‘So I Don’t Have to Pay for Any of It?’: A 12-Year-Old’s Reaction to Getting a Free Nintendo 64 From a Stranger’s Donated Store Credit Has Gone Viral

A video recorded through smart glasses inside a retro video game store and shared on Instagram by creator @retrojakesvideogames went viral after showing an employee giving a 12-year-old boy a Nintendo 64 for free on his birthday.

In the video, the employee showed the boy two console options, one reshelled unit priced at $150 and another at $75, along with a free bundled copy of Hey You, Pikachu!

The boy chose the $75 console. The employee then asked if it was his birthday, which the boy's father had mentioned earlier, and the boy confirmed he had just turned 12. He told the employee he had been saving up all summer to buy the console.

The employee asked which additional game the boy would choose if he could have one. The boy replied, "Mario Kart 64." The employee then explained that a customer named Tim had come into the store roughly two weeks earlier and traded in his entire game collection for store credit, asking the employee to use that credit to help other young collectors rather than keeping it for himself.

The employee told the boy that Tim's donated credit, combined with it being his birthday, meant the console, the extra game, and all accessories would be covered at no cost. The boy asked, "So I don't have to pay for any of it?"

The employee confirmed he did not, though he noted the console came with a 30-day warranty in case of any issues. When the boy offered to pay $10 anyway, the employee declined, telling him to put the money toward something else instead.

Several replies praised both the shop owner and the customer who donated the trade credit. One commenter wrote, "Let's go shop owner and Tim!!!! Well done on that young man for learning what it takes to work hard and earn something you really want, and then being rewarded for that passion and hard work was just chef's kiss."

Another said they had seen similar gestures within collector communities before. They wrote, "A lot of them would pop up in my feed a few months back. Many card sellers at conventions and the chat gives donations and makes some kid's day when they get that one Pokémon they've been looking and saving for on the house or at a huge discount."

"It's cool seeing people in these communities realize how much one small gesture can mean to a kid," another commenter wrote.

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the identities of those involved in this video, including the boy, the employee, or the customer identified as Tim. The details above reflect the video as shared on Instagram and Reddit.