Make A Toy, Go To Jail?

[Travis]

I just published my second article on CPSIA's need to regulate the toy industry out of business. Basically it boils down to the fact that all toy manufacturers must pay for an expensive 3rd party certification before they're allowed to sell a toy. Which is fine for the big boys, but not so good for crafters and small business. So the stay-at-home moms who make dolls to sell at craft fairs will be out of business. Organizations who make wooden toys for children during Christmas is out of luck. Can you imagine a world without hand made toys?

 

The law will be in effect come Feb. 10, 2009. You can read my articles below to find out more information.

 

You can read the articles here:

No More Handmade Toys

Save Hand Made Toys

[Gray]

thats a darn shame. i signed the petitian and voted. thanks for telling us about that.

[blame]

it is a shame that our great nations law makers over looked this big problem. with the way things are going its going to cause a very large snow ball effect IMO. i don't think they realize the effect that could possible come from this even to the larger companies. in the end result i only see this as a major issue we should all take time to think about the possible outcomes

 

think about it. if they have 10 toys in there line that's a cost of $2000 to $40000 added to there overhead. which is just passed on to the consumer causing less people to buy there products.

with less people buying. it causes products to be dropped or cutting out jobs causing the unemployment rate to go up. which is happening anyway the more i think about this the more i realize how bad the state of our economy really is in.

[amazingkevin]

It will never stop!

[Jim Finn]

This, and the cost of my liability insurance to cover toys, is the reason I stopped making them. I could earn a good wage making them too.

[spirithorse]

Hi, Travis and Jim,

How did this issue ever pan out?
I still see crafters selling home-made cars, tops, etc. at craft shows and flea markets.

Are they just ignoring the possible consequences or perhaps just don't know about any new regulations on them?
Thanks for any in-put.

 

God Bless! Spirithorse

[tvman44]

All part of a master plan.

[Travis]

I'm not sure of the current status. I think it might be on hold right now. A great place to find the current status is on the Etsy forums. They have a lot of discussions about CPSIA.

 

I think for the time being, people are continuing as they always have, but with the idea they might be out of business soon. I know Etsy toymakers are conscious about using natural materials and disclose a lot of info in their description. But I think this more of an Etsy culture thing, rather than regulations.

[spirithorse]

Thanks for the reply.

I know there is a spring and a fall craft-show in my area that is quite huge at a fair ground.

 

One of the venders there always has a HUGE assortment of Disney and Harley Davidson related intarsia wood-work.

I guess some people think the chances of getting fined for copyright violations is slim and worth the chance

for their sales.

 

By the way, thanks again for all the work you do behind the scenes to keep the forum running smoothly.

God Bless! Spirithorse

[Dan]

I started looking up some info on CPSIA and came across this article in Wikipedia of all places: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Product_Safety_Improvement_Act. Although it is not up to date, there is some good background info in the article. 

 

[On my soap box]

 

Although the issue of child safety is not the only topic in the bill, I will not market any of my items as children's toys for now. If I make any wooden cars or trains, these will be sold as novelty items for adults. I will let the parents decide how they use them. Our government is putting its hands into the pockets of middle-class America and taking our rights and freedoms. The more regulations our government creates that control our actions, the more socialist our government becomes.

 

[Off my soap box]