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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To get cross about bloody Prime?

77 replies

imagemini · 27/02/2023 08:34

DS asked me for a fiver this morning so he could pay for the bottle of Prime that his friend bought him last week. His friend bought it In Sainsburys, so it cost two quid. He wanted to make £3 profit!!!
I told DS he was an idiot for agreeing and that he friend was being an unreasonable sod for charging him that. He's taken £2.50 and told his friend I won't let him pay more for it. (I know the friend and his mum very well)

DS is a confident kid so if he friend gets huffy about this he'll deal with it. But FFS! DS asked me what I'd think of it was the other way around and he'd been the one expecting to by paid a fiver but wasn't. I know he's a teenage boy and they can be pretty stupid but come on, you really need to ask? If I found out he was trying to get 150% profit out of his friends I'd be furious!!!

Not sure if my AIBU is to be incredulous that kids are selling a soft drink on the bloody black market, that I can't believe DS was so silly to agree to this, or to think that the people (yes KSI, you) who make the bloody thing should be ashamed of themselves and their limited stock?!

OP posts:
Gwen82 · 27/02/2023 10:12

Were you actually “bloody furious” with him OP?

AllOfThemWitches · 27/02/2023 10:16

Gwen82 · 27/02/2023 10:10

The idea of calling my son an idiot and being cross with him over capitalism and something I do every day… pay for someone or pay someone who will be making a profit from me… is alien to me!

Oh don't be silly, where do you draw the line? If you smoke and your 13yo started smoking, you wouldn't be cross and think it was stupid?

Gwen82 · 27/02/2023 10:19

AllOfThemWitches · 27/02/2023 10:16

Oh don't be silly, where do you draw the line? If you smoke and your 13yo started smoking, you wouldn't be cross and think it was stupid?

Show quote history

Oh what a daft analogy!

Comparing this with smoking an addictive substance that is proven to be a strong contributory indeed causal factor in a multitude of cancers and other very serious diseases 😂

Gwen82 · 27/02/2023 10:20

oh and illegal for a 13 year old to be sold You odd bod! 😂

AllOfThemWitches · 27/02/2023 10:21

Gwen82 · 27/02/2023 10:19

Oh what a daft analogy!

Comparing this with smoking an addictive substance that is proven to be a strong contributory indeed causal factor in a multitude of cancers and other very serious diseases 😂

Show quote history

Well, the point really was, you're saying 'how could I cross with my kid for doing something I do every day?' Except you're an adult. And it's not ok to promise your mate your mum's money before checking.

Gwen82 · 27/02/2023 10:22

AllOfThemWitches · 27/02/2023 10:21

Well, the point really was, you're saying 'how could I cross with my kid for doing something I do every day?' Except you're an adult. And it's not ok to promise your mate your mum's money before checking.

Show quote history

Yes and that something I do every day is

legal
not a cause of a multitude of very serious diseases

😂

Ducksurprise · 27/02/2023 10:24

Honestly don't feel bad, parenting is a bloody minefield. The asking for people's thoughts, and then reflecting on your response is imo the best approach at parenting, especially if you then change your mind and admit to your kids that you have.

I've made loads of mistakes, even more when caught on the hop like you were this morning. I've asked loads of questions on here, and reading the replies has made me, I think anyway, a better parent. Still get it wrong and I'm on my second set of children, I have adults DC as well as teens (and younger)

FoxInSocksSatOnBlocks · 27/02/2023 10:24

YABVU. He agreed to pay a price, he should honour that.

You need to not interfere.

AllOfThemWitches · 27/02/2023 10:25

FoxInSocksSatOnBlocks · 27/02/2023 10:24

YABVU. He agreed to pay a price, he should honour that.

You need to not interfere.

She shouldn't have to be the one paying though 🤣 lesson learned for the young man.

LakeTiticaca · 27/02/2023 10:26

They are £2.50 a throw in sainsbury's so maybe your son could use his initiative and go buy his own. I used to sell my packed lunch sandwiches at school for a penny each then buy a single cigarette for 10p at the local shop 😉
Fear not, the craze will be over soon enough and then it will be gormless parents paying 1000 quid for something else that costs £50, cos all their little darlings are desperate to have the latest "thing"

BarbaraofSeville · 27/02/2023 10:28

If he doesn't already have it, it sounds like it's the time for your DS to have a fixed amount of pocket money, on a 'when it's gone, it's gone' basis. Agree what pocket money should cover and leave him to it.

Then if he spends a fiver on a single bottle of Prime then asks for more money for something he could have been able to buy then you say no and he does without, and he works out for himself how to make choices about how he wants to use his money.

