Most children who want a bit of extra pocket money start a paper round or set up a homemade lemonade stall.

But eight-year-old Sam Meisel watched his father Wayne selling old clothes and jewellery on the online auction site eBay and thought he would give it a go.

The young eBay entrepreneur has now made around £200 selling his toys and games - to the astonishment of his parents.

All the money is going directly into his parents' account, to help them through the economic crisis.

Mother Dani said: "We told the children that things are difficult for a lot of people; that business isn't going well at the moment, and we have to be responsible about money. Sam is taking it seriously like you wouldn't believe. When he sells things on eBay, he doesn't ask for the money back, he lets it go into our account. He wants us to have the money for the family."

The Shenley United Synagogue members live in Radlett and father Wayne is a broker. "We are very lucky and we have a nice lifestyle, but we do need to cut back a lot," Mrs Meisel said. "We tell our kids that times are tough and they will get better but, for now, we have to watch what we spend. We like them to know things don't come on a golden platter.

"Sam hasn't sold anything of ours - it's all his toys. Other kids would just throw them away or put them out of sight and forget about them. My father lives in Rwanda, which has taught my kids a lot about poverty, and they always want to contribute money to the poor people there as well."

Mr Meisel said he had originally taught his son how to put his completed Wii games on the auction site, and they sold for £100. Sam then began putting all his old toys and games on eBay - pricing them, photographing them, writing descriptions and calculating postage.

"He has around 26 items for sale at the moment but I check everything now. He got it straight away; he just caught on."

Sam, a pupil at Michael Sobell Sinai School, said: "I decided I wanted to sell some of my toys and get some money for my family.

"It's fun seeing what's selling, who is bidding, and how much they want to pay. My dad has to check everything I sell now. I am looking for more stuff to sell but there's not much left. I do see stuff I want to buy. I'd like to buy maybe one thing every year".

But business success has not meant Sam losing his moral compass.

"Sometimes I see stuff for a lot of money, which isn't worth it. So I think of trying to charge that amount of money, but I know it's not worth that, so I wouldn't do it. I don't want to cheat people out of money."