“Shopping tip: You can get shoes for 85 cents at the bowling alley.” ~ Anon
How do we introduce younger consumers to online retail?
With limited research, I can say with 0% certainty that nothing comprehensive exists to teach young consumers how to navigate the endless mass of online retailers in order for them to remain safe, not get ripped off, and become a responsible and savvy consumer. Some of the thinks that should be taught include:
- HPPTS versus HTTP, and how to tell if your transaction is secure.
- What constitutes reasonable terms of sale? For example, some places charge exorbitant shipping charges, and other have shoddy returns policies.
- How to interpret reviews and ratings and actually pay attention to them in the first place.
A lot of kids are wanting to buy stuff online, and a lot of unscrupulous people are waiting with bated breath to scam them. We need to do what we can to educate the younger consumers so that they can be pro-sumers as opposed to whatever the opposite is. Parents can’t always provide the best guidance, since no one taught them either. For example how many parents have clicked on stupid jokes which resulted in rampant virus infections?
What steps have you taken to educate your children? At some point you are going to have to turn off the parental controls or your kids will be frequenting the houses of their friends with less computer controls.
The Bis Key Chronicles 
This article is very insightful. I believe it is extremely important for parents to educate their children regarding fiscal responsibility and financial literacy tools at an early age. Lately, children seem to have no concept of the value of a dollar, let alone regularly depositing money into an account for savings in the future.
I wanted to share an e-wallet site I came across the other day. I have done some research and found that their mission and goals are directly correlated to promoting financial education: http://kidsca.sh/.
KidsCash aims to set up a virtual bank account for kids using real money, and allowing monitoring deposits by parents. Not only does this site employ a ‘learning by doing’ principle, it also helps parents create a new communication channel for their families to discuss their kids budgeting and spending habits as well as rewarding positive behavior such as saving and donating.
It is imperative to educate our youth about finances, banking institutions and saving. Their decisions at a young age, particularly adolescent, affects their adult life and personal finances. Kids can gain a sense of achievement when they regularly deposit and reach a goal, whatever the amount.This sense of achievement can be learned early and maintained throughout their youth as well as adult life.