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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To SELL my phone to my son?

58 replies

Latte81 · 01/05/2011 10:38

I bought a San Fransisco phone and it cost me £100. I've looked after it so it's still in new condition - my son has always loved it and really wants one. So anyway I've only had it since christmas but I'm fed up of it and am going to by a HTC Wildfire. Son asked if he could have the San Fran but aibu to sell it to him for £40 so I can put the money towards my new phone? They're still selling for £70 second hand so it is a massive discounted price! lol I think he see's it as being a bit tight as Im his mum!

OP posts:
Zippylovesgeorge · 01/05/2011 11:17

I think its good to let kids learn the value of stuff.

My eldest always saves hard for things he wants - tv, consoles, lappie - he then appreciates them when he has them.

My niece the same age gets given these as pressies from her parents -hence every time a new thing comes out she wants it and just throws the old one away. She has no concept of value and always expects huge pressies from her family - sadly we don't do 'huge' pressies and she gets arsey about that - tough!!

BTW they are both 15.

Bogeyface · 01/05/2011 11:22

To those who thinks its tight and mean to expect him to stump up.....I cant wait to see your posts in a few years about your kids sense of entitlement!

"DS thinks we should give him our old car instead of trading it in............"

where do you stop?!

nancy75 · 01/05/2011 11:26

Bogeyface thats rubbish, as I have said my parents have never sod anything to me, if they had a phone they didn't want they would give it to me if i wanted it. Neither I or my brother have a sense of entiltlement, we both know the value of money and have both always worked.

Bogeyface · 01/05/2011 11:29

Ok nancy, but the OP has said that she could get £70 by trading it in for her new one, so it isnt as if it would be just lying in a drawer doing nothing. I have no problem giving away stuff that I would otherwise chuck away or just store "just in case". By "selling" it to her DS she is actually losing money on the deal. So she is doing him a favour by allowing him to have a phone he would otherwise not be able to afford and she still gets a bit towards her new phone. She is hardly profitting from him is she?

IloveJudgeJudy · 01/05/2011 11:50

I think you should sell it to him, for real money, though, not by making him do chores, or you could do a mixture of both, but I think he does have to hand over actual cash.

I agree that if the dC have to pay for things they tend to take much more care of them than if they're given them. We're quite hardline in this house, though, through not having much money. It's not as if you're selling it to him at market value, you are giving him a huge discount. If he hasn't got enough money to buy it, then that's a lesson in itself.

icooksocks · 01/05/2011 12:22

I don't think it does any harm for children to learn the value of things. I don't think YABU

colditz · 01/05/2011 12:27

He gets £5 pocket money per week - so for 16 weeks you could knock it down to £2.50 and let him have the phone OR he could keep his £5 per week and 'work' it off.

The Op's son already has a funtional mobile phone, to just hand a 12 year old a phone worth £70 trade in is the first step on the quickest route to having a very spoilt, self-entitled teenager.

I agree with you OP, sell it to him discounted, don't give it to him.

feedthegoat · 01/05/2011 12:32

YANBU.

My dad did this with me when I was about 8 or 9 and wanted an unused portable tv for my bedroom. He made me pay 4 weeks pocket money for it. I was outraged at the time obviously Wink but now realise what an important lesson he was teaching me.

welshbyrd · 01/05/2011 13:24

I would not charge my child for an old fone I no longer wanted

Two sentences you have typed

1st)
"DS was bought a mobile phone for christmas the year he started secondary school. Why would he need another one unless he'd broken or lost it? in that case, yeah I'd expect him to buy his own! if it really was that desperate you can get phones for £10 now - or is it a neccessity to have smart phones too?"

2nd)
" So anyway I've only had it since christmas but I'm fed up of it and am going to by a HTC Wildfire."

OP, pot-kettle-black?

welshbyrd · 01/05/2011 13:32

colditz,
" The Op's son already has a funtional mobile phone, to just hand a 12 year old a phone worth £70 trade in is the first step on the quickest route to having a very spoilt, self-entitled teenager."

The OP has also got a fully functional phone,hers is barely a few months old, if OP son had his phone xmas before last, at risk of accusing anyone here, but would that not make OP "a very spoilt, self-entitled mum?"

what is the OP teaching her son?

Bogeyface · 01/05/2011 13:32

The OP earns her own money Welsh, and can spend it how she likes. Her DS however has these things bought for him and therefore if he wants an upgrade, why the hell shouldnt he contribute to the cost?!

She isnt expecting her son to provide her with a brand new phone just because she wants one, why is it ok for him to expect her to do that for him? He has pocket money, and thats what pocket money is for, to spend on the extras that he wants that his parents dont provide.

TrinityRhino · 01/05/2011 13:57

fabby you can buy a working mobile phone for 10 pounds if you ever actually think that a 12 year old NEEDS a phone....which they dont

if he wants a posh one then he should earn it/pay for it etc

'mobile phone a neccessity' PAH HA HA H HA HAAA

caughtinanet · 01/05/2011 14:12

I don't think its unreasonable at all, why shouldn't he pay? If he wanted to buy a phone from anywhere else he'd have to pay for it.

Trinity - I half agree with you that a 12 year old doesn't need a phone but it can be really useful in some circumstances and it certainly gives me peace of mind if my DCs are out on their own that they can contact me in an emergency I can remind them to come home to eat

unsurevalentine · 01/05/2011 14:15

I read the title as "to sell my son" Grin

And YANBU - good lesson to learn.

zukiecat · 01/05/2011 14:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TrinityRhino · 01/05/2011 15:15

zukiecat - I think we can all see why you hate that phrase so much Grin

ThePrincessRoyalFiggyrolls · 01/05/2011 15:15

So zukie does that apply to selling a house and buying a new one to accomodate your growing family? Or a car? or any other immense personal purchase? Because effectively this little boy wants something better than he already has.

zukiecat · 01/05/2011 15:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TrinityRhino · 01/05/2011 15:31

well you must be such a happy cheery person to be around

your own mum wouldn't give you her old telly?

fair enough she may need the money...ooops no, she just chucks it in the skip

niiiiiiiice Hmm

zukiecat · 01/05/2011 15:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

icooksocks · 01/05/2011 15:33

You'd give your old car away? Your are as daft as your posts make you look.

zukiecat · 01/05/2011 15:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TrinityRhino · 01/05/2011 15:37

icooksocks, glad I'm not the only one who thinks that

TrinityRhino · 01/05/2011 15:38

you must have a lot of anger and your mum sounds horrid

zukiecat · 01/05/2011 15:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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