If You Are Like Me...

Then you like to have a little extra spending money.

Or, you do things to help make ends meet from time to time...
Like sell on eBay. Or Etsy.

Maybe you sell your children's outgrown clothing through a consignment shop.
Or perhaps you make homemade items for children (baby blankets, bibs, toys, dresses...) and sell them online or locally.

If you are like me, you absolutely MUST read THIS.

The implications of CPSIA are enormous and far-reaching:

Whether you run a small, mom & pop retail store, a consignment shop, a children's toy shop or bookstore, or even if you just make cute, homemade items (like baby blankets, or dolls, or pacifiers!) to sell or give away, this affects you.

You can no longer make & sell or distribute ANY items for children (even items made before this legislation takes affect) without first testing EACH and EVERY batch for lead and phthalates!
If you own a bookstore or toy store, each and every batch of each item must be tested.

"According to the actual scope and wording of this bill (H.R.4040), as of Feb. 10, 2009, all products made and/or marketed to children under the age of 12 will have to comply with mandatory lead and phthalates testing for each component of each product they sell or face felony charges and hefty fines."

Look, I am wanting tougher laws and safety standards
to protect our children, too.
But let's face it, it's not the "mom & pop" stores
that are poisoning our children!
And it's not the corner children's bookshop or
that granny knitting blankets, either.
It's IMPORTED, CHEAP, Poorly-made goods from countries like
CHINA
that are causing the alarm and this subsequent (and extreme!) backlash.

Maybe you think I am just being a "Chicken Little," but if we do not stand up and fight this -- make our voices heard -- we stand to lose a lot. Many small businesses will disappear from the American landscape. What happened to freedom and independence??

Our country is already in an economic crisis and they want to further LIMIT the average American's ability to make money and pay bills? Does that make any sense to you?

Our landfills are already overflowing and have become a serious problem, and they want to DUMP all this perfectly good clothing and books and toys into the ground to rot? What a waste.

If even charitable organizations are held liable for the items they GIVE AWAY, will charity as we know it, cease to exist???

What will happen to stores like Salvation Army and Goodwill and America's Thrift -- where MOST of the clothing of lower income family children is purchased?

These are important questions & if you are like me, you want answers NOW.

Go HERE to read more.
And HERE.