What about the flea market, problem?

I was on a weekend at a flea market, there a father / seller left his son alone for 5 min because he apparently wanted to get a coffee, during this time the son proudly sold a father's laptop to a flea market visitor for 10 euro (this was worth significantly more)

The father came back, noticed it and ran after the buyer, who of course ran particularly fast with the laptop under his arm towards the parking lot

The father called after the man, who replied in Arabic and acted as if he did not understand the father. Unfortunately I don't know how it turned out because I didn't want to gawk all the time and the two of them also walked away from me towards the parking lot

What could the father do in this case? The child was about 10 years old and therefore not legally competent or do other rules apply at the flea market? Could the father ask for the laptop back? Or if necessary get the police because the man claimed not to speak German and the two could not communicate?

There were witnesses who watched the purchase

In any case.

This visitor ripped off the child.

A 19 year old child is not legally competent, the sale can be reversed.

LOL, the son has inherited his father's "business acumen".

As I said, the purchase is invalid because the child is not business-minded.

The sad thing was that the son was really proud of his sale, for him 10 euro is a lot of money. Sufficient for a laptop 😅

So also in an emergency with police support if he refuses to surrender?

The police may make a personal identification of the buyer. Thereafter, civil law claims can be made.

It should be considered whether the buyer is punishable if he knew that he was not allowed to do a business.

If you make a 10 out of 19, I'm with you.

German laws apply throughout Germany, including the flea market.

The rules of the German Civil Code regarding the legal capacity and effectiveness of contracts also apply to the flea market. Therefore, the purchase contract was ineffective due to the lack of consent / approval from the father.

The father initially had a civil claim against the "buyer" to surrender the laptop. Basically, the police stay out of civil law matters. In exceptional cases, the police can also regulate civil law matters (see e.g. Section 1 (2) PolG NRW). Such a case may have been present here. As soon as the "buyer" got into the car, the laptop would have been gone. The man could therefore have already informed the police.

In addition, the facts may also have been relevant under criminal law. In any case, an (attempted) theft or a (attempted) fraud comes into consideration.

I didn't notice the mistake yet.

The tot was already business-minded…