An easy way for teenagers to shop online (Splash Plastic)

Member Name: RobMeister

Product:	Splash Plastic
Date:	19/02/02 (1082 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick and simple to use, Great for those worried about debt or Fraud, Ideal for Teenagers and young Adults

Disadvantages: Not a huge selection of online stores

Splash Plastic

Splash Plastic is a variation to the SmartCreds card already available. Basically it’s a pay as you go internet card from which you can buy goods on the internet. Simple to use and with no risk of getting into debt or falling foul of fraud this is a great alternative to the credit card and one that is purposefully aimed at the younger generation and best of all it’s free to use.

Despite being 22 I don’t much fancy the idea of getting a credit card because I know deep down I’ll abuse it and get myself into debt. So the only way I can buy goods on the internet is via the old trusty medium of a cheque, which is both limiting and time consuming. That is until I came across Splash Plastic which offers me the freedom to shop online without the hassle and wait of a cheque.

First and foremost it’s no replacement for a credit card because there are precious few online retailers who accept this card. What it is though is a means for teenagers to be able to shop online for goods they are interested in. As such the e-tailers that do accept Splash Plastic are marketed towards the adolescent. For example ‘attitude’ (www.attitude.uk.com) clothing, have a diverse range of named brands clothes such as ‘porn star’, ‘Semtex‘ and a load of others I‘ve never heard of :), these are quite pricey clothes but they are now available to a wider market thanks to Splash Plastic and www.mykindaplace.com offer everything an impressionable teenage girl could wish for.

The reason I applied for a card was mainly to buy CD’s via www.CD-wow.com who have a great reputation for being reliable and affordable. At only £8.99 a CD with free P+P I couldn’t see why I should spend anywhere from £12.99 upwards at Woolworths when I could get them much cheaper online.

How to get a Splash Plastic card:

The process of getting a card is incredibly simple. You go t
o www.splashplastic.com and click on ‘get card‘. Here all you need to do is fill in a simple form that asks for your name and where to send the card and then click send. Your card will then be sitting on your doormat in a matter of days. Mine only took 3 days to process. Once you receive your card you then log back onto the website and click ‘activate’ card. Here you fill in a few more details age, username, password etc and then you have a Splash Plastic card ready for use. A plus point I should mention is you’re not committed at all with Splash Plastic, if it arrives and you decide not to use then just throw it away or stick it in your purse/wallet until you do.

In order to shop with your card you need to put money onto it. Very much like a mobile top up. From the Splash Plastic site you can find where your nearest shop is that will let you top up your card. I was quite surprised the amount of places available to do this. I live in a fairly small town but I have three shops I can go to top up whenever I need. The process of topping up is very easy, you just take your card and give it to the shop assistant along with how much you want to put on (you do have a minimum of £10 and maximum of £200 at any one time) they will then swipe it through their machine and give you a receipt. Bingo, now it’s time to shop.

As I’ve said earlier I’ve only used this card to shop at CD-Wow as that is what I’m most interested in. However there are quite a few e-tailers that will interest the average teenagers, such as Blockbusters, 101CD.com (who are a little more expensive than CD-Wow but do have a wider range of products), as-seen-on-screen.com, mykindaplace.com. There is a wide variety of stores that suit both male and female interests alike. You can browse the stores first before applying for a card by just visiting the Splash Plastic website and clicking the link ‘where 2 shop’.

My first
ever online buy was for an Anastacia 18/2/02 for my Mother’s birthday. Making a cup of tea is harder than the process of buying that CD. You just go to www.cd-wow.com find the album of interest and click add to cart. If you are not a member of CD-wow you can sign up just as easily (I recommend you do as you’ll no doubt want to shop there again and it‘ll make the process of ordering more from them easier).

You will then proceed to the payment page where you will see a little Splash Plastic logo; here you click and type in your Splash Plastic number (all of which you will have learned when you activated your card). Then it’s just a matter of clicking a couple of confirmation screens and your money will be instantly debited and your CD winging its way to you. Brilliant.

Splash Plastic is such an easy method of buying the things that you like on line that I’m sure it will become more successful when more people join. As I mentioned the only downfall is the relatively few e-tailers that accept the card, but if you have a look to see what sites interest you and you think you may like to buy something then it has to be worth applying for a card. The real bonus is that the whole system is free, you don’t have to pay for the card or pay to use it. You won’t get charged if you don’t use it. I’ve already informed 4 other people about it who have now all got there own Splash Plastic card sitting in their purses/wallets.

Recommended 100% even if it’s just to buy the odd CD like I do, but no doubt there is plenty of other things that will tempt you when you look around. If only they gave you some free money to spend to start off with :D.

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