US kid goes on eBay shopping spree

Andrew Tyler didn't have the money to splash out on an antique bed neither did it bother him that he did not have a licence to drive the 1955 Ford convertible he went after.

But that did not stop the 13 year old US school boy from bidding more than $3 million on a variety of high price tag merchandise via the Internet auction house eBay.

Young Andrew managed to bag himself the bed and a 1971 red corvette amongst other items before his parents found out.

It is not a surprise that his parents saw red when eBay rang to discuss a $900,000 bid that had been made on 18 April and they found out what their son had been doing on the Internet.

EBay immediately withdrew Andrew's account and contact all the sellers to say that the bids were fictitious. Andrew's parents withdrew his Internet privileges.

When a bid is made for an item via eBay, payment and delivery is worked out between the winning bidder and the seller. eBay, however, maintains that it has a strict policy against anyone under 18 making bids. It still relies largely on an honour system and buyers and sellers actually reporting 'deadbeat' bids.

Andrew's parents believe that eBay and other auction houses should have a much tighter control preventing minors bidding and also warn parents.

Source: VNU Newswire