CPSIA

Thanks to all of you who are responding to our recent mailer. Here's the latest information. Monday afternoon, we were notified of a new law that is going into effect on February 10th, 2009. This new law requires that all children's items sold wholesale, retail or consignment require a third party lead safe certification. This costs several hundred dollars per test. Effectively, the law would force us and all other consignment sales that sold children's items out of business.

In an effort to hold one last sale, we secured the Fairhope Civic Center for January 25th - 29th before the new law takes effect. We didn't have any time to wait. We know that this sale will operate differently than any other sale we have hosted. Also, we appreciate your flexibility as we seek to serve you through Eastern Shore Kids Market.

Here's the good news. Yesterday, afternoon, the Consumer Product Safety Commission released an interpretation as far as the impact on consignment businesses. We are not required to prove certification and we are able to continue operating. However, after February 10th, we are not allowed to sell anything that has lead levels higher than acceptable limits and we are not allowed to sell items that have been recalled. We will post links to the CPSC recall webpage so that you can inform yourself about these products. This is great news because it means that we can continue to operate Kids Market!

Unfortunately, our postcards were already in the mail when we received the good news. We don't want to alarm anyone. Please know that the information printed on the postcard was accurate as of Thursday when they were mailed. We want to keep you posted on this blog. Check back for updates and answers to questions.

Thanks,
Natalie Field