But some sites that see teenagers as their core market have gone to great lengths to overcome the credit card issue -- with mixed results. Although they can attract large numbers of teens to use chat sites or to read articles, most struggle to get readers to spend money. "The credit card issue is the No. 1 issue people ask us about our business plan: How will teens ever buy from you?" said Jim Johnson, chief operating officer of New York-based teen site and e-commerce shop Alloy. The site's core audience is teenage girls, and roughly 85 percent of sales are done by credit card -- much lower than most online sites. To reach out to teens, Alloy sends paper catalogues to registered users' home addresses -- roughly 45 million last year -- and uses IM for customer service because teens are so comfortable using it. "We're not sitting there saying, 'If teens could only get their hands on credit cards, we'd sell a lot more,'" Johnson said. "We'd like it better if they had credit cards, but it's not stopping them from ordering. We're obviously doing everything we can to make it as easy as possible for them to get to know us and trust us." Marketers know that motivated teens will find a way to buy an item online -- even if it means sending a cheque or money order to the company by snail mail. And credit card companies are trying to solve the problem, issuing cards that are connected to their parents' accounts or pre-paid credit cards such as Visa Buxx, which summarizes teens' purchases on their parents' monthly bills. Some teen-oriented sites simply offer really popular products -- notably games and other computer services. "Gaming is such a passion centre that people will do anything to get the money," said Elizabeth Drucker, director of investor relations and corporate communications for Brisbane, California-based gaming site IGN.com. Their average visitor is 22 years old and 45 percent of users are under 18. The site charges $4.95 per month or $24.95 per year for subscriptions. "We even have subscribers sending us cash -- honest to gosh. They're so passionate that they send cash with a note saying, 'Please accept my cash and keep the extra 50 cents as a tip.' The finance dept has some pretty interesting stories." Some teens get around the credit card issue by getting permission from parents or siblings to use their cards and pay them back, just as they might beg to borrow the family car for a Saturday night on the condition they fill up the gas tank. Myung Kim, a 17-year-old, said he frequently purchases computer parts online -- thanks to his dad's Visa. He has built three computers with parts bought on the cheap from overstock electronics specialists online, and he recently bought a laptop in an eBay auction. "Sometimes he gets surprised when he gets those $700 bills," said Kim, who's headed to the University of California at Berkeley in the fall. "But I just tell him to chalk it up to necessary expenses. I'm very selective about what I buy and I don't abuse the credit card, so he's been OK with it." In part to overcome the credit card issue, IGN created an "Adopt an Insider" programme so that subscribers may sponsor would-be members who are unable to pay on their own. Still, the company faces some interesting customer service issues because of its subscribers' payment woes. "We do get calls from parents saying, 'I have this weird charge on my statement. What exactly is IGN?'" Drucker said. "They're worried it's some porn outfit, but once they realise that it's just a gaming company and their kids aren't doing anything unsavory, they're OK with that."
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