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Curriculum › Grades 6-8 › Life Skills & Career Paths

Being a Smart Consumer: Warranties, Returns, and Scams

  • Grades 6-8
  • Life Skills & Career Paths
  • JS:FD-8
  • Consumer Skills
  • Free lesson

Aligned to JS:FD-8 — Jump$tart National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education & Advance CTE Career Clusters.

What this lesson teaches

Before a big purchase, three questions protect you: what is the total cost, what happens if it breaks, and can I return it. Scams work by removing your time to think, so any message that demands you act immediately deserves the most suspicion, not the least.

Worked examples

Example 1

A printer at $79 needs $60 of ink every few months. The total cost of owning it is far above the shelf price, which is exactly how it was priced.

Example 2

A warranty covers defects, not damage. A cracked screen from dropping it is not a defect, which is why extended warranties often pay out less than people expect.

Example 3

'Your account will be closed in one hour unless you confirm your password' is a scam. Real institutions do not give you an hour, and they never ask for your password.

Practice questions

  1. Work out the 2-year cost of a $79 printer needing $60 of ink 4 times a year.
  2. Name the difference between a defect and damage.
  3. List three signs that a message is a scam.

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

▶ Watch this lesson

En español

Ser un consumidor inteligente: garantías, devoluciones y estafas

Antes de una compra grande, tres preguntas te protegen: cuál es el costo total, qué pasa si se descompone y si se puede devolver. Las estafas funcionan quitándote el tiempo de pensar, así que cualquier mensaje que exija actuar de inmediato merece la mayor sospecha, no la menor.

Ejemplo 1: Una impresora de $79 necesita $60 de tinta cada pocos meses. El costo total de tenerla está muy por encima del precio del estante, que es justo como se fijó ese precio.

Ejemplo 2: Una garantía cubre defectos, no daños. Una pantalla rota por caerse no es un defecto, por eso las garantías extendidas pagan menos de lo que la gente espera.

Ejemplo 3: 'Tu cuenta será cerrada en una hora si no confirmas tu contraseña' es una estafa. Las instituciones reales no te dan una hora, y nunca te piden tu contraseña.

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