When you voted to pass the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act):
-Did you really mean to close thousands of resale, consignment and nonprofit thrift stores and make second hand kid's clothes illegal as of February 10th?
-Did you really mean to put thousands of Americans out of work? Bankrupt small store owners and a large part of an industry and remove a large source of income stream for charitable organizations across America?
-Did you really mean to make it illegal for parents to pass-a-long their gently used children's clothes by selling them online through eBay, Craigslist or through resale and consignment shops or at yearly children's consignment sales?
-Did you really mean to remove all environmentally friendly, alternative sources for gently-used kid's clothes for environmentally conscious, frugal or cash-strapped parents from our economy?
Did you really mean to send enormous amounts of perfectly useful children's goods straight to our landfills in such a time of increased environmental awareness and economic difficulty?
THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE EFFECTIVELY DONE! NOW, ONLY YOU CAN CHANGE THIS! THE CPSC SAYS IT HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO FOLLOW THE LAW AS YOU WROTE IT! HELP US!
THE DEADLINE OF FEBRUARY 10TH IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) as signed into law, attempting to be interpreted and carried forward by an understaffed CPSC, will make it illegal for parents to resell their gently used kid’s gear thru any venue, come February 10th.
Yet, despite the increasing furor being unleashed on the internet, in calls and letters of protest to Congress and the media to pay attention by a wide range of affected industries, silence and inaction reigns. Are you afraid that the issue is too hot to handle?
The broad scope of the complicated law, and it’s interpretation by CPSC has effectively made it illegal for parents to resell their children’s clothing and gear at a garage sale, on eBay, Craig’s List, through consignment stores or annual children’s consignment sales. If donated to a nonprofit like Goodwill or Salvation Army, those organizations can’t legally resell it, as of February 10th. That’s right. Hand-me-down clothing for kid’s age 12 and under will be illegal to resell. It will be a banned hazardous product. The fines of $100,000, potential jail time and label as a felon for violations are stiff.
Without effective venues for parents to pass along their kid’s gently used items where does Congress think this massive amount of consumer product is going to quickly end up? Landfills here it comes!
I am writing to you today because I believe that the retro-activity for children's clothing be removed from this law.