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Archive for the ‘Shopkeeping talk’ Category

Is now a good time to open a consignment shop?

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on January 19, 2009| 2 Comments »

I get asked “Is now a good time to open a consignment or resale shop?” a lot.

Setting aside the current kerfuffle about CPSIA and its making basically everything that people 12 and under use or wear economically impossible to resell, and looking  optimistically forward to the sensible voiding and rewriting of this well-intended law…

090119tgtbtcloseupWhether now’s a good time to start a secondhand store has more to do with YOU than with the economy.

Are you ready (more…)

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CPSC’s Julie Vallese wants consignment & resale shopkeepers to get a BACKBONE

Posted in Shopkeeping talk on January 15, 2009| 4 Comments »

xrayvisionIn this raw footage of an interview, consignment, resale, and thrift shopkeepers are told to develop a “level of confidence” that their merchandise doesn’t contain, starting Feb. 10, more than 600 parts per million of lead.

WBAL-TV in Baltimore, raw footage of interview as posted by the TV station. UPDATE: Video has been removed.

CPSC spokesperson Julie Vallese has a hard time answering (more…)

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The government declares YOU a CRIMINAL on Tuesday Feb. 10

Posted in Shopkeeping talk on January 14, 2009|

criminal-poster-frontThat’s all there is to it.

Free free, resalers of all kinds, to download and post, handout, drop off at the TV station this poster. The shop you save may be your own.

I’ve simplified the issue so it’s easy to grasp. There’s also talking points on the back, if you need an issue to focus on for a press interview.

(Note: I’ve asked, on TGtbT, that if anyone’s image is on here and that person doesn’t want to be, to let me know. Offer still stands. Just email me, and I’ll remove your picture if you wish.)

Here’s the poster from Too Good to be Threw

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Going to Prison. The crime? Recycling.

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged on January 13, 2009| 10 Comments »

prisonerAnd the misconceptions continue.

Well, that Consumer Protection Safety Commission press release that was specifically designed to mollify resalers, soothe the public, and shut ecologists up, seems to be working. Here’s that press release edited for clarity: “The new…law does not require resellers to test…However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit… Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.” The CPSC designed this press release solely to get people to stop flooding their phone lines and email. This is a press release. It CHANGES nothing.

This press release is a BAD thing because it is misleading. And it is an EVIL thing because it was DESIGNED to make the American public shut up and go away.

Professional resale shops have (more…)

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Your kids’ closets are full of hazardous waste

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged on January 7, 2009| 7 Comments »

nakedbabyEvery piece of clothing in your children’s dresser drawers, in their closets, in your laundry pile and yes, even on their floors become banned hazardous substances by Federal law at one second past midnight February 10, 2009.

That’s what every single US Representative who voted, voted for, in the bill that has become the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act.

Any item not tested will be treated as a “banned hazardous substance” under the Federal Banned Substances Act and can not be legally sold in the United States after that date. Thus second hand clothes and toys sold at thrift and consignment stores will suddenly be considered “banned hazardous substances.” —The Shopping Queen Blog

While no one can be (more…)

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