The Kabbage Blog

Your online toy store has thousands of little trinkets available to customers. Of course, it’s hard enough keeping track of all the second hand stuff you come across and resell, so every time a new recall hits the airwaves you take note but aren’t overly concerned with it. However, in your stock happens to be a toy chock full of lead, recently added to the banned list. Unaware, a customer buys it.

Guess what? You just committed a crime.

Illegal?

In 2008, after a frightening series of products were discovered to be hazardous and dangerous to consumers and recalled, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) got the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) into the law books. The bill not only made it illegal to sell and resell banned products, it also established rules and safety requirements for products, especially children’s items. Every product intended for anyone under the age of 12 must be tested.

If you have anything in your database, especially toys or baby items, that are intended for this age group, you are absolutely required to get them tested. You don’t want to risk ruining your whole business on a few items!

For more information on the CPSIA bill and the CPSC, check out What Is the CPSIA?

Which Items Are Illegal?

Most of us think of the word “lead” when thinking about recalled items. This is most likely from a few years ago when every other day it seemed like some toy or product was coming out of China practically glowing with lead for kids to chew on. However, there is more to recalled items then simple lead.

Toys are discovered to be choking hazards. Other items are found to have exposed wires that will cut kids to ribbons. Some toys with moving parts simply catch on fire or explode! There’s almost no end to what could put products on the “do not sell” list. Even the most seemingly innocuous items could end up giving you a headache, so don’t assume it’s all ok!

Sell shoes? Did you know a handful of shoes and boots have been recalled due to breakage and impact injury hazards? Are you selling them right now in your store?

What Do I Do?

Luckily, not all is lost. If you’re really worried something in your ecommerce store is on the banned list and therefore illegal to sell, head over to We Make It Safer. There is a detailed list of offensive and dangerous items that may get your ecommerce business into hot water.

You can also add all the items you own and/or sell into a database and they will let you know if any of the products listed are recalled for any reason. Keeping track of your entire inventory can be a huge hassle, but it is absolutely necessary to make sure your business is running legally – don’t be caught off guard, from a past recall or one in the future!