Etsy Warns New Legistration Harms Craftspeople

Etsy Warns New Legislation Harms Craftspeople

By: Ina Steiner

Wed Dec 10 2008 22:49:11

Etsy, the online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods, issued an open letter warning of the unintended consequences new legislation could impose on some members of its community. "Many Etsy artists and craftspeople have expressed fears that they won't be able stay in business due to the burdensome cost of testing and certification pursuant to the proposed legislation." Etsy urged members of its community to contact their governmental representatives to ask them to consider how the Act will impact independent craftspeople. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) imposes an additional third-party testing requirement for all consumer products primarily intended for children twelve years of age or younger. Every manufacturer (including an importer) or private labeler of a children's product must have its product tested by an accredited independent testing lab and, based on the testing, must issue a certificate that the product meets all applicable CPSC requirements, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Etsy's letter explained, "Etsy wanted to reach out with this open letter to see what can be done to ensure that small businesses and micro enterprises are being taken into account with this legislation. Our members would like to better understand how the CPSIA took into account these smaller businesses operating with fewer resources for testing and compliance. We believe Etsy artisans are pro-testing and pro-safety; the problem is the prohibitive certification costs relative to their small businesses' incomes. Our community is concerned that this legislature disregards small businesses in its attempts to regulate large corporate entities." The WalletPop blog posted an interesting reaction to the legislation, stating that "all toymakers must pay a testing fee of $4,000 per type of toy they make, as well as permanently labeling them with a batch number and date (requiring them to create new molds in many cases)."

Comments (19) | Permalink This will definitely harms many women I know since we craft to earn extra income to support ourselves. This article in Ina Steiners Auctionbits is a shocker to many of us, whom since the pay scale is higher for men than women we can not support ourselves without our craft sales. Even though I do not create anything for children with the exception of baby quilts, I find this action most upsetting. The government doesn't take care of us yet they impose this kind of junk upon us. Enough of the manipulation and corruption. What ever happened to freedom to choose.