The clothes off our (kids’) backs?
Posted
January 5, 2009 at
7:00 pm by
Marge
At our house, we’re really big fans of consignment shops. Nearly half of my kids’ closets are filled with threads I’ve picked up at places like Kid to Kid and Children’s Orchard. A new law (the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) apparently may push these shops out of businesses by forcing all used clothes and toys to be tested for lead and other chemicals. Trent over at The Simple Dollar has a great recap and analysis on the issue.
Don’t get me wrong, I think some government regulations make sense. After all, without them we probably wouldn’t have car seats, kids would have limbs stuck in cribs and clothing with drawstrings may still be choking our little ones.
This time, I think Congress has jerked their knees and thrown some good babies out with the bathwater. It appears that the relative risk from used clothing and toys is fairly minimal for the amount of work required to test for it. Not only will this new law effect consignment store owners and those who buy from and sell to them, it also hits your local thrift shops and the nonprofits that rely on them for income to support community services. It appears there may be ramifications for garage sales and home crafters who sell their wares.
Be sure to check out The Simple Dollar for more details. If you’re concerned, you may want to hit your local consignment shop to buy and sell before it goes into effect on Feb. 10.
Tags: Children's Orchard, Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, Kid to Kid, The Simple Dollar |
7 Responses to “The clothes off our (kids’) backs?”
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1. GrandmafrKs.
January 6, 2009 @ 1:22 am
Marge, I suppose this means the Goodwill, DAV and Thrift Marts as well, it will be a shame for the parents who really count on these thrift stores for their kids clothing, also I know my Daughter donated about 22 school uniforms to Goodwill a couple years ago, and they said they had several moms looking for the uniforms, and we know they are not cheap, even at Wal-Mart, espically when you have 3-4 kids in the same school and different sizes,
So if this goes thru there will be a lot of ppl who will be doing with out, but the Goverment don’t really care about that ,it’s not their kids.
2. Hillary
January 6, 2009 @ 4:28 pm
I just made a huge run to Goodwill with some children’s clothing. Perhaps this act was made with the right intentions, but I think it’s going way too far.
3. Kymberly
January 7, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
Okay but seriously, if the Gap Kids jacket I buy at consignment was already tested by Gap (for example) why would it need to be tested againfor resale?
4. perpstu
January 9, 2009 @ 1:32 am
Ugh. If this passes, there will be a lot of unhappy parents and nekkid children running around. For many, secondhand is the only way they can afford keeping their kids clothed. It’s a shame….
5. Allison G_MOD
January 9, 2009 @ 12:22 pm
I just saw a little thing on my news about this. They said that thrift/consignment stores won’thave to do their own testing, but if a donated product has been tested by the manufacturers and is shown to have more than the allowed limit of lead, then thrift stores can’t sell those items.
It’s the same process when they get a donated carseat or something else that is known to be recalled, they just throw it away.
6. 1stkidswholesale
February 5, 2010 @ 5:29 am
Hi,
http://www.1stkidswholesale.co.uk is your one stop shop for baby whole sale clothing with fine quality - available with all top brands Barbie, Ben 10, Disney, Peppa Pig, fifi, Scooby Doo, high school musical, bob the builder and many more.
1stkidswholesale.co.uk
7. Jordans
February 24, 2010 @ 8:17 pm
Great article. Yea they can be a pain but as you said are needed at times.