Ranting & Letting off Steam (not solutions based)

[Melanie]

Cool! A place I can vent! Understand all of the previous posts discussing how friends and family glaze over when they hear you talking about this...I think my co-workers are ready to steal my computer and my cell phone...all I've been doing at my real job for the last week!
This issue is just about to put me in the looney bin...I was planning to expand my sideline business, and just bought a bunch of supplies towards that end...now I find out that I'm being laid off (from real job) around 2/21...and after 2/10, I'm also stuck with all of this stuff I spent money on and now can't sell!
Either the world is going crazy or I am...not sure which one...luckily I don't have high blood pressure (yet!)...but the craziness of it all is driving me crazy! Add in the fact I'm something of a control freak and like to be aware of how things work and what is going on at all times and it's just a little too much!
But I'm not going to quit...thanks for listening!

[Marilyn Brandon]

For me, I can't say if this will put me out of business for good or not, but for now I'm definitely out of the game. Just because I can afford to pay for the testing doesn't mean it's lucrative to do it. I believe there's a definite ceiling on how much money people are willing to spend on children's clothing. Oh, I know there are some that can and will pay whatever price is on the tag, but that's not my market.

I've never tried to market a product where the lines have been so blurred. Foreclosures, bankruptcies, and job losses are affecting rich and poor alike. Can my customers still afford my line, and more importantly, are they willing to? How much of a role is the 'fear factor' playing into what purchases consumers are now making and what they're willing to pay for those items? Is the cost of testing going to be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back? The last year has been a real game changer, and this is unfamiliar territory for me. I have no hard and fast data or input by which I can intelligently evaluate this "new" market and make an informed decision. I'm scared of what I "don't" know!

I know on a local level children's boutiques are struggling just to keep their doors open. On a larger scale, I don't think that these stores that have managed to survive are going to jump up and down for the sheer joy of being able to carry my line. I don't think that's realistic. Right now these stores are staying with lines that they KNOW are consistent sellers and depending on them to take them through the downturn. I'm jumping in at the wrong time, and I'm not so enamored of my own product that I think paying customers are going to happily fork over a ridiculous amount of money to buy it. The cute factor only takes you so far. I think my line is really cute, but guess what? So are a lot of others, and they're more established than me. They have proven track records. I haven't established myself yet because I haven't even sold my first season.

As for quality, I can compete, but I don't kid myself into thinking that I'm so head and shoulders above the rest that customers will happily justify paying double or triple the price they'd normally pay for an item. This is a serious consideration for me.

What price am I going to have to put on my product in order to show a profit by the time I factor in the cost of testing? I can't even make an educated guess until I know more about the type of testing required and the actual availability of labs that can and will have a slot for my product once the requirements are known.

The frustration to me is not knowing what specific costs are going to be involved in the testing. How can anyone make an informed decision until we know whether or not XRF testing will be accredited or considered "reasonable testing", and whether we'll need to do unit or component testing?

How about the fact that there are only fifteen accredited labs in the U.S? Should I think that these labs will put aside their big ticket customers in order to do my testing so I can get to market before the selling season is over? All of these variables greatly affect the end cost of the product, and there seem to be no clear answers to any of these things.

I'm not nearly as well informed as many of you, so there's every likelihood that I'm misunderstanding what all of this entails. I spend most of my time with my eyes glazed over and scratching my head, lol. I have no idea whether or not I should proceed until these things are decided. I'm losing a LOT of sleep! lol

Marilyn

[Aria]

[Aria]

[Guest]

[Aria]

[Pixie]

I'm depressed that my family and friends do not understand. At a gathering of 22+ last night I was told I was blowing things out of proportion and that there was no way this law could possibly affect me. Family members who are very politically active and knowledgeable. Maybe some of them will take a look at what I talked about. I figure they, of all people, would get this. But last night - no. And I think as long as it's not really talked about in our news media, it won't be real to them. I still have seen very little in the news. Perhaps it will take the inevitable "strike" that would have to come if nothing changes as we all drop out.

[Aria]

Pixie, I'm being told I don't care about kids, how dare I not care about kids when we're trying to have a baby right now, how dare I put costs above safety, but I'm having a hard time getting people to see just how far-reaching this is, that the costs aren't just pennies per item, but rather so high that many businesses will have to go under, my own will have to be restructured, and in an economy with too few jobs as it is, we can't handle the potentially-massive influx of unemployed people and the increase in welfare applicants who have kids to feed.

[Pixie]

I know Aria. I got some input that, "If it keeps lead away from my baby, then I'm all for it!"

Well, obviously what happened with China is an issue. But I shared this clip I found on the internet with her:

[Aria]

Do you have a link? I'd like to post that, but know some of the idiots I'm dealing with will demand links.

Heh, the cost of "safety" is kids dying, a lac of education, and charities (such as Project Linus) being put under.

[Aria]

Oh, they're idiots because they don't think any of this is a big deal, not because they want links.

[Kathleen F.]

Moving some entries:

[Tina HD]

So this just occurred to me, and I've been fuming ever since, so since you gave us a place to vent, here goes:

The govt can tell me I can't sell my cloth diapers that have little to no chance of having even a fraction of the lead that they are allowing with cpsia (unless I spend thousands of dollars to test them to prove they have no lead), and yet they can mandate that I must inject my child with mercury, formaldehyde, aborted fetal stem cells, monkey and swine cells, and any untold number of other toxic materials in vaccines that are known to cause harm and even death.

HOW DARE THEY!?

[Kathleen F.]

I get your point -really I do- but we should step away from the whole vaccine debate. Some people are offended by it.

[Aria]

Tina, damned good point.

Kathleen, I know vaccines are a point of contention among many parents, but, whether or not one sees vaccines as a good thing, what does stand is that the government is trying to take away the choice. It's an issue about choices that are taken away, and the people taking them away aren't exactly consistent. This toxin is required, this toxin is sooooo illegal that all children's things will be illegal until proven to not have it.

It makes me wonder if there's not some hidden motive. Perhaps they're making this so confusing and so wide-spread because they anticipate not everyone knowing or complying, so they can make criminals out of people and charge them lots of money. Pay up or go to jail. Your freedom is captive unless you pay the ransom. Is this the government's solution to the budget deficit? Rather than make jobs and keep jobs, just criminalize everything? Free country, I thought. Foolish me.

Yet you'd think if these item were son incredibly dangerous that they'd be made illegal effective immediately. If they're safe to sell for the time being, why will they suddenly be death-traps come one magical day in February?

What next, requiring kids pass some sort of exam to be allowed to ride a bike? Or pass some sort of test before being allowed to sleep in a bed without rails? Oh! Better ban books altogether. ids might get paper cuts. And dirt, we should ban that too since kids might eat it and inject something that could make them sick for a few days!