Aussie Parents Try to Sell Son on Gumtree Ad

A Darwin parent put their child up for sale for $50 in an advertisement on Gumtree.

The post, “Kid for sale fifty bucks”, was listed on Saturday night along with a photograph of the boy, NT News reports.

“Can deliver/ drop off. Or pick up,” the post read.

The post, listed under the ‘outdoor toys’ category, also reportedly included a pick-up address.

The listing clearly violates Gumtree Australia’s terms of use, which says “we do not accept ads selling body parts/bodily fluids, adoption or surrogacy anywhere on the site”.

The post has since been removed.

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24 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 09 May 2023
    11:41 am
im thinking this was just a joke. probably from a very frustrated parent.

- - mom101628 said
  - 03 Oct 2019
    10:16 pm
I hope this was a joke – but definitely the authorities should be looking into this and ascertaining the extent of possible neglect to the child.

- - ella12 said
  - 31 Jul 2019
    12:39 pm
Joke or not, that is absolutely disgusting.

- - Blossom said
  - 19 Jul 2019
    6:22 pm
Even if it was April Fools Day the parents should be taken to court for this. Obviously the ad had a photo of the boy.

- - mom129591 said
  - 15 Jul 2019
    7:31 pm
Although its funny, it reminded me there is child trafficking in this world so the humour is a little ying/yang!

- - MisChip said
  - 12 Jul 2019
    12:52 am
Definitely just a joke!! …..??

- - tessie said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    3:08 pm
If this is true I hope the child gets taken away from his family and gets to live with another family who will give him the love he deserves. Even if it was just done to teach this child a lesson, they don’t deserve him.

- - mom19782016 said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    2:49 pm
Surely this was just a poor joke?

- - sars_angelchik said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    10:55 am
That’s horrible!

- - mom83217 said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    9:17 am
I certainly hope that these parents are charged and/or jailed. So angry right now. !

- - rovermum said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    9:00 am
Was this some kind of joke or threat to a child to make them behave better??

- - musicmum said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    2:43 am
Were the parents on drugs or something? Poor kid, maybe it was used as some sort of punishment, I am glad Gumtree acted quickly.

- - mom94898 said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    9:40 pm
I hope the police & children services are looking into this family

- - DaffyD said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    11:26 am
I can’t believe any parents would do this as its not funny in anyway, hopefully the child never knew they did this as I’m sure they would question their love for him

- - serotonin said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    1:16 am
Surely a joke, especially for $50. Poor kid, hopefully he was made up and not a real person with heartless parent/s.

- - nadine_hill said
  - 09 Jul 2019
    10:50 am
Surely this would have been put up as a joke …. but totally and utterly sick all the same!

- - Gurtling said
  - 09 Jul 2019
    7:54 am
I was 8 when I put my little brother on eBay… as a JOKE though!

- - Ellen said
  - 09 Jul 2019
    6:45 am
What sadness !

- - mom265671 said
  - 08 Jul 2019
    10:38 pm
Sickening to see this happen

- - mom264171 said
  - 08 Jul 2019
    7:59 pm
Wow, I hope this was a joke.