Resale of children’s clothes, toys stopped??

I really enjoy shooping at thrift stores & yard sales for toys & kids clothes. I was half asleep this morning when I thought I heard something about a new law that could stop the resale of these items at thrift stores. I did a quick serach on the internet to see if I heard what I thought I heard ... In any case, have any of you seen anything about this?

http://www.weatherfordtelegram.net/112/story/3553.html

 

The new law was put on hold. I will try to find the source and post a link.

 

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09120.html

 

Today I went to the Guardian Angel in Fuquay to make a donation. I noticed at the drop off area a sign saying they were no longer accepting children's plastic toys due to new consumer protection laws.

 

This is a crazy law....I mean really...if the first kid who enjoyed the toy is alive and well then the second will be just fine ...don't you think...people are just freakin' crazy with this when for YEARS kids have been exposed to lead constantly. I mean they are so concerned with lead and yet kids WRITE with lead in school and erase lead when erasing their papers and then breathe in lead contaminated eraser particles - oh please - I even ate a pencil when I was a kid and I am okay (don't ask - it tasted good) but really...LOL

 

Aren't pencil leads nowadays made out of graphite? I really don't think they are made of actual lead anymore, I could be wrong, I have been before......

 

No, you are absolutely correct. The "lead" in pencils is graphite. And ingesting lead is serious business, it can cause irreversible brain damage in children.

 

Here's a little history on why pencil lead is called Lead.

 

Well....................there you go! Thanks for the history lesson Koo! :jester:

 

I have chemistry on the brain today!

As for the reselling of the toys, I can see where the concern lies. Lead poisoning is nothing to mess around with. Sure the first kid could be completely fine playing with the toy by playing with it a total of 3 times and never once put it in their mouth or sleeping with the toy. Then you decide they don't play with it too often or out grow the toy, put it up for sale and the next kid who owns it loves it so much he eats the wheel or she sucks on the dolls plastic hand. Or even their threshold level of lead is lowered due to being exposed more in to lead in other areas of their life. There are main variables that could raise a concern.
On the other hand, yes, it puts a huge damper on finding cheap gently used clothes and toys for ever growing children. I have two that keep me needing more stuff.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

This wasn't direct towards you KDC... just the board in general. Ya know what I mean.:mrgreen:

 

I know what you meant. Makes me glad DS is beyond the age where this is going to be an issue for me. However, I think it's going to put a damper on re-selling at thrift shops and ebay for sure.

 

So I guess they will be checking on people who are selling them at yard sales too??

 

Can't we just impose a 'cleaning & inspection' rule like they do for mattresses?

 

What I'm going to hate about it is the fact that Good Will, Salvation Army, etc prolly will have to stop taking toy donations. Now what will I do with all the kids crap when I'm tired of seeing it lay around! :lol:

 

Many manufacturers have websites that list recalls. If a toy isn't on a recall list you should be able to resell it. I buy toys all the time from goodwill or yardsales that can still be found brand new on store shelves. It seems soooo wasteful to say toys cannot be resold. I understand trying to be safe ... but this seems a little extreme.

 

The rule is not actually that toys cannot be resold, but that if they are and it turns out they have excessive lead, the seller can be held liable. Now, if some genius could just come up with a quick, inexpensive way to test for lead, that should solve the problem!

 

Turn over, if it says "Made In China" don't sell it! :mrgreen:

 

Doesn't the rule extend to clothes as well? I understand the need for safety, but this is going to hurt a lot of families that rely on gently used items for thier families.

 

I just feel like this is going to hurt many families who are already pinching pennies due to the poor economy. It will also fill the landfills. The toy manufactures will make more money because families will have to buy used rather than new. However, I really feel like it should be the manufactures duty to ensure the toys they produce are lead free. They should be required to engrave on all toys & clothes from the day this law is enforced forward saying something like "GUARANTEED LEAD FREE". Really, this new law smells like a way for the original manufactures to spread the blame for doing a poor job initially ... while at the same time boosting new toy sales. The manufuctures are the ones who should be responsible for the testing ... not those who purchased the toys & would like to resale them later. Manufactures should be required to maintain a public database so toy & clothing resalers can quickly determine if a particular item is contaminated with lead. If the toy is ... then the toy's owner should be able to return the toy to the crappy original manufacturer for a credit rather than worrying about reselling the toy and endangering someone else. If the toys are dangerous, the original manufactures should suck up the losses and be held responsible for collecting & disposing of the toys. Maybe if the original manufactures where held more accountable, they would be a little more careful of what they put in children's toys to begin with. A dangerous toy should have never been sold to begin with ... so trying to make consumers pay for the mistakes of others after the fact seems really stupid.

 

i give my kids toys away to the 'good' kids down the road.