Rich dad sells $1200 worth of gym equipment that his 16-year-old son and his 2 friends bought with their money, refuses to pay the other teens back: 'He dared us to hire a lawyer.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Aug 21, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

Why didn't he tell them he didn't want to host the equipment anymore?

There is always some risk involved with keeping your stuff at someone else's house. They could break it, accidentally throw it away, or resent you for using them as an unpaid storage unit. Many adult children who have homes and basements of their own keep their childhood stuff in their parents' basements, much to their parents' dismay. It's one thing if they live in a tiny studio apartment, but if they have an attic and they live nearby, there is no excuse for not moving their stuff out of their parents' house. 

It's also quite difficult to split something with people who can't share it in the long term. If you buy a TV with your roommates, only one of you will take it when you all move out. The person who takes it can pay back their share to the others, but does that really happen in practice? If you're going to buy something big and expensive, it's usually best to buy it for yourself and let others borrow it, rather than splitting the cost so a couch ends up with three different owners. 

The teens in this story, including the younger brother of KnownCheesecake9947, thought the gym set they bought would be safe at their friend's barn, but their friend's dad decided to sell it without asking whether they wanted it. He wasn't even willing to give the kids their money back, which is really rotten. 

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  • A home gym setup.
    via Brian Wangenheim

    A home gym setup.

    Still frame for contextual reference only.

  • Am I the bad guy for publicly outing a rich dad who sold my teen brother’s $1200 gym gear?

    I, 26F, help care for my brother “Leo,” 16M. Over the summer, Leo and two friends pooled $1200 of their earned money to buy commercial gym equipment for football training. They stored it in a friend’s barn with the parents’ permission.

  • Last week, the friend’s dad “Greg” decided he was tired of the teens coming over. Without warning, he sold all their equipment on Facebook marketplace for $800 and kept the cash, calling it an “unpaid storage fee.”

  • The barn where the teenagers work out using the gym equipment they bought.
    via Remmington Wanner

    The barn where the teenagers work out using the gym equipment they bought.

    Stock photo unrelated.

  • When we asked for the $800 so the boys could replace their gear, Greg laughed in our faces and dared us to hire a lawyer over $800.

  • Since legal action wasn’t realistic, Sam’s mom and i posted the purchase receipts and screenshots of his marketplace listing on local Facebook groups and Nextdoor. Because Greg owns a prominent local business, the post blew up, and neighbors are leaving terrible reviews for his business.

    His wife is now screaming that I’m ruining their family’s livelihood over “cheap junk.”

    Am I the bad guy for exposing him publicly?

  • CADreamn You can absolutely take him to small claims court.
    via u/CADreamn
  • A judge is presiding over a case involving a man selling the gym equipment that his teenage son bought with his friends.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A judge is presiding over a case involving a man selling the gym equipment that his teenage son bought with his friends. 

  • Known Cheesecake9947 OP We are actually looking into this now! At first we thought is wouldn't be worth the hassle or legal stress for 800$, but since we have all the original receipts and screenshots of his marketplace listing, a few people told us it's pretty much an open-and-shut case
    via u/KnownCheesecake9947
  • Corfiz74 Go for the full 1200, not just the 800.
    via u/Corfiz74
  • whybother_incertname No go for the replacement cost of each item plus legal fees. You'll get that easily with the original purchase receipts, his market place listings, & screenshots of what each item currently costs to purchase. NTJ. Updateme
    via u/whybother_incertname
  • WeirdSysAdmin Don't even need to hire a lawyer. Small claims is literally built as a pathway for people to not have to worry about hiring expensive lawyers. A few states don't even let you bring a lawyer.
    via u/WeirdSysAdmin
  • YoshiandAims NTJ It's not slander or libel, it's the truth. He owes each one of those kids their share of that equipment. I get the liability issue. I'd never have agreed to be the host. of this equipment, the adult with the responsibility to supervise. I'd not want to have people freely coming and going, but also not wanting continual requests, either.
    via u/YoshiandAims
  • He could have had Waivers drawn up. Open hours/days of the week. He could have contacted the other parents and said he'd bitten off more than he could chew, and it all needed to go. Used the money to help the kids get access to a 24 hour gym. Whatever. He had other options than to sell it and pocket the money. (These posts are really frequent. Some parents stole an entire pool a bunch of teens saved up for last week.)
    via u/YoshiandAims
  • pharoh-king NTA "Your husband is ruining your family's livelihood over stealing from a child."
    via u/pharoh-king
  • raucus_one His wife is mad at the wrong person.
    via u/raucus_one
  • caitejane310 HA!! Good!! NTJ, and I don't have much but is there somewhere I can donate like $10 towards new equipment?? I think I feel the worst for his child, and don't understand how a parent can do that to a child.
    via u/caitejane310

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rich people gym home gym weights equipment football rich entitled people
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