Help Save Indie Entrepreneurs!
If you've ever been looking for the perfect unique gift for a friend or family member, chances are you've poked around at Etsy.com. If you haven't heard of it, this is a website where regular folk like you and me can sell handmade items. They've got everything from clothing to ceramics. It's filled with stuff that you won't find in the aisles of your local Walmart. (Translation: you will not risk being trampled to death while shopping on Etsy.com) If you've got a niece or nephew, this is an amazing place to find some cool handmade toys as well.
So you can imagine that I was pretty peeved when I received an email from a friend about the potential financial burden for small businesses and individuals who sell stuff like this. If you remember back to the 2007 toy fiasco when toys from China contained harmful parts and pieces and lead and all that jazz. Well, in typical big-government fashion, there are some laws that are about to be passed that:
mandates third party testing and certification, and requires manufacturers of all goods for children under the age of 12, to permanently label each item with a date and batch number. (source: change.org)
I'm not saying that unsafe toys should be sold. These laws are GREAT for large corporations and manufacturers who have the resources for this sort of stuff. But to require the same level of testing and certification and fees of a simple mom-and-pop merchant on Etsy.com, or Ebay.com, or any other innovative seller-driven marketplace? Ridiculous.
Watch the video from a small business owner trying to spread the word:
If this gets you all fired up, please go vote in support of small business at Change.org.
