Need a little perspective here...please! ;)

[Former_Member]

Somehow I think I must have been living under a rock for the past year or so, because I am just finding out about all fo the CPSIA laws today....yikes! I'm kind of having a panic attack at the moment.

I have pulled everything from my site that I'm unsure about, and have thankfully discovered that the vendor I order the most from is compliant. From here on out I'll make sure I comply with the laws.

Here's my question, though....what about all of my previous sales? Have any of you been in this situation? Have you ordered a recall? Sent an email alert? I'm not even sure that I've used anything that would violate the laws, but it's just that i can't confirm that the embellishments on hairclips, etc., would pass the tests.

I would love any feedback. I'm really stressing out about this at the moment!

Thanks, and many blessings!

Liz

[Former_Member]

Unless you knowingly made & sold something that was hazardous, I don't think there is any need for panic. Once you have read the mass amount of CPSIA information, you will find that it is a lot of to do about nothing when it comes to home crafters.

[TheDopamineShoppe]

Dammit. I thought you were selling cookies and was gonna offer to eat all your bad inventory. :oD

[Former_Member]

Thanks so much for the feedback!

Love the "cookies" comment!!! Ha! ;)

Liz

[Former_Member]

VandysVarietyShoppe says:
Unless you knowingly made & sold something that was hazardous, I don't think there is any need for panic. Once you have read the mass amount of CPSIA information, you will find that it is a lot of to do about nothing when it comes to home crafters.
-----------------
I sat in virtual Labs when the gentleman from CPSIA came to etsy and I don't know that any of the above statement is true.

It is important, you are responsible if you are not compliant if something were to happen.

I would focus on being compliant going forward and perhaps talk with the folks at CPSIA about what you should do regarding past oitems that may not have been safe.

Folks have to remember if you are a sole proprietorship all of your personal assets are attached god forbid there were ever a problem ... it is easy for people to be cavalier but you really need to think like a business and not like a crafter at a show ( who also really need to think like a business too for their own protection ) LOL

[GatheringSplendor]

Great advice for everyone from newhopebeadings--thanks

[Former_Member]

You may want to carefully review your listings again. Remember even though there is a stay of lead testing on children's products, you still need to know what the lead levels are for for your products that contain non-exempted components. Also you need to make sure on children's items that you have all the required labels in your listing, & on the product and packaging; like the CPSIA tracking label, and any other CPSC warnings and certain products made from fabric &/or fibers regardless of the age the product is made for, need a FTC label as well. So either pull items that are being described or sized as for a child under 13 or for items that can be used by adults more than a child rewrite the descriptions and tags in a way that does not draw attention to it as a product for a child, until you can call component manufacturers to get your test certificates & link then to which specific products of yours that used that component and do the tracking labels.
For the current full list of raw materials offically exempt from lead testing please read http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr09/leaddeterminationsfinalrule-draft.pdf
An update on the stay of 3rd party & component testing
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10083.html
Tracking labels
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/sect103policy.pdf
FTC main
http://www.ftc.gov
Clothing, accessories and home furnishings care and content labeling
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/textile/bus21.shtm#covered
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/textile/bus50.shtm#Complying

If you are marketing or describing an item as being appropriate for children 3 and under you will need small parts testing if an item has a part that fails the "tube test" then it can not be sold for that age group. For items described or marketed as for children 4 yrs old to 6 yrs old you need to have the correctly formatted small parts warning in your listing and another on the product or packaging of the product if there are components small enought to fail the small parts testing. Also a general statement made that a product should be used under supervision because of small parts does not absolve you from doing the testing and you need to include a specific age group that should not be using the product. So your warning in one listing that goes "*Please be aware that hair clips contain small parts that could pose a choking hazard to small children! Always use with caution and supervision!!!" The warning in the listing should read more like :
This product is not a toy. It contains small parts that pose a choking hazard. NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN 3 and UNDER.
Here's info about small parts warnings and how they should appear in your listings / ads
http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/FOIA/FOIA08/brief/toygameads.pdf page 19 of the PDF has the abbreviations & page 20 of the PDF has the warning examples are in black-n-white but I believe they need to be in certain colors on the actual label for the physical product.
Small Parts Regulations Summary http://www.cpsc.gov/BUSINFO/regsumsmallparts.pdf
Small Parts labeling
http://www.cpsc.gov/BUSINFO/label.pdf
Maybe some one else has a link to a plain english version of the small parts regulations, but these 2 links are the best I have.

In certain states the Attorney Generals have decided to make the law retro-active so in addition to contacting the CPSIA you may need to call your State's AG office to ask some questions about how they are handling the CPSIA. http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/advisory/317.pdf


Just as newhopebeading pointed out, even if you're just selling your products to make your hobby pay for itself, you need to think like a business. Under the CPSIA if your products are called into question about being compliant you can be investigated and if found at fault have to pay fines and penalties at the same starting level as an international corporations per infraction. As for being out of compliancy all a consumer needs to do is report you to their state's GA or the CPSC for not having the correct info on the tracking label.

