Thrifty parents, say 'bye-bye' to bargains thanks to CPSIA
Filed under: Bargains, Kids and Money, Shopping
I can't remember the last clothing I bought for any of my three little boys from a regular retail store. I (and my wallet) prefer to stock their closets with a funky variety of clothes picked up at thrift stores, garage sales, and the Goodwill outlet. Same with the majority of our toys and kids' room bedding. What I don't buy used, I buy (as much as possible) from small local crafters or other small toymakers.I was already ranting and raving about how the CPSIA -- the bill that requires toys and children's products (from clothing to bicycles to sippy cups) be tested for lead and phthalates before they can be sold -- will put most small toymakers out of business in the U.S. entirely. Then tonight one of my friends brought it to my attention that these same restrictions will virtually end all resale business in children's products. While the phthalates testing is only required on products manufactured after the act goes into effect on February 10, 2009, the lead testing is required on all products sold in the country, including resale. This means no thrift stores, no Goodwill, no garage sales, no rummage sales, no eBay, no toys or baby clothes or cute children's t-shirts at craft bazaars, no nothing that hasn't been passed through the CPSC with its enormously expensive testing requirements.
Update: As of January 8th, CPSC issued a bulletin that essentially said it would not require resellers to test for lead and phthalates, though they still should not sell items with levels of lead that are too high, or recalled products.(Though it appears that XRF-gun technology can be used until late this year, when everything will have to be tested through an independent lab -- obviously impossible for a thrift store, where no item is alike and the manufacturer is far distant.)
Both my husband and I were raised in large, decidedly poor families. If our parents couldn't have bought clothing, furniture, toys, shoes, and bedding from thrift stores; well, we wouldn't have needed dressers to store our single set of clothing and our one toy each. (Maybe this bill is secretly anti-stuff?) It seems patently ridiculous that such a bill could shut down a whole retail channel; not only wildly increasing the cost of clothing and toys for thrifty, green-minded and low-income parents, but shuttering thousands of businesses and making surviving thrift stores' processes enormously complicated.
Let me make this clear. This is not an overstatement: I can not go to Goodwill and buy a screenprinted cotton child's t-shirt after February 10, unless changes are made to the current CPSIA. I can not sell my baby stroller on craigslist. I can not hold a garage sale and offer my kids' least favorite toys. Nothing with buttons, zippers, sequins, plastic parts. I search my kids' closets for my best finds and everything I encounter would be banned for sale under the law -- products are presumed guilty until proven innocent of lead, at the cost of the manufacturer or seller.
Now, that just doesn't seem constitutional, does it?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-06-2009 @ 7:36AM
Kat said...
This is insane! I can understand the government's desire to be careful, but really, this is getting out of hand.
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1-06-2009 @ 9:15AM
Valerie at Jacobsen Books said...
No, it doesn't seem constitutional.
I own a used bookstore and also sell books over the Internet.
After 2-10-2009, I will not be able to sell used children's books in the United States of Amerca. I will also not be able to export them.
Selling used children's books anywhere will put me at a risk of prosecution with fines up to $100,000 and jail terms of up to 5 years.
Will Goodnight Moon be slipped into a plain brown wrapper and passed under the counter after this?
I'm putting up a chain across the children's area of our store with a sign reading "BANNED HAZARDOUS MATERIAL," which is what the law calls our selection of great reading for children.
Calling everyone I can,
Valerie
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1-06-2009 @ 9:39AM
Doc M said...
Who introduced this comprehensive legislation? This person needs to hear from his/her constituency, or if this is government department originated, the head of the principal agency needs to hear the reactions of the general populace (us folks). In any event, contact your congressman/congresswoman and demand that this legal extension of a piece of protective legislation be amended to at least include some common sense. Incidentally, that commodity, common sense, appears to be perishing in this TV-fed country.
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1-06-2009 @ 9:37AM
Michael Carruth said...
We are having a terrible time with the CPSIA in the BMX bicycle industry, where most of the manufacturers are small, independent companies who do short production runs, and will now have to test every part of every size, of every color, of every production lot (equaling about $8,000 per complete bike size/color/production run).
This almost seems like one of those laws that is so stringent, that even the most law-abiding citizen simply cannot comply with it.
It is a clear example of what happens when, though well intentioned, government comes in and places across-the-board, blanket restrictions on entire segments of the economy.
Any now we're going to spend *another* $800BN in stimulus, while at the same time hyper-burdening business (with the requirement to test or destroy merchandise) and consumers (who may not have resale as an option) with expenses they never had.
It's like coming to the starting line of the Olympic finals, only to be handed a blindfold and be told "oh...by the way, you have to wear THIS."
-M
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1-06-2009 @ 10:35AM
Pamela Kramer said...
Thank you for spreading the word to your readers.
