this will most likely affect you

Have you heard about the Consumer Product Safety Consumer Act? It's a federal law that will go into effect on Feb 10th 2009. The Act was passed by the U.S. House and Senate and then signed into law by President Bush on August 14th, 2008.

Here's how it will affect those selling their children's goods on etsy. This article really clarified a few things for me. It may seem wordy, but I really feel that it is important to read.

The law will have a very negative impact on those who sell handmade children's goods, and thrift/consignment shops if some things are not changed about it. Some people are even calling Feb 10th, National bankruptcy Day.

The first question I asked myself was, what can I do to help change this? This is a website that Chad found.

If you feel like it needs to be changed too, maybe you can look into these links I have posted, or find your own information, and try to do what you can to stop this law from being enacted the way it is now.

my two cents:

The law is meant to be a good thing, it brings more safety to our children. But it was passed too fast, and there are some big changes that need to occur, or the repercussions will be astounding.

The way the law is written now means that many small businesses will be forced to go out of business and stores will no longer be able to sell used children's goods (thrift stores), because the price for testing lead is too high for small businesses to pay. The fact that they need to be tested is not the problem here, the problem is that it will cost too much and people will be unable to pay for their product to be tested. Especially for those who own: thrift stores, consignment stores, small handcrafted boutiques, and those who make beautiful and unique children's clothing and toys (like on Etsy), AND even very small "businesses" like my self. In order to sell my slings, and be in compliance with the law I would have to get them tested and approved first. That is in no way worth it to me to keep selling them. The way the law is written now is not fair to ALL businesses and therefore I feel it needs to be changed, other wise our landfills will fill up with stuff that would have been useful for many, but because of a law they are unable to buy.