# Regarding proof of age.



## Bir (Apr 23, 2011)

How am I supposed to know if a person is 18 or not when selling something?

: /


Or at least, what should I do to prevent me from getting in trouble by some young'ns parents?


----------



## Garfang (Apr 23, 2011)

hm.. indeed that's a bit of a problem .. didn't know that could happen. Did it happen to you before ? i don't know if there is a way to you to know :/


----------



## Recel (Apr 23, 2011)

Leave it to them to decide.

And if you have a rageing mother in your inbox, wich im guesing you do, than tell her that you cant do much more than to trust the person that he/she is telling the truth and is past 18.

Nothing else I can think of.


----------



## Monster. (Apr 23, 2011)

It's definitely a risk you have to take. Unless they're willing to photocopy their ID and birth certificate (which I _highly_ doubt anyone would do) to prove they're of age, you're just going to have to trust your gut instinct that the person you're talking to is really legal.


----------



## Taralack (Apr 23, 2011)

Hmm, interesting situation. Hasn't happened to me, but there has to be an element of trust between you and the commissioner. 

I guess a surefire way to tell would be if they're typing like an immature 12 year old, but it might still be hard to tell. :V


----------



## IsabellaPrice (Apr 23, 2011)

I ran into a huge problem with this last year. I got a fursuit commission from someone who saw one of my suits on eBay. I told them they needed to send half of the payment up front and half when I'm done, but they absolutely insisted on sending the full amount up front. I made the mistake of accepting the full amount and I ordered $160 worth of materials for the suit. 

Then that night I received an email from the person asking for a refund. I told them I wouldn't be able to refund the cost of materials since they'd already been ordered and shortly after I received a reply. It was from a lady who explained to me that her mentally challenged UNDERAGED daughter had stolen her credit card and paid me for the suit and that I would need to refund her immediately or I would face legal action. But I had just transferred the money to my bank account, which takes 3-4 days. And I spent the $160 and didn't have the money to replace it.

The lady was furious that I couldn't refund it right away because they needed the money for hospital bills. I couldn't do anything about it. I told her I'd have to wait until the money goes through and send it back to her. My friend agreed to pay the $160 and I later paid him back. When the money finally did go through I sent it to her and it sent as an e-check, which took over a week to clear. This lady called me every morning at like 4-5 freaking am and ignored me when I told her she needed to stop waking me up and that I couldn't do anything about it.

It was a huge nightmare. I still don't know how to verify someone's age, though. :\

/horror story


----------



## Zydala (Apr 23, 2011)

What's the item being sold and in what manner?

I think a possible way to cover it would be to have in your TOS that, if they commission you or purchase something (like a certain kind of item), that they're basically agreeing that they're 18 or over unless the commissioner/purchaser states otherwise - other sites have that as well because the way to confirm your age online is close to non-existent. I think it depends on the situation though.


----------



## myxini (Apr 23, 2011)

my only thought would be to have them fill out and send you a statement saying that they are of age, and maybe that they are paying with money that rightfully belongs to them. Probably not going to deter someone who REALLY wants to get it regardless of age, but it's a bit of a CYA in case an angry parent decides to try to sue you or something... puts the fault more on the person who lied than on you. not that you'd probably get to keep the money in that case, but they'd maybe be a little more reasonable if you show that you did what you could to prevent underage buying.


----------



## Bir (Apr 23, 2011)

Nope, I haven't run into the problem, thank goodness. I just don't want to end up running into it, you know?  xD

I'll just add that to my list of TOS, then. Thanks, everyone. : 3


----------



## Taralack (Apr 23, 2011)

Zydala said:


> What's the item being sold and in what manner?
> 
> I think a possible way to cover it would be to have in your TOS that, if they commission you or purchase something (like a certain kind of item), that they're basically agreeing that they're 18 or over unless the commissioner/purchaser states otherwise - other sites have that as well because the way to confirm your age online is close to non-existent. I think it depends on the situation though.


 
That's actually a good idea, I'll have to remember to do this.


----------

