This post is brought to you by Amazon and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.
Have you ever wished for a way to give your teen their own Amazon login without giving them the virtual keys to the kingdom? I have! Every single holiday season in the past, I would have Jake sit down on my Amazon account and make up his wish list. Then I’d have to hope that he didn’t sneak a peek at my “shopping list” or “gifts to buy” lists! The holidays aren’t the only time I find myself wishing he just had his own login. On any given day, Jake is in my account comparing gaming PCs, looking up new games, “shopping” for new peripherals (seriously, how many gaming mice could you possibly need???). Basically, he is in my account more than I am…and that’s a little nerve wracking. Thankfully, Amazon recently introduced a new way for teens to shop on their own while still empowering parents to make and approve their decisions. It’s awesome!
What Makes Amazon So Fantastic for Teens?
Jake is really responsible and I know he would never buy something through my account without my permission, but since I have 1-Click ordering enabled on certain things it would only take one misplaced click for him to accidentally make a purchase. Amazon is insanely amazing at refunding accidental purchases, but I don’t exactly check my order history every day. Even without the worry of him accidentally seeing his holiday gifts or making accidental purchases, I’d still rather have my login to myself! It’s bad enough that my husband is constantly skewing my movie and show recommendations by watching things that I would never in a million years watch. Add my son’s movie tastes into the mix and honestly, I haven’t seen any of “my” movies or shows in my recommendations in ages!
If you’re worried that giving your teen their own Amazon login will end up bankrupting you, don’t worry. Amazon has added so many great features that keep both you and your teen safe. Let’s check out some of the features!
Benefits for Parents
- You can add up to four teens ages 13-17 to your account for free.
- Teens can shop on their own and stream their favorite digital content if your Prime membership, but you will remain informed and can set limits as needed.
- Speaking of limits, you have the choice to either approve all of your teen’s purchases before they go through or you can set spending limits and give them a little more autonomy. Spending limits are a great idea if your teen wants to shop for you without you seeing everything they buy.
- Regardless of which method you choose, YOU decide what payment methods they can use and who they can ship to.
- If you have a regular Prime membership, you can share some of your benefits with your teens, including the Free Two-Day Shipping, Prime Video, and Twitch Prime. Unfortunately, if you have a discounted Prime membership (such as the EBT discount), you cannot share your benefits.
Benefits for Your Teen
- Independence! This is really the best benefit. Young teens especially are at that age where they crave more freedom yet aren’t quite ready to have complete control over every aspect of their lives.
- Recommendations based on THEIR tastes, not yours. Jake no longer has to scroll past my coffee, cat food, and paranormal fiction recommendations to find things that he actually wants.
- Teaches them financial responsibility. I am amazed at how frugal Jake is when he’s spending his own money and not mine. He actually comparison shops, thinks before he purchases, and saves more than he spends. He looks ahead to what big games are coming out and figures out how much he’ll need to put away to buy it by the release date. I do still approve his orders because while he is learning, I don’t think he’s quite mastered comparison shopping yet.
Signing up took just a few minutes. I just headed over to amazon.com/forteens and clicked on the “Parents Start Here” option.
I added Jake’s name and birth date. Since he doesn’t have a mobile phone at the moment, I picked the email option.
A couple more steps to choose his payment method and shipping addresses that he’s allowed to use, and an email invite was on its way to Jake’s email address. He just had to accept it and login on the app (as of now, that’s the only way teens can access their login- through the Amazon App). I can continue to track the order all the way to our door, just like I do through my own login.
What did Jake buy?
I received a $100 Amazon gift card to give to Jake. You should have heard him shouting through the house that he had $100 to spend. I told him to sit down and think about what he wanted. That took two days of deep thought alone! I thought for sure he’d wipe out his gift card in five seconds flat. There are some $60 games that I know he’s been wanting to try. I was really proud of him when he said that he doesn’t want to buy them until he’s had a chance to try them and make sure he likes them.
For now, Jake only bought one video game. He shopped around and found a used copy that is still fulfilled by Amazon. He read through the description to make sure it was still in good condition before buying. I got a text message about his order and approved that purchase for him right away and it’s on its way to us as we speak. He still has over $80 left and is thinking about either saving some for after the holidays (in case he doesn’t get something he wanted) or using it to pre-order a game he knows he will want right away.
I’m really loving the fact that my son is not only learning to be more financially responsible, but that my own recommendations are on their way to actually showing the things I want and not all of Jake’s favorites! Now I just need my husband to stop skewing my video recommendations!
Teens and parents can learn more and sign-up at amazon.com/forteens.
What a great way to help kids learn fiscal responsibility. We have Amazon Prime so I definitely need to check this out for my kids. Thanks for the info.
Why did I not know this? My grandkids love to look at items on AMazon and I was always so concerned they would click my one-click button. This is good news!
This is awesome! I need someplace my kiddo can go without worrying what he sees and doesn’t see (especially at Christmas!).
I just love this! I’ve always been a fan of Amazon. I’ll have to let my teenager know about this.
I think this is such a cool idea and it will definitely keep the purchases under control while giving them the freedom to shop. I’d use this for sure.
What a great idea to let them learn about online shopping while not letting them go nuts. I love this idea.
What an awesome idea for Amazon to be doing, I love that it gives them access to the TV as well and of course keeps you in control.
I think this is a fantastic idea. I will have to set one up for my Son. It will make Holiday shopping a lot easier.
Amazon is really making shopping breezy and worry-free with its innovative features. Now we don’t have to think hard how teens view and buy items online. Super cool!
I think this is a great idea by Amazon. It will really help keep the kids’ shows from skewing my Amazon channels.
This is such a great idea! My teens use my account all the time and I worry that one day a $5K tv will show up that they ordered, hahahaha!
I can’t even imagine what Amazon will be offering when my kids are older and tech savvy enough to explore it’s website but it is great to know that Amazon is providing resources for parents. Thanks for sharing this new resource!
I should consider this for my daughter. She love looking at things via amazon but I am the one who buys it for her.
I LOVE Amazon, and it’s so great they found a way to keep teens occupied too. I’ll have to keep that in mind for when mine are that age.
I didn’t know about this. Thanks for the heads up!
Okay this is SO great! Perfect for teens – it gives them the freedom they want and need while giving parents a peace of mind. Both so equally important! Love it!
I never knew that feature even existed. I am so glad you told me about it! We use Amazon all the time but I am always leary of my kids being on my account because of the one click feature as well.
I love Amazon and xhop it often. I am so glad they made some of these changes and offer this now, it will help a lot of parents have accidental spending.
tanks for information
Wow this is excellent. Jake is such a cutie, and I got so many chuckles reading this, it is amazing he puts all this quality effort into his purchase, and I can see how this is a great learning tool for real life.