CrunchGear

A big shocker from the NYT over this weekend. Did you know that your teenager could be actively engaging in selling electronic goods via Craigslist? That’s right. Your son or daughter could be selling those gadgets you got him for Christmas or Hanukah last year for top dollar. The Times goes on to point out the epic story of one Greg Stoft, an 18-year old who wanted a $45 skateboard. As the only unemployed 18-year old in the city of Fremont, CA he decided to sell his old 4GB iPod Nano on Craigslist for money to buy the skateboard with. He put an ad up on Craigslist, sold it for $70, and considered it a win.

Still with us? I know: exciting stuff, right?

Further in the article, the author points out that most teenagers are just sitting on top of a gold mine of used electronics, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. Mmmhmmm. Looking back at my friends in high school, I really don’t remember any of us having a ton of crap to sell. In fact, there’s an incredibly high demand for cheap, used gadgets, but no supply.

However, the article does point out one good fact: dealing with people over the Internet can be unsafe. Craigslist is full of perverts, rapists, and scammers and the same goes for sites like MySpace.com and eBay. No child under the age of 18 should be dealing with Craigslist at all, period. But cash is king and as long as there’s a kid who wants another kid’s PSP, someone will always find a way to exploit that.

For Sale by Teenager: Lightly USed Gadget. Cheap. [NYT]