PayPal and Student Accounts?

[pearlygirl555]

For those USA sellers who might not have seen this....

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y09/m08/i12/s02

Wonder how that would work with auction sites who require users to be 18 years of age?

Seems like it might open a can of worms for sellers, who could be caught in a dispute between kids who buy something and parents who don't monitor them, then snap at the seller. Hooray. Can't wait.

[marschenegger]

Indeed. And we all know who pays for mistakes made by buyers or, in this case, negligent parents.

[canuckbid]

I have no problem with that. As long as they monitor it correctly. If you have ever done any research on marketing kids spend billions of dollars every year. I can see why they would want to open up the market to the younger crowd. Most are alot more computer savy than the older generation and would probally use online shopping more if allowed.

[marschenegger]

I have no problem with that. As long as they monitor it correctly. If you have ever done any research on marketing kids spend billions of dollars every year. I can see why they would want to open up the market to the younger crowd. Most are alot more computer savy than the older generation and would probally use online shopping more if allowed.

Therein lies the problem. Many parents are about as irresponsible at looking after their kids as they are in looking after their dogs. Anyhow, I was not aware that people under 18 were capable of forming legally-binding contracts, and as long as I don't know, I don't believe they can, and I will never knowingly open my collectables listings to children. Knowing how PayPal is all too willing to reverse payments for buyers, I see a loophole for parents to exploit. Get junior a PayPal account, let him go nuts buying stuff, and then claim Junior didn't have permission, so all the charges get reversed after the items are delivered. Most of the money children have comes from their parents. I don't see the point in giving kids an additional tool to make spending their parents' money easier.

[canuckbid]

I agree to disagree. Students should be regarded as adults more. They grow up fast nowadays and living in the world of imformation are smarter than we were at their age. By smarter I mean alot more knowlegdeable about the world we live in. Make them responsible for their actions at an earlier age. Look how many crimes are committed by younger people. Treat them as adults at a younger age. Alot of us forget in years gone by woman became mothers at age 15 and it was not considered unnormal.

[kengillam]

Legislation will also undoubtably vary from country to country as to what age is relevant for legal obligations.

[Teddyrose54]

We live in a world where parents, hand their kids bank cards. To use at hole in the wall.

All my daughter's friends had mummy's bank card at 13 and 14 years old.

My daughter didn't~

No way~

[tjsprinting]

[QUOTE=XCESSBAGGAGE;1051877]All my daughter's friends had mummy's bank card at 13 and 14 years old.

My daughter didn't~

bit like my kids mate all had the internet and their own email addy, so we got the puta installed and alas kids had no one to email-
Duped again by the little bu**az

[marschenegger]

I agree to disagree. Students should be regarded as adults more. They grow up fast nowadays and living in the world of imformation are smarter than we were at their age. By smarter I mean alot more knowlegdeable about the world we live in. Make them responsible for their actions at an earlier age. Look how many crimes are committed by younger people. Treat them as adults at a younger age. Alot of us forget in years gone by woman became mothers at age 15 and it was not considered unnormal.

Well, since we're going off on a tangent, I'll add these comments...

Being good with computers does not translate into developing the required math skills and social skills to be competent at dealing with online buyers/sellers and at budgeting. My opinion is that computers and other electronic devices are making people of all ages more antisocial than ever. I don't trust the parents of young people to be able to teach social skills because I have seen a great deal of antisocial behaviour from adults in the past ten years, both online and in real life. And the schools are definitely not picking up the slack. I'd be OK with treating young people like adults if they are taught to be more like adults, but with so many adults behaving more like children in our increasingly dysfunctional society, I'm more inclined to shut my business entirely than to open it up to the children of lousy parents.

Math skills among the general population have been terrible ever since I was in school. Fortunately for me, I had parents who were very good at handling money and at budgeting, and I learned to not spend money I don't have. I can't say the same for all those people in the US who lived beyond their means and pushed the world into the current economic quagmire. So now PayPal wants to put borrowing money into the hands of the children of those people? Yeesh.

[TexasAda]

Please, somebody refresh my memory. Is a person required to be 18 or over to have an eBid account? I hope so!

Minors wouldn't necessarily spend PayP to buy something, either. They could be perfectly capable of sending cash or money orders if they don't have credit cards or PayP accounts, and are operating totally under their parents' radar. Maybe i've been incredibly lucky so far, because no buyers have tried to weasel out on me by saying they were minors. IF one did, I would of course expect eBid to cancel their account if they admitted they're minors, ASSUMING one must be 18 or older here.