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Issue 3 of CraftSanity Magazine is now available.
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Help Save Handmade: Share Your Story
I’m writing my next Grand Rapids Press art and craft column about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act that takes takes effect Feb. 10. If you’re a maker with a handmade business please e-mail me your story. And feel free to post a comment below, too. (Just omit your personal contact info, of course.)
This is what I’m looking for:
Please include your full name, age, business name, web address, a brief description of what you make to sell and a day-time phone number. (I won’t publish phone numbers.) Then feel free to include any comments on the new law and how it will impact your business.
My deadline is tomorrow morning, so please respond today if you can. I will be including some of these comments in my column and posting others online. Thanks for helping me call attention to this issue, and be sure to check back to read the responses.
Posted: January 19th, 2009 under Craft Columns, Grand Rapids, Made in USA, News.
Comments: 7
Comments
Comment from Bronwyn
Time: January 19, 2009, 1:08 pm
I’ve sent my info in an e-mail. I hope it is of some use to you.
Thank you for serving as a voice to raise awareness of the travesty about to be wrought on our industry and the effects it will have on our country.
Comment from Catherine
Time: January 19, 2009, 2:57 pm
I’m sure you will receive a ton of feedback as this is a real (and valid) hot button issue. In case no one has mentioned it, many of the Etsy sellers are running “CPSIA SPecials” in their shops where items are priced according to the costs of the new testing. Some items are in the 5 digits. Crazy, but eye opening.
I don’t focus on children’s products, but this law would extend to me whenever a custom order is placed for a child (ex. I’ve made flower girl custom jewelry) and I would have to reject all of these requests. A big concern for me is also whether or not they will stop at this. Right now, it’s products intended for children…will it soon be products that could be used in a home with children? It’s a slippery slope.
Safety in children’s products and peace of mind for parents are important issues, but CPSIA is threatening to drive handmade extinct.
Comment from shannon duffy
Time: January 19, 2009, 6:13 pm
Hi, I sent you an email with my thoughts on the matter and my personal story. Thank you for voice.
Shannon Duffy
Comment from Kristin
Time: January 19, 2009, 6:27 pm
I mostly sell items for adults, so in that sense the law will have minimal effect on my business. I very much value the ability to buy handmade, USA made items for my family, and I think this law is going to have a huge negative effect on that. Already, one company which I have hoped to buy from someday (if I have a daughter :) is going out of business as a direct result of this law. Also, I do a lot of shopping at thrift and resale shops and the law as it sits will make that impossible. No thrift shop is going to risk litigation, in spite of the CPSI’s assurrances that they don’t aren’t required to test.
Comment from Jaye
Time: January 21, 2009, 2:33 pm
Did this get put on hold yesterday when Obama put all pending regulations on hold?
Comment from Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
Time: January 21, 2009, 8:48 pm
Hi Jaye. I don’t think Obama has the power to cancel the CPSIA with an executive order since it was a bill passed by the House and Senate and signed into law. However, I’m optimistic that his administration will do something to fix the problem it causes for handmade businesses.
Comment from Deborah Spagnuolo
Time: January 22, 2009, 6:33 pm
Wow, what a controversial act. On the surface it seems like such a good idea, to protect consumers, especially children. But if it means a huge added cost for producers, it sounds like it could really drive many out of business, especially home-based businesses. And in this economic downturn, now more than ever many people are counting on home-based craft businesses to suplement their income or replace lost incomes. Certainly an issue to pay attention to!
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