Email a copy of 'Etsy, Seller Sued after Heartbreaking Death of a Child' to a friend
Loading ...
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
I don’t understand how the mom has standing to sue Etsy. She wasn’t the purchaser. I assume she doesn’t want to sue her friend who gave her the gift, and suing someone in Lithuania will probably go nowhere (how do they serve the court papers in a foreign country?). While I’m very sorry the woman’s son died, it seems like she’s suing Etsy because she thinks they would be willing to offer a large settlement.
So the seller is in Lithuania? Good luck with that one then. Suing someone in another country is notoriously expensive and difficult. It might make more sense to sue the friend who bought it.
Does the mother not have any responsibility to determine whether the item is suitable for a young child? Sounds like passing the buck to me.
Seriously?!? Why would anyone put anything on an unsupervised baby that wraps around their neck? Or make something of the sort for that matter? That’s tantamount to putting a plastic bag in the crib with the child for them to suffocate on.
I’ve always seen teething rings and pacifiers on short laces that are safety pinned to the child’s clothing — no risk of choking there because it only reaches far enough to get to their mouth. So, as far as I’m concerned, the seller/maker, friend, mother and daycare providers are the ones to blame.
However, Etsy should make sure that their sellers are offering safe baby and children’s products. The U.S. has strict standards that must be met and, as Ina stated, most sellers don’t think of such things. Etsy requires us to follow international laws (ie, EU VAT and return policies) if we want to sell internationally, so why not U.S. law as well? Especially when it comes to innocent children?
I don’t care what their policies state, they are aiding and abetting those breaking the law. If they don’t want any liability, then they need to stop allowing it. Unfortunately, just like all the other illegal products and ones that otherwise violate their TOU (non-vintage, supply or handmade; handmade, but not by you or your staff; trademark infringements; fakes; and the list goes on), they often remain up for sale despite being reported. For that, they are liable.