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Amazon Allowance

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Re: Amazon Allowance

#61

Post by ilaksh »

allworknoplay wrote: post #4
olympus wrote: post #2

I applaud the effort Amazon is making to expand its influence, and giving kids an Amazon allowance would lock them in because it doesn't look too easy to convert that money back to real cash. But I don't think this one will stick around for very long. Prepaid cash/debit cards and automated deposits are an older and more proven way of doing this (not to mention just handing your kids $20 in cash every week). By giving…

Kids? I'm pretty sure the real market here is camgirls and other internet personalities that people want to buy presents for.

Jeff Bezos, the world's newest, and wealthiest, pimp.

Re: Amazon Allowance

#62

Post by dkhenry »

I like the idea, but I would really like to see a bank or another finical institution offer some services that I can use as a modern introduction to banking for my kids. When I was a kid I had a savings account, and a savings book that I took to the bank to do all my banking. All my deposits and withdrawls were printed into the book by the teller and it was easy enough for me to fill out deposit slips for the checks and cash my family gave me or I earned doing jobs around the neighborhood.

Let my kids have a debit card and let them use ATM's and smart phone apps just like I do, even better if its designed to be useable by children to encourage good banking behaviors.

Re: Amazon Allowance

#63

Post by superuser2 »

derefr wrote: post #50
superuser2 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Activation requires you to (pretend to) be 18, AFAIK. Also they have quite hefty fees; a checking accout is free as long as you don't overdraft.

Are people also not technically allowed to use a prepaid credit card registered in someone else's name? A parent could activate the card and then give it to the child.

You could, but then you're still paying fees designed to exploit the unbanked. If the parent is financially secure, they can use that fact to get a free checking account for their child.

Re: Amazon Allowance

#64

Post by Buge »

derefr wrote: post #53
valgaze wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an interesting payments case b/c with kiddos in the United States you need to deal with the Children's Online Privacy Act (ie the reason for the "are you 13 years or older" checkbox question) One firm that's was trying to do kid payments was Virtual Piggy (now Oink): http://www.oink.com

> the reason for the "are you 13 years or older" checkbox question I thought all the age-of-13 stuff, specifically, was because you can't legally enter yourself into a contract when you're younger than 13. Which is to say, you can't accept EULAs or Terms of Service (or you can, but they'll have no legal force.)

It's COPPA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Pr...

Some people even consider COPPA to be a form of censorship. It creates such a huge legal burden on websites if they allow < 13 year olds, that most websites have to ban them, thus limiting their right to speech.

Re: Amazon Allowance

#65

Post by taeric »

mikeash wrote: post #60
taeric wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I applaud you for not treating $1,000 in merchandise as a given. On the other... this just feels like an entitlement argument. It is just $100 we are talking about. For benefits that, if you use them, are almost certainly worth more than that.

On one hand, $100 is small potatoes and employees shouldn't care that much. On the other hand, people are often irrational and do care that much. Which makes it kind of weird that Amazon doesn't provide free Prime to their employees, because that $100 value (and what's their actual cost?) probably buys a lot more than $100 of employee satisfaction. So while I certainly wouldn't say that Amazon is somehow mistreating…

Ridiculously well put and I feel you hit a bullseye. I still don't understand it. But I do think you hit right on the money.

Re: Amazon Allowance

#66

Post by gambiting »

superuser2 wrote: post #24
olympus wrote: post #2

I applaud the effort Amazon is making to expand its influence, and giving kids an Amazon allowance would lock them in because it doesn't look too easy to convert that money back to real cash. But I don't think this one will stick around for very long. Prepaid cash/debit cards and automated deposits are an older and more proven way of doing this (not to mention just handing your kids $20 in cash every week). By giving…

If you give teenagers cash, they can't spend it online. Thanks to KYC rules and bank policies, you have to be 18 to get anything that looks like a credit card. Best plan for teenagers is a joint checking account (dedicated to the child's use) at your bank, with a debit card they can use for day-to-day spending. You can do allowance, etc with transfers, and most bankd will play ball as long as one person on the accoun…

In EU you can have a visa debit/mastercard debit card when you are 13 upwards.

Re: Amazon Allowance

#67

Post by nmridul »

Simple paypal alternative that is free .... Could not find any fee info, so should be free...

Then this could easily be used for accepting payments for services or sales. Since I anyways spend on amazon, better accept payments this way without any fee...

Re: Amazon Allowance

#68

Post by allworknoplay »

blumkvist wrote: post #27
allworknoplay wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kids? I'm pretty sure the real market here is camgirls and other internet personalities that people want to buy presents for.

and stream hunnies.

not sure I even wanna know the difference between a cam girl and a 'stream hunny' O.o

Re: Amazon Allowance

#69

Post by jacalata »

smnrchrds wrote: post #37
superuser2 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Activation requires you to (pretend to) be 18, AFAIK. Also they have quite hefty fees; a checking accout is free as long as you don't overdraft.

Checking account are free? Well, chequing accounts are not :( Among the downsides of being in Canada is paying higher prices for anything that is not health care.

In the US most bank checking accounts have a monthly fee which is waived if you meet certain conditions, like maintain a minimum balance (I think mine was $1000) or get an automatic direct deposit at least 2 times per month of $250 or more - these would be hard to meet for a childs account. Credit unions are usually free though.

Re: Amazon Allowance

#70

Post by mentat »

derefr wrote: post #54
mentat wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this disturbing in a way I can't quite quantify. Kids should do things, not just appear to do things because they're clever about outsourcing to someone worse off.

Hiring and managing someone else, while being the point-of-contact with your clients, is doing a thing; it's a very useful life-skill, in fact. There are other useful life-skills they might be better off not delegating away the learning opportunities for, of course, but usually "chores" are less learning experiences and more "I used to do this thing, but now you're old enough to take the load off me." Of course, if t…

I tend to think that doing physical work, understanding what's involved, is educational, informative, and motivating. A significant part of the world does work with their body. It's important in having empathy for other "classes" (assuming your kid gets an "information worker" job). Related or not, it's important to also learn how to do a job you may not like well, to pursue excellence in one's work.
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