Amazon Launches Shopping Portal For Teens, Complete With Spending Allowances

Image courtesy of Amazon

Remember the first time your parents trusted you with their credit card after firmly explaining it was solely for emergencies? If you’re like some of us, you might also recall justifying to yourself that paying for Dave Matthews Band tickets constituted an emergency. Your folks likely disagreed, even if they were down with the DMB. So you can probably see why Amazon’s new teen-specific shopping portal lets parents cap how much their kids can spend.

Amazon has launched a new portal for teens 13-17, that gives them their own Amazon logins to stream content or shop. If you’re a Prime member, those benefits carry over to your kid’s account as well.

However, to prevent any youthful shopping sprees, parents can either set up the accounts to require approval on each and every purchase, or set pre-approved spending limits per order.

Here’s how it works:

1. Teens use the app or desktop site to make purchases on their own login, and place their order. They can include a note to their parents at the time if there’s any explaining that needs to be done, like, “I desperately need 36 rolls of clear tape to save my science project.”

2. Parents receive a notification with all the order details via text or email, and either approve them by texting “Y” or decline orders in their account.

3. When the item is shipped, both teens and parents are notified of the estimated delivery date.

“As a parent of a teen, I know how they crave independence, but at the same time that has to be balanced with the convenience and trust that parents need. We’ve listened to families and have built a great experience for both teens and parents,” said Michael Carr, Vice President, Amazon Households.

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