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1-06-2009 @ 10:35AM
Grandma Ann said...
Ok. There is NO way the government can oversee every garage and yard sale. This is patently silly.
What IS apparent is that this is another way to shut down the "used" market for businesses....and give away that business to .....wait for it.....CHINA! It is MORE than apparent that the government does not check goods anad foods imprted from China. So let them poison our kids, and the hand me down OshKosh has to be thrown out?
Not none of me, ladies. I want to be the first test case on this matter when I hold my spring yard sale. Goverment officers, come and get me. Coffee will be on the side table, and no, I do not have a food and beverage license, and the music is free because no, I do not have a cabaret license, either. And please wait for me to report the "profits" on my yard sale for income tax purposes, as well as apply for a permit or a business license, not to mention the sales tax you will be waiting for till hell freezes over.
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1-06-2009 @ 11:59AM
reginajordan73 said...
Just file for a bailout when you can't make your rent or mortgage payment because the government won't let you sell your own products. Reckon what the chances are for that?! The government needs to mind their own business! The black market will be booming after Feb. 10th. Soon we'll be buying kids books and clothes out of backs of vans and from the guy on the corner who flashes you a quick look at his stock under his coat.
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1-06-2009 @ 1:25PM
kw said...
I think that their should be some kind of certified label or marking on each item that is produced as safe that can be sold so that this won't stop items in the future from being sold second hand
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1-06-2009 @ 1:33PM
kw said...
What will stop people from selling items as collectors items with signs that say not to be used by children ? Or just sold as not to be used by children. Later those who bought these items could use them however they wanted. I am not sure how the law is written up but there are always those who find loopholes somewhere to get around these type of laws.
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1-07-2009 @ 1:52PM
midi73 said...
You know this whole thing is reminding me more and more of that old TV show called Max Headroom. Any of you remember that show ? It was set "20 minutes into the future" or something like that.
There was an episode about the Censor--who banned all books for any children and it was illegal to teach them to read unless they were in a government program.
Gee, are we heading that way? Seems more and more like it.
I make one of a kind items too and this law is going to make it a pit unless someone does something. I've contacted local radio shows, national radio shows and tv shows an no response.
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1-07-2009 @ 11:40PM
Dustin said...
It can be construed that the people who came up with this bill are some of the same people who feel that the environment is a serious concern. However, after Feb. 10 any item in a thrift store, consignment shop or garage sale will be considered toxic waste and must be disposed of in the trash and then sent to a landfill. How environmentally friendly is that???
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1-15-2009 @ 11:20PM
Serenyd said...
First and foremost, I want to know my kids are safe from toxic toys and goods. If that means throwing everything out and starting over, well then that is what we need to do. Perhaps the government could soften the burden on small businesses in the U.S. by starting a program to help them test their products at a reduced cost? I've already written my senator voicing my concern. I am happy to be able to buy US products ... they are the ones that are trying to keep the toxins out of the products they sell. I know quite a few parents are refusing to buy any toys made in china. I think it's a good idea, but like someone else said, we're not going to have any choice if they put all the small US toy companies out of business. Maybe we'll have to make our own toys, like the pioneers used to do!
1-15-2009 @ 11:19PM
Serenyd said...
I should add that my oldest son had lead in his blood when he was tested as a toddler. Not over the limit, but too high for my liking. It's been said that any level of lead in the blood is not good, esp. for a developing child.
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1-08-2009 @ 12:14PM
Pheisty said...
Let's not forget how we got here.
Smoking bans, seatbelt laws, etc, etc.
Once you allow government to come into your life and restrict your personal choices under the 'good intention' of saving you from yourself, this is where you wind up.
I've been preaching about the 'slippery slope' of paternalistic government for a decade, and everyone thought I was crazy.
Well???
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1-09-2009 @ 4:02PM
SaveKidsResale said...
Please visit savekidsresale.com CPSC came out with a press release yesterday which they indicated would absolve the resale industry, but yet, it doesn’t… The CPSC’s press release is basically an attempt to imply that shop owners become bootleggers. No different really from Prohibition. Liquor was illegal, government mostly looked the other way ignoring the speak easy’s, but the cops
could still arrest you and throw you in jail if the anti-liquor crowd made a stink to local law enforcement. Prohibition was repealed as we know - it took a little while.
Don’t you find it curious that not one of our state or federal officials have gone on TV in person to address the issue?
Please consider visiting the savekidsresale.com and sign the petition and send e-mail to congress.
Deb
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2-07-2009 @ 12:44AM
Rhonda said...
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/815399-overview
our kids are being poisoned and you guys are worried you can't have a yard sale? by the way lead poisoning effects adults too. Looks like lead poisoning effects an adults ability to prioritize between thier children's health and the ability to sell all of the unnecessary crap we buy them every day.
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