Gwen82 · 27/02/2023 10:30

imagemini · 27/02/2023 08:53

Hmmm i don't really agree with this comment I'm afraid! Don't really have much choice but to buy stuff from shops as we live in a capitalist society not a communist one.
If a kid was buying multipacks of Mars bars then selling them at full price I guess I'd see it as enterprising. But 5 quid for something that cost 2 quid is just not on.
Maybe it's because I'm not a teen and just do not get the Prime thing at all...

Show quote history

Sainsbury’s would have paid no where near £2.50 per bottle

So you also think fundamentally wrong Sainsbury’s sold to your son’s friend for £2.50?

Drfosters · 27/02/2023 10:32

my son has bought 3 bottles at the local shop at £8 a time! He asked me, I told him it was his money. He knows it a farce but he wanted to try it so I said it was his money (and actually he barely spends any of his pocket money) so he did it. 2 he thought were awful but the third was ok. Curiosity satisfied. I’d have been thrilled if he could have got it for a fiver! Honestly I wouldn’t have been bothered if his mate had made £3. He could have made a lot more.

AllOfThemWitches · 27/02/2023 10:34

NOBODY can be drinking these and thinking 'that was worth £8!'

Original poster
imagemini · 27/02/2023 10:34

Ducksurprise · 27/02/2023 10:24

Honestly don't feel bad, parenting is a bloody minefield. The asking for people's thoughts, and then reflecting on your response is imo the best approach at parenting, especially if you then change your mind and admit to your kids that you have.

I've made loads of mistakes, even more when caught on the hop like you were this morning. I've asked loads of questions on here, and reading the replies has made me, I think anyway, a better parent. Still get it wrong and I'm on my second set of children, I have adults DC as well as teens (and younger)

Thanks Smile. I will be speaking to DS. I'm lucky at the moment that he's still very open and honest with me so I want to keep that going as long as his hormones allow...

OP posts:
drinkingcream · 27/02/2023 10:36

What is prime? I thought the post was about Amazon and I came in to have a rant as I've been experiencing problems with their delivery!!

DysmalRadius · 27/02/2023 10:45

I agree that the best thing to do in this situation is to tell your son exactly what you've written here: that you were annoyed when he woke you up and that you're a bit disappointed that his friend is trying to make so much money off him, but that actually you trust him to spend his own money and that just because you don't think something is worth the money doesn't mean he has to agree.

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 27/02/2023 10:57

I would give him the money once he has sat down with you and looked into marketing, persuasion and capitalism. Get him to specifically look at Prime as a company and consider the ethics of the company. It will not hurt his friend to wait a few days and learn not to sell something to someone on credit. I used to discuss this with my dc when we heard the ice cream van and they saw that a certain ice lolly was £1 from the van but 4 for £1 in the supermarket. It helps them to be more cautious as consumers.

JemimaTiggywinkles · 27/02/2023 11:02

I think you are right to be horrified and wouldn't be at all happy. This behaviour is no different to ticket touts, and I can't abide them either.

MirabelMax · 27/02/2023 11:03

I don't think you've done anything particularly wrong seen as it's your money he's spending. If it was his own pocket money I'd let him know my thoughts but ultimately let him spend it how he wishes.
Before he agreed to give his mate a fiver for something, he should has asked if you'd even give him a fiver in the first place.

RainbowsTulipsChocolate · 27/02/2023 11:05

Jeez what happened to buying your friends a drink because it’s a nice thing to do? Charging them for profit 😂 get your son doing the same thing 😇

Sharpbridge · 27/02/2023 11:07

Ducksurprise · 27/02/2023 09:38

I also think you are wrong. He is a teenager so able to make his own decisions and failings without mummy laying down the law. This should have been a learning opportunity, and £3 for that is worth it.

Plus limited amount sales per person, the kid would have queued, paid up front, and delivered it to your kid. I think it is enterprising and worth £3

This.

MirabelMax · 27/02/2023 11:25

If he needs to ask mummy for the money then mummy gets to decide how much she's willing to pay.

JemimaTiggywinkles · 27/02/2023 11:44

He is a teenager so able to make his own decisions and failings without mummy laying down the law.

Not if it is mummy's money! And surely most teenagers still need quite a lot of guidance about managing friendships and how they should treat others / expect to be treated? Any "friend" trying to make a quick buck from me wouldn't be friend anymore.

Drfosters · 27/02/2023 11:44

AllOfThemWitches · 27/02/2023 10:34

NOBODY can be drinking these and thinking 'that was worth £8!'

They really aren’t. But even though my son spent £8 a bottle and disliked it, he didn’t regret the purchase as he felt he has tried them and got to see what the fuss was about. He won’t be buying those flavours again but he might try and get other flavours (cheaper hopefully!). To him it was worth it.