports or exercise. I could care less how much you spend on your kids, but putting $700 into video games is a bit excessive.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Video Game Expenses
Regarding the price, the Nintendo DS itself costs $150, and I think games are about $40. One Nintendo DS and two games per child is $230. Multiply that by three and we get $690, pretty close to the $700 mark. Is a game console and two games really excessive?
As for getting exercise and having kids that are slobs, do you know what the other presents the father bought were? If not, why are you criticizing the parents? The guitar I bought for my daughter won't get her playing sports or exercising, will it? Does that mean it's a "bad" present?
Finally, your comment about not caring about how much people spend on their kids is belied by your previous statement asking "how can children learn to appreciate what they have if you're buying them everything they could ever want?" Claiming you now just care how much people spend on video games for their children seems contradictory.
P.S. Just for future reference, the correct phrase is "I couldn't care less"; "I could care less" implies you do care somewhat.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
eBay Auction with a bloggers twist
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ooh burn...sort of
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You are all wrong!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: You are all wrong!
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it"
(nice quote)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]