When I was 8? I think, I used to take a bus to go get a VHS tape from the local rental shop. It's important for kids to have autonomy. In Japan, its pretty common to send even younger kids out on errands.
When I was growing up in the 70s, it was totally normal for a dad to give their under 10 year old kid some money and send them to the corner store to buy a pack of cigarettes for dad.
Japan namely. While I cannot say whether or not a store would sell beer to a 5 year old, no longer can anyone just buy beer or cigarettes (and more) from vending machines.
