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Tainted Toys Are Still On
Shelves
By
Lill
Hawkins
I guess I'm gullible, because I assumed that once a
toy was recalled, it disappeared from store shelves. Oh sure, I realize
that there are some small mom-and-pop stores in Far Hokum, Maine or
Littleknown, Nebraska that haven't gotten the word, but everyone else
knows about the recalls, right? Wrong.
According to MarkMonitor, an online firm that tracks
brand-fraud on the Net and also offers services to protect companies
from brand hijacking:
* 30% of online auctions for toy brands that have
experienced recalls continue to sell products after they have been
recalled for lead paint or loose small parts.
* 83% of auction listings selling recalled toys ship
from the U.S., more than all other countries combined. The United
Kingdom is the second largest at 6%.
This is really disturbing news to parents like me
who thought that things were maybe settling down a little after the
flurry of recent toy recalls. Auctions are really popular with
consumers, many of whom will probably think that if a toy is for sale on
ebay or another auction site, it must be safe.
Even more disturbing is that 83% of the toys ship
from the US! What are these people who run the auctions thinking?
Obviously, they're online because they run online auctions. So why,
unlike every other carbon-based lifeform, haven't they heard about the
recalls? Somehow, I don't think they missed them. I think they just have
these toys that they need to unload and they're going to sell them until
someone makes them stop. Of course, with one toy inspector in the whole
country, the kids they hurt will be parents before that happens. (And
their kids will be suffering from the lead poisoning their parents got
from the toys their grandparents bought online at auction.)
So what can we as consumers and parents do about
this? Well, for one thing, we can educate ourselves about which toys
have been recalled, and check daily for more recalls. We can buy only
from reputable sellers both online and offline. I only buy from sellers
who have a rating of 98% or better on the largest auction site. I figure
that anyone can have a disgruntled customer or two, but any more than
two percent and I start to wonder if I want to do business with them.
We can write to our lawmakers on the local and
federal level and tell them that we're not going to vote for them unless
they beef up protection for consumers, both adults and children. If they
can find the money to fund their porkbarrel projects, then they can find
some to fund more inspections.
We can forego the popular but recalled toys and buy
quality toys that are sold by ethical companies like those on the
Safe Toy List at
How to Find Safe Toys And we can put these sellers of tainted toys
out of business by reporting them to the auction sites that host them.
Looking for safe toys? At
How to Find
Safe Toys Lill Hawkins blogs about
resources for finding safe toys for Newborns to Teens. Check in daily
for the latest toy recalls and a long list of alternatives to blah
big-box gifts.
Lill Hawkins lives in Maine and writes at
News From
Hawkhill Acres It's a mostly humorous look at home schooling,
writing and being a WAHM, whose mantra is "I'm a willow; I can bend."
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