[Former_Member]

I responded in you other Post,,

[Former_Member]

Wow! Thank you all for this incredible wealth of info. I am trying not to panic...but being an extremely small business, I'm not sure that I can afford to create items for children anymore. I've changed many of my listings, and tags, and added a new policy in my shop announcement. I'm going to have to go through this very carefully to see whether or not I can make it work.

Thank you very much, again!

Liz

[Former_Member]

Until the CPSIA gets their own act together, it is sometimes best to just set aside making children's items that are questionable & focus on similar items for the older 12 age group. It could be years before the CPSIA gets everything sorted out.

[Former_Member]

If you take it a step at a time its not so scary. I see mostly hats, so I started with making sure the products I'm using to create met the standard and got the certificates I needed. Then I focused on learning how to make the labels. Then, I sewed them in. Next, I added the small parts warnings to applicable listings. Now I'm re-vamping all items that are for children under 3 that have decorative small parts. It sounds like a lot, but if you do a little at a time, you'll be OK. Just pick a place to start.

[Former_Member]

sell . . . not see. (My fingers are having a Monday!)

[Former_Member]

Thank you, again. I've actually spent the afternoon making phone calls to vendors, and researching. I've actually been able to find a vendor who sells ribbon that is completely compliant, and placed a large order from them--less expensive than where I got ribbon in the past--so that's good!

I've also called the company that I get glue sticks from (Sure Bonder) and they are sending me the certificate of testing, as their products HAVE been tested and ARE safe!!! I don't think anyone had requested this before--which is incredible to me!

I have a call out to my clip co., and haven't heard back, but was able to find online vendors that sell clips that HAVE been tested, and has the certificate downloadable on their site.

Soooo--if I stick to ribbon, glue, and clips, and tag my items appropriately, I'm being fully compliant! Yay! :)

[Former_Member]

Hooray! Look at you! You're almost done with the most frustrating part! Then, you add the labeling info to your packaging, make sure the small parts thing is under control and you'll really have to search for more to do with this! Great work!

[Former_Member]

Thank you so much for your encouragement, moandozzy! ;) I'm going to focus on clips/bows for children under three that have no small parts attached, and revamp my warning labels. Obviously, I won't be able to attach a tag to each bow/clip, but if I do it on the card that the items are attached to, is that enough. I'm pretty sure it falls under the exemption.

Thanks so much, again! ;)

[Former_Member]

I think that's fine. I purchased hair elastics the other day that had the small parts warning on the tag they were attatched to. :)

[serendipityscreation]

Awww my latest made additions to my store won't be added I guess. Seems like it'd be easier to ask what DOESN'T have lead in it. If I read correctly, thread isn't exempt. Sewing thread? really? I haven't even had a sale yet I'm debating if I should edit everything or delete it all.

[Former_Member]

Thread is exempt as long as it is free of metallic fibers...same goes for fabric.

[Former_Member]

Such great info!! Thank you all!

[Former_Member]

jewelrydesignsbyME says:

The warning in the listing should read more like :
This product is not a toy. It contains small parts that pose a choking hazard. NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN 3 and UNDER.
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I agree!!! But want to make sure the OP knows then it really CAN"T be an item for children lol . I will sometimes see folks with this warning on an item clearly marketed and intended for a child (tiny items of clothing or jewelry made only in infant sizes and with the item's title being "Infant item xyz" lol)

This type warning is not for putting on something that is clearly a child's item :)

[Former_Member]

Just a bit of clarification on my part for my earlier posts that may have seemed that I was being a little too non chalant in this discussion & I do apologize for that. As a parent & grand parent, I do take children's safety very seriously. What I don't like to see are crafters/small craft businesses,etc. being so intimidated by this CPSIA law that they become overwhelmed & stressed out about it to the point of "panic". This CPSIA law is a law that was poorly thought out in its wording during the swiftness to get it passed. It was a reactionary law, a reaction to the many problems resulting from the importation of mass produced children's products that were not being monitored through the already existing safety standards & the inadequacies of the CPSIA in enforcing those already existing child safety laws. 2 years ago when talk of this new CPSIA law surfaced amongst Etsy sellers, there indeed was mass confusion & panic. No other selling venue that I am aware of, had such a mass amount of discussion in the forums with such mass panic.
Had the CPSIA given crafters & small craft oriented businesses a full exemption or "grace" period in which to use up their existing stock of supplies & materials & then proceed to purchase their necessary compliant components & materials, from those suppliers & mthat were now making their products according to the already existing safety standards as well as any new safety standards, the transition would have been much easier,smoother & organized with as little stress as possible to those that it seemed to affect the most - the home crafters & craft businesses. The CPSIA should have been more open to the public and addressed the nation as a whole to educate the general public about these existing & new safety standards that are needed to control hazardous chemicals & so forth in their manufacturing processes. There was no need for & still is no need for panic over this CPSIA law, but it may still exist because the CPSIA did not do its job in educating the general public.