Amazon now lets teens shop with their own account, but with parental approval

Teens with an Amazon account are about to acquire some buying power. The company

announced today that kids ages 13–17 will be able to use an Amazon Household account to shop Amazon’s online marketplace — with limited independence, of course. Teens will now be able to buy things using those accounts in the Amazon app. The catch: parents will be notified of each purchase via text or email, and will, by default, have to approve or deny each one. Any time they make a purchase, teens will be able to include a note that explains (or argues) why they need the particular item. Parents can then allow the attempt with a simple “Y” reply to the automated message. Amazon will allow parents to scrap the approval setup in favor of setting spending limits, too, the company says. Approved purchases are eligible for Amazon Prime’s free two-day shipping. Amazon launched Households in 2015 in order to install more control over the ways people were sharing their Prime accounts with friends and family, and this is an evolution of that move. Instead of a teen being able to buy whatever they want over a shared login, their experience is now more structured. Teens will also have access to features like Prime Video and other “select” benefits typically associated with Amazon Prime (like Twitch Prime), meaning they’re essentially getting a potential five-year trial run of their own full Prime account. Correction: Parents cannot deny an order by replying to the automated message, as this article previously stated. Amazon says “there are several options to decline” a purchase, including declining through the “order page” or not responding at all to a message.                                                              https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/11/16458096/amazon-teens-shopping-prime-household-accounts