"He who marches out of step hears another drum." ~ Ken Kesey
color me stupid -but- what issue is this "law" trying to solve? it still seems very grey, no definite answers.I noticed a few guys said they don't print youth items anymore, how would you prove that? an adult small could fit a 10 year old, so by showing packing lists won't work. . .
Ultimately, most printers will probably ignore the "rules" and print whatever the customer wants. The customer isn't going to care whether or not the ink you slap on their brat's shirt is "compliant" with some arcane law. All they care about is how much the shirt costs. It's not as if we've been selling shirts soaked in gasoline all along, and suddenly the word is out that it's dangerous for toddlers . . .For those who plan on following the letter of the law, do you think your customer is going to gratefully pay any additional labor costs you incur for keeping all this crap sorted out, or do you plan on eating the extra labor yourself just to stay competitive? When you lay the price on them, and explain the details, what are the chances that they're gonna ask "Gary Garage Printer" if his shirts are compliant when he beats you up on price?And when push comes to shove, who in the gubmint is gonna monitor every podunk print shop to see if you've got testing results for the 24 shirts you may or may not have printed for some mom? They can't get you on all t-shirts, just youth t-shirts. Maybe the wholesalers will be forced to rat us out everytime we place an order that includes a few youth sizes.Yup, nothing wrong with this country that a little more regulation won't fix because the sheep that comprise the t-shirt buying public have been putting their offspring in the dangerously poisonous clothing greedy screenprinters have been hustling for decades . . .There's something wrong with a law that requires two webinars for someone who's actually up on this to explain it, and still leave lots of people seemingly confused about what gets tested by these third-party labs, and to whom the responsibility falls, and how compliance will be enforced. Why don't they just say shirts are exempt, every batch of ink/zippers/rhinestones/ heat press material has to be tested by the manufacturer before distribution, and no modification can be made to any product after testing? Then we can choose to comply, cheat, or not print that crap. I guess they had to "pass it so we could find out what was in it", but that's what my doctor tells me when he asks for a stool sample.
Quote from: tpitman on December 13, 2011, 10:13:19 AMUltimately, most printers will probably ignore the "rules" and print whatever the customer wants. The customer isn't going to care whether or not the ink you slap on their brat's shirt is "compliant" with some arcane law. All they care about is how much the shirt costs. It's not as if we've been selling shirts soaked in gasoline all along, and suddenly the word is out that it's dangerous for toddlers . . .For those who plan on following the letter of the law, do you think your customer is going to gratefully pay any additional labor costs you incur for keeping all this crap sorted out, or do you plan on eating the extra labor yourself just to stay competitive? When you lay the price on them, and explain the details, what are the chances that they're gonna ask "Gary Garage Printer" if his shirts are compliant when he beats you up on price?And when push comes to shove, who in the gubmint is gonna monitor every podunk print shop to see if you've got testing results for the 24 shirts you may or may not have printed for some mom? They can't get you on all t-shirts, just youth t-shirts. Maybe the wholesalers will be forced to rat us out everytime we place an order that includes a few youth sizes.Yup, nothing wrong with this country that a little more regulation won't fix because the sheep that comprise the t-shirt buying public have been putting their offspring in the dangerously poisonous clothing greedy screenprinters have been hustling for decades . . .There's something wrong with a law that requires two webinars for someone who's actually up on this to explain it, and still leave lots of people seemingly confused about what gets tested by these third-party labs, and to whom the responsibility falls, and how compliance will be enforced. Why don't they just say shirts are exempt, every batch of ink/zippers/rhinestones/ heat press material has to be tested by the manufacturer before distribution, and no modification can be made to any product after testing? Then we can choose to comply, cheat, or not print that crap. I guess they had to "pass it so we could find out what was in it", but that's what my doctor tells me when he asks for a stool sample.I think there is a good marketing ploy to be had out of this. For smaller companies it will take a few hours of work to get the exemption paperwork, but then you can be legal and still print with the same inks you use now. The only difference will be having to create a certificate with every order. If done right, it should not take more than a min of your time. Now you can market your services as being compliant unlike the garage printer that is undercutting your prices. It also portrays your business as somebody who is on top of things and many ppl are more likely to pay a little bit extra for it. Not everybody will, but in my book, those are the customers we want.Here's something else to think about. When you are pitching a bid to the school or organization, you can list your product as CPSIA compliant. Can the other printers do the same? You can offer two versions, one with tracking numbers and certificates and another at a discounted price without them and a five page document having them assume all liability for failure to comply with the regulations. Watch them dump the rest and give you the bid at a higher price!For few hours that will it will take to get that paperwork in order, it has huge upside!pierre
This is what I send to every customer buying youth goodsIt only takes a second to change the dates, batch#, etc.
I also print a tag on the inside back of the shirt with the date, tracking numberour name and our 800 number.