SASKATOON -- A Saskatoon boy says he was robbed on Monday while meeting a buyer for a pair of wireless headphones.
Thomas Ballantyne, 10, was attempting to trade his way from a paperclip to a PlayStation 5 – his version of the paperclip challenge, in which a person starts with a paperclip and trades up to a goal of their choosing.
He was inspired by a Warman man who traded up to two of the video game consoles in a matter of weeks.
Ballantyne started with a paperclip and in less than a week he secured a pair of wireless headphones.
When he agreed to meet a potential buyer for them, things went south quickly, he said.
“He came to the door. He was going to transfer my mom the money for the AirPods and then he said ‘can I look at the AirPods,’ I let him look and he just booked it and ran into a car and they drove away.
“He said ‘thanks’ and then he ran.”
In a state of fear and shock, Ballantyne and his mother, Elsie, briefly chased after the vehicle but couldn’t make out a license plate. They could only see it was a blue Chevrolet Equinox. They filed a police report.
Ballantyne said he’s shocked someone would do this.
“How could you steal from a 10-year-old when he’s worked up so hard to get those Airpods,” he said.
Despite the setback, Ballantyne said he plans to keep up with his trading game and people on social media have sent him encouraging messages to keep going.
Alyson Edwards, director of public relations and communications for the Saskatoon Police Service, said police recommend people meet in a public place and gather as much information as possible when exchanging items online.
Sellers and buyers should also write down a license plate, she said.
