Shannon Wilburn, from the Just Between Friends franchise and I have spoken about how this issue may affect the consignment sale industry as a whole. This is a time when, as sale organizers and parents we need to work together to resolve this issue. She has generously offered to share with us the information they obtained from thier legal counsel and sent to thier franchisees. In addition, she has given permission to independent sale organizers to modify the statement and forward it to their own lists. However, please be sure to review the information with your own sale's legal counsel before using it.
"Just Between Friends and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
We believe that by taking a few proactive steps, we can comply with the new law while still providing our community with the best new and gently used children’s items.
Generally, the stated purpose and clear intent of the Act is to prevent the manufacturing and import of unsafe children’s products, the Act does NOT explicitly exempt sales of products through consignment or secondary marketing mechanisms.
1. The purpose of the Act is to protect children from excess amounts of lead and other contaminants sometimes found in toys, furniture and other consumer products likely to be used by children, many of which are manufactured in Asia and imported for sale into the US.
2. The Act focuses substantially all of its substantive (non-administrative) provisions to manufacturing, labeling, and certifications of compliance.
3. Some portions of the Act do make it unlawful to “sell, distribute or import” children’s toys or child care articles containing excessive amounts of various contaminants. However, those portions of the Act, we believe, should be read against the purpose and intent of the Act and should generally apply only to the introduction of such products into commerce, not to the resale of such products by consumers who first purchased those items new from retail sources.
4. While there is no specific exemption in the language of the Act which eliminates the Act from applying to resales or secondary sales, it is clear that the emphasis is upon manufacturing and not on resales by consumers in consignment shops, thrift shops, garage sales or similar secondary methods of marketing.
At Just Between Friends, the safety and security of our consignors, shoppers and their families is a top priority. Therefore we support the intent and purpose of the Act. Our official policy concerning children’s items will be the following:
A. JBF will not accept any items that are the subject of a past, present or possible recall
B. As always, consignors will sign a waiver (Click Here for Sample Waiver)
C. Each JBF franchise will have lead monitoring and detection devices available for a nominal fee at each sale and encourages consignors to use detection devices before dropping off items.
JBF supports the intent of the HR4040 and looks forward to serving our communities. Again – we thank you for supporting Just Between Friends. "
