EBay, rivals can be tools for teaching economics

By Steve Rosen
Knight Ridder News Service

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Find, bid, win, learn. EBay and online competitors can offer hands-on experiences about marketing, pricing, supply and demand, and duplicity.

If you have children and a home computer, chances are your kids will at some point discover the world of eBay. Whether it's searching for toy Nerf guns or collectible Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, eBay and other online auction sites can be useful hands-on laboratories for kids to learn about economics.

The Internet, to be sure, can be a hazardous place, and kids can be easy prey for identity thieves, scam artists, unsavory pop-up advertisers and more.

But my own experience shows that the virtual marketplace can also be a way for kids to learn about supply and demand, pricing, marketing and of course, duplicity. Mind you, I recommend parental supervision when young kids want to explore online auction sites, and you should stick with sites with which you are familiar.

A few weeks ago, my 11-year-old son was interested in buying a Nerf gun, the type that shoots soft foam darts with rubber suction tips. Unable to track one down at the toy store, he logged on to eBay and found what he wanted.

That led to a slew of questions from him: Why did the toy cost so much? Was that the best price he could find? Would the toy be in good condition and look the same as advertised? How would the seller be paid?

I told him that eBay's buying and selling services, for example, are not available to children under the age of 18 unless supervised by a parent or guardian. So, if he wanted to buy the Nerf toy, we'd have to work in tandem.

We had an interesting discussion — and the cool thing was I didn't have to prompt him to get at any of these issues. He was asking me.

Ultimately, he didn't spend the money online but with a local source — a boy down the street who had a used model in good condition and for about half the price.

If your kids are starting to show similar interests in eBay or other sites, what can you do?

For suggestions, I asked Sam Goller, a contributor to "Yes, You Can! Raise Financially Aware Kids," a book published last year by Stowers Innovations Inc.

Goller said his teenage son shopped on eBay and other sites for car stereos and other items.

"Some of the conversations we've had in our home specific to online shopping or buying is that it offers a great opportunity to comparison-shop," Goller said.

Before buying online, Goller said he would encourage his son to find at least two other prices at retail stores for the same merchandise, and to determine how much shipping and handling might drive up the online price.

He also recommends talking to children about the risks of online shopping.

I also recommend that parents read the tips about online shopping on the Federal Trade Commission Web site at www.ftc.gov.