With many of you saying you will not purchase toys made in China, I have spent hours on the phone with my vendors getting the scoop on Chinese made toys and I have learned a LOT. I've updated my website and I will continue to update it as I learn more.
Loopies, the plush toys that I carry, are not made in the part of China that has had the problems. Apparently, different regions of China have different standards. Even knowing that the products were made in the good part, they have sent their plush toys in for testing and will have results back very soon which I will post on my site. These are a very high end product that retail for $5-$14 on my site (depending on size) These toys would cost at least $30 if they were made here. Assuming the test results come back just fine, is this acceptable to you? The company has been very kind about the entire thing and took the time to explain this all in great detail.
As far as latex squeaky toys, I found a line that has been tested and got the best results possible. They are perfectly safe. My other rubber toys that I carry, the Busy Buddy line, have also been tested and are completely safe. Question - if I chose to carry the squeaky toys they would sell in the $5 range. I haven't added them to my site because I figured people would not pay $5 for a squeaky toy when Walmart sells the cheapo ones for 99 cents. (Now we know why one costs $5 and the other costs $1) I attached a picture and I would appreciate some feedback.
If you would like to read more, go to
http://www.barkaholics.biz/collections/toys-1/ and click on the link for product safety.
I also added a section on my site just for items that I have confirmed are MADE IN THE USA. Not many toys are made here, but we are looking into West Paw Design products that are made in Montana. I *always* look at quality, practicality and uniqueness, but I will pay more attention to where the products are made.
I know this is important to all of you so if you could just take a minute to let me know your thoughts, I would appreciate it.
Thank you!
Erin