I’ve been been getting a lot of questions regarding the CPSIA. If you haven’t heard of the CPSIA stands for the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. It’s a knee-jerk reaction piece of legislation in response to the issues with toys - mainly from China - that were contaminated with lead and other hazards. Here is what the general discussion in the Etsy Forums boils down to:
The new rule - which is extremely vague by anyone’s definition - would require lab testing of any products marketed to children under the age of 12. It’s no big deal for Mattel but for small business the cost could make it prohibitive to sell these items. This act will shut down most crafters selling anything for children on Etsy.
OK here’s where my opinion starts. This is my opinion and I’m sure I will tick-off some whom read this. I’m OK with that. I don’t have a blog to make everybody happy, it’s my blog, it’s my opinion and if you disagree with me then that’s fine.
First of all I see a huge number of people on Etsy worked up into a froth and putting a huge amount of time into complaining to each other about how unfair this is, how Esty should be doing something, on and on it goes.
So my first thought is you are getting worked up based on what facts? Most of what I see is ” I heard” “Someone said” ” I don’t know but we need to do something” etc. If you feel you need to do something then contact your Representative where there’s at least a snowballs chance in Hell of your opinion doing any good instead of preaching to the choir on Etsy.
Second, let’s for the sake of argument say that this law plays out just as the people above think it will. Anyone heard of YouTube? How much of what is on YouTube is a copyright violation? Yet you don’t see anyone going to jail for it. Do you think government agents are going to police Aunt Martha selling hair bows on Etsy or craft fairs? Do you think Etsy is going to monitor it? They don’t seem to do a great job when you complain every day about the same vendor. Even if they did what would they do - send you a form letter asking you to remove it? I don’t think for a second Etsy or the Government will bother.
Third, lets say that the law plays out just as predicted in the doomsday scenario embraced by those vocal Etsyians. Let me tell you a true story. When I started www.HauntedPortraits.com there was me and only two other people that made anything similar. I was raking it in, it was unusual, the demand was huge to a niche crowd and all of us were charging a premium for the product.
Then another competitor took the idea and made a really crappy knockoff that they had mass-produced in China. I thought well people will see the difference and it won’t make much of a difference and at first it didn’t. The next Halloween I was in Krogers and saw an even cheaper knockoff of the the knockoffs - IN Krogers.
I’m not stupid, I knew that was the beginning of the end. My competitors slashed prices to compete. My sales dropped in half the following year. I said screw it, if the rules are changing then I need to find another game to play - and that’s exactly what i did. I raised prices so I spent less time making the portraits and I started another Internet company that now generates triple what Haunted Portraits did even at it’s peak.
If you believe in your heart that the CPSIA will put you out of business then get off your ass and find something else to make and stop wasting time complaining to others in Etsy about how unfair it is. It’s called business.
Your oppinions are welcome here
There’s an old saying “People buy from people they like”
marketing conference with one of the top internet marketers in the country and the people from his team. The price of admission was $2500 for three days - yup I’m serious about this stuff. The marketer is Joel Comm, author of a New York Times best seller and co-owner of a multi-million dollar marketing company.