This is a sponsored post on behalf of Amazon. All opinions are my own.
Kyle is a lot of things. He's funny, caring and a big teddy bear, but frugal is not in his vocabulary. I remember giving him access to my Amazon account and credit card once, just once, and it was enough for me to say never again. So, when Amazon introduced a new way for teens like him to shop, I was intrigued. I needed to learn more, and what I found out is that it is exactly what I need. I’m going to be able to manage his purchases, notice I didn't use the word, control. I don’t want to control what he buys, I want to be able to give him his independence, but still have inside knowledge of what his purchases are.
So how does it work?
Well first you need to sign up.
Signing up is super easy and only takes a few minutes. Parents can start the sign-up process or teens can do so. As a parent, you have the option of adding up to 4 teens (13-17 yrs) to your account for free, you then get to choose the payment method and an approved shipping address where your teen will be allowed to ship to. Your teen then creates their own login user name and password, downloads the Amazon App on their mobile device, and then begins shopping.
How it works:
Once your teen finds something that they wish to purchase, they place their order via the Amazon App and the parent will receive a text alerting them that their teen has placed an order that needs approval. You then have the option to either approve or decline their purchase. If you don't respond, the order will be canceled within 48 hours. If you would like to bypass the approval step, you can set a pre-approved spending limit for your teen.
What if you're an Amazon Prime member?
Great news! If you're a Prime member you can share select benefits with your teen at no additional cost. That means that your teen can also get Free Two-Day shipping on more than 50 million items. Prime Video is also included along with Twitch Prime. With Twitch, you get in-game loot on Twitch and 20% off most pre-released boxed games.
Worried about a product not meeting your expectation? Each purchase is backed with Amazon's A-Z guarantee.
I decided to try a little experiment with my son. I gifted him a $100 Amazon gift card after signing him up to the program, and I'm going to be honest here with you. It turned out exactly how I thought it would turn out. Kyle spent his entire $100 on an Xbox Live digital card. Go figure! However, before he was able to order his card, I got a notification via text alerting me that he had placed an order and that it needed to be approved. I decided to ignore it, and he sent a reminder that I shouldn't forget to approve his order. I eventually did, but what this taught me was that he would NOT be having an approved spending limit; all of his purchases would need to be approved. This new service however gives him the independence that he craves for, and gives me peace of mind that he's not logging into my account to make purchases that I'm not aware of. Win-Win for both of us!
Parents and teens can sign up at amazon.com/forteens.
I am the Amazon Queen! And while I don't have children that I need to manage, I may really, really need YOU to manage MY spending LOL! It's just way too easy to click buy with 1-click and poof! It arrives at your door...Great post!
ReplyDeleteMy Amazon sounds great! I love the freedom that it offers both parents and kids.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of being able to give my oldest child a little autonomy while still being able to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great way to teach teens about making too many purchases. As parents, our teens are still under our watch. When the time comes and they're working, then, they can hopefully use this as a way to budget their money.
ReplyDeleteThis is really great! I love me some Amazon! My kids are super young but this would be something that my sister would love for her kids!
ReplyDeleteThat's a cool service. It might be good for my mom, too, who lives on a limited budget but sometimes forgets that she has already made the purchase before. Love this idea!
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty cool system! I think it should be good for teaching financial responsibility!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great idea for managing the shopping of youngsters. I'm curious what your teen thinks about it.
ReplyDeleteI do not have children but I will share this with my sisters for my nieces and nephews and also let my friends know for my Godchildren, it sounds like a great way to make sure that teens don't go nuts ordering stuff on Amazon!
ReplyDeleteTracy @ Ascending Butterfly
This is a great way to let teens make online purchases safely. It will really teach them about money and budgeting too.
ReplyDeleteOk, this is pretty cool! I can see this coming in handy in the future for my kids!
ReplyDeleteWow, this sounds like the perfect way to give your teen a bit of independence with shopping, but still have some control with their spending limits. Will have to keep this in mind as my girls are getting older now. Thanks for sharing here!
ReplyDeleteMy kids are no longer teens but this is a great way for parents to avoid unexpected charges on our credit cards. Sharing this info with friends and family.
ReplyDeleteAs parents we area always educating our kids and shopping online should not be the exception.
ReplyDeleteWhat a useful tool. I love the care Amazon gives its customers.
ReplyDeleteOh, how cool is that? I'm linked to Cassidy's Amazon account through our Echo and I like to joke that he should put approvals on it because I can just dictate orders to be placed all day long! I don't, though.. Teens? A whole other story.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this.
Oh this is game changing!! I have thought about giving the information to my daughter, but couldn't, so this is great.
ReplyDeleteI love it! It's an awesome concept and it's perfect for parents who are dealing with teens and their uncontrollable urge to shop for things that they think they "need". Lol. I don't have kids, but I'd love to recommend this to friends.
ReplyDeleteGirl, I feel like my prayers have been answered thanks to this! I have two boys who are almost at that age where shopping is a MUST when you give them money. I think this will help us very much when it comes to their spending.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an awesome way to give your teens some freedom to shop for things they need (or want). The best thing though is that it would still need parental approval for their purchases. You maintain control over their spending!
ReplyDeleteIt is great to give the freedom to choose and you have the power to check up on them. I have just ordered on Amazon and love their selections on everything.
ReplyDeleteI love Amazon! We use our Prime membership all the time and we don't have kids, but still a great feature to help parents out
ReplyDeleteHow cool! I wonder if this would get my teen shopping for himself more and relying less on me to do it all. Sounds really neat. - Jeanine
ReplyDeleteThis is so awesome for parents with teens. Wish they had this when my kids were that age!
ReplyDeleteThat is such a huge upgrade! My kids would love to be able to shop on Amazon, especially to send me their holiday wish list. Then I could approve the purchases I want to buy for them.
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice way to really get kids shopping for themselves and maybe even planning on budgets, overall fostering independence.
ReplyDeletei wish I had Amazon when I was younger. Sheesh I wish I had it when I was in college I am a proud Amazon prime member now!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. Not only does it give your teen more freedom to make their own choices but it can help them become more fiscally responsible. I'm glad they have the option for parents to approve or decline a transaction.
ReplyDeleteNever tried Amazon. But this one is a good idea to handle your kid online purchases.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super cool idea and should have been implemented earlier. I always wondered how parents dealt with teens and access to Amazon accounts.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great way to give your children more responsibility and make mature decisions on their own. I love that you are able to easily monitor what your children are up to!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a teen, but I think it's important to manage teens online no matter where they shop or what social media platform they are on. Great article here.
ReplyDeleteha! My kids would do the exact same thing-- spend it on video game stuff! I am an Amazon Prime member and will have to look into this-- this would be great for our teens to try, plus let them get experience on buying, saving money to purchase things and spending their money wisely!
ReplyDeleteThis is really neat feature from Amazon. I can have my kids shop for me when I don't have time too. Like the approval message been sent to my phone to approve.
ReplyDelete