Ebay may allow the under 18 purchase items on their website. The accounts will most likely have to have parental approval and the under 18 will be restricted from purchasing adult content. However, the question of privacy is a big concern. How should they track activities of the under 18 group? What about targeted advertising? Can they and should they use buying patterns to target? From a marketing standpoint, this makes sense; Ebay is trying to grow their customer base. Getting youngsters to purchase on Ebay will translate into lifelong purchasing habits as they grow up and have more purchasing power.
Personally, I think it is OK to have the under 18 on Ebay provided there is supervision of the account. Adults would have to confirm purchases. This would protect children from using credit cards frivolously and also guarantee appropriate items are being purchased. Ultimately, there is no way to confirm whether or not the under 18 set is already purchasing on Ebay.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443295404577547263826717138.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_TECHEDITORSPICKS_2
1 comment:
I agree with you. It should be a good thing that people under 18 are allowed to buy from eBay. There are lots of parents that give money to thier children under 18 to do thier own shopping.
Maybe a software company or eBay can come up with a program that will have supervision on the credit money on that particular account the under 18 user.
The parents or guardians may be able to enter a list of things they are not permit to buy and the software is compliance to all laws like selling smoking equipment or alcohol, etc. The prohibited list can be add on or delete item list to moniter these under 18 eBay user.
I think it maybe an excellent idea
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