Hi, all. I've been lurking, but as I'm guessing you've noticed, I haven't been able to blog lately. Personal stuff has kept me away, but now's not the time for that.
Anyhow, I wanted to blog about this, but I have to be brief. (I have "work work" to do tonight. Yuck.)
So the deal is, after Feb 10, 2009, reselling kids' toys, clothes, or virtually anything used by any child under 12, will be ILLEGAL. Unless, of course you can afford third party testing of you yardsale goods.
My sister brought it to my attention, and to be honest, I thought for sure this was bogus or blown out of proportion or something. I mean, we would have known about this, right? Wouldn't there be parens up in arms about this? Wouldn't the "green movement" have spoken up about this or something? Can you imagine the waste?! Also, it could severely affect people who make hand-made childrens items. (So much for supporting independent business owners on by buying kids' stuff off of etsy or ebay.) While the initial intent of the law made sense, the implementation is ill-conceived and too broadly written.
So, here are a couple links with details:
Of course, I may have missed something, (ie, I can't find the law let alone where it says/implies doom for consignment shops, yard sales, and other resellers of used goodies such as Blockbuster, GameStop, etc.), so if any of those more fluent in legalese have any further details to offer for clarification, please do.
here's a link to an official government page on that law
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html
I haven't read it in depth but when I fould it last night this was the page the confirmed for me that this was truly happening. I found it via
this link on the fb group
http://www.duckduckgooseconsignment.com/CPSIAlaw.html
then through this link
http://www.tgtbt.com/w-agora/view.php?bn=tgtbt_selling&key=1230585520
then to the first one.
This is something that has been a VERY hot topic item in the fourms on Etsy because many people make & sell children's items and would not want to have to pay to remain in business. Mostly because they are making a small salary to begin with. Since I don't delve into that niche it was not something I put a lot of stock into researching but I got your email as well and this might be a good topic to touch base on for GLR, yes.
There were some fabulous links in the forum topics as well so let me look into all of this a little bit and see what I can come up with for the blog. Hope all is well and we'll see you blogging again soon 🙂
UPDATE: The CPSC has clarified that the act will NOT require sellers of used items to certify their goods. However, they could face civil and/or criminal penalties if they sell items that do not meet the standards outlined in the Act.
Find details at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html
(Thanks, Laura.)
I still don’t see clarification on how this will affect sellers of handmade goods, but at the very least, the consignment shops will be able to stay in business, and truckloads of children’s goods will stay out of the landfills for now.
Etsy heated up with this topic as soon as it was announced and I guess it took over enough that now it has its own Forum. You can read forum topics even without an account and there is a plethora of info, great links but too many to list here. Hope that gives you some additional good info. It is not something that effects me currently but the line of bibs I was considering is now right out.
Thanks, Jenn! Though I’m registered at etsy, I’ve never really taken the chance to feel my way around. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction on this one.
i guess they feel it’s a safety issue because of old items that were recalled, but never returned and furniture that contains lead and what-not.
most people i know that have used items for their kids had the items given to them and when they’re finished with them they give them away as well so it’s not likely that anything would end up in a landfill that doesn’t already…yes, it’s already too much, but if the stuff contains lead we don’t want our children sleeping in it or putting it in their mouths anyway, right? also, this will really only apply to new retailers and for items that could contain lead. basically, not used clothing.
this is straight from the web site provided by laura s: “The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.
The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.”
hope your life smooths out soon julie.
peace to you.
xoxo