For big-ticket items – snowboards, stereo systems, and musical instruments – your teen will be able to find similar or identical products at different price points. Tell your teen that it’s best to look around at several shops for more affordable items before settling on the one they want to purchase.Encourage your child to look up prices while on the go. For instance, if they find a great pair of jeans in one store, urge them to hop on their phone and look up the price of the same jeans at other retailers. If they locate the same item for a lower price elsewhere, suggest that they shop at the location with the lower price.
Show your teen online options for buying, too. Craigslist and eBay are great for finding rare and second-hand items.;
, The first questions your teen should ask when they make a purchase should be, “Do I really need this?” and “How often will I use this?” If they have any doubt that they will get substantial use and enjoyment out of whatever it is they’re considering buying – especially if it’s a big-ticket item – they should think twice before sinking their money into it. Other important questions your teen ought to ask include:Is this durable?
How long will this last?
Will this be a lot of trouble to take care of?

, Opportunity costs are the costs associated with not being able to buy or do something because you spent the money in some other fashion. For instance, if your teen wants to go to the theme park with his friends, but he can’t because he spent all his money on baseball cards, he has paid an opportunity cost. Help your child understand the dynamics of opportunity costs. Encourage them to save their money and spend wisely so they are not faced with a situation later where they can’t leverage their buying power., Consumers are often accidentally overcharged through system errors or mistakes made by checkout clerks. Sometimes items that were advertised as on sale really aren’t on sale, or are marked as on sale but haven’t had their prices adjusted in the retailer’s computer checkout system.Suggest to your teen that they can avoid a lot of hassle later if they ask pointed questions to clarify the price of a given product before checking out.
For instance, if your teen wants to buy a book that was found in the 50% off rack, but the book is not visibly marked as 50% off, instruct your teen to ask the checkout clerk, “Is this book 50% off?”
If the clerk answers in the negative, have your teen say, “I found it on the 50% off rack.”

, Many retailers collect additional information at checkout such as email addresses, phone numbers, and home addresses. This information might be collected as part of a customer outreach or newsletter effort. Retailers might entice consumers to provide their personal info with promises of coupons. But this information might be sold to third parties who use it to send spam emails, unwanted phone offers, and junk mail. Plus, company databases are targets for hackers, and if successful, hackers could use your information to steal your identity.It can be hard to avoid providing information like home addresses if your teen buys online. Remind your teen to never save login information on their computer and change their passwords frequently.
 One of the best ways to you’re your teen become a wise consumer is to model the behavior for them. Children – including teens – continue to look to their parents for guidance. If you demonstrate intelligent buying habits, your teen will, too.
Teach your child to shop around.
Encourage your child to be realistic when buying.
Ask your teen to think about opportunity costs.
Remind your teen to check their receipts.
Discourage your child from providing extra information when making a purchase.
Be a wise consumer yourself.
{"src": "wikihow-all_validation", "title": "How to Help Your Teen Be a Wise Consumer1"}