Ensuring My Safety Selling Portable Lasers in Australia

Is there a way to ensure my safety when selling portable lasers over 1mW to other members on this forum. Say i made a laser and posted it in the buy sell and trade section and someone buys it, then they are having fun and all that and they could be very responsible with it. Then one of their mates come over and fine the laser and then start shining it at a plane thinking that it will not permanently damage their eyes, it will just annoy them and be funny. Then the cops show up and their busted. How can i assure my safety if they do something irresponsible with that laser and they say they got it from Laik on LPF. Will they track my ip or something? They can look at my paypal address and name because the cops might want to see the order. So guys, can i assure my safety as the seller when selling portable lasers over 1mW in Australia. Fiddy (sorry if i spelt your name wrong) you seem big around here and you live in Australia, do you sell lasers on here, or just make them for yourself?

good hello,

That's one of the things that stops me from selling complete lasers in Australia, as soon as someone pays you money over the internet they will know your name and details which can be used to track you down if the scenario you presented plays out like that, its inevitable that the authority's can attempt to track down where this person got the illegal laser from and you will get 'busted'.

They could request your IP address from the LPF server maybe i dunno? if they got it they will find your ISP and then whos connection it is.

That's my take on it, another part that troubles me is the lack of safety of individuals with lasers, with my mates they see how powerful they are and become excited and stupid which makes them extremely dangerous as all safety concerns go out the window.

To be short, you cannot ensure your safety in selling a portable laser that is greater than 1mW, people who do are "running the gauntlet" in my eyes.

In light of that, forum members who buy are going to be more educated on the dangers and reduce the risk of something happening that points the blame at you, than the average Joe.

Hope that makes sense!

Thanks so much for the reply and thank you more for putting in the effort for a lengthy one! It sucks that only a few idiots in Australia ruin it for everyone, lasers are amazing and some people need to respect them and not misuse them. I was just wondering if i could fully protect myself if something like this happened because i just wanted to make a laser, play with it for 5 minutes and then sell it for a small profit. Who wouldn't love to make lasers for money? Can you get in trouble if you send someone a disassembled laser (like a JAD but the diode comes with it) because on the customs website it says hand-held devices commonly known as laser pointers with an accessible emission level of greater than 1mW are illegal.

if you sell them the parts and they put it together themselves it looks like you've just sold them electronic parts..

Melbourne aussie here, what do you have? Im interested.

Oh i am not selling anything, i was just wondering if i could protect myself if someone i sold a laser to (if i did) misused it and got then dobbed me in. But thank you baddspella for showing interest. Just to double check this, so if i sent a disassembled laser (like a complete built laser but i desolder the diode before i sent the package) would that be illegal/count as a laser?

Oh! thats fair enough man. But yer if youd ever got into the kit buisness make sure you inbox me.

I will :beer: The only thing in the way of that is my parents They wouldn't be too keen on me sending kits to people (i am guessing a "kit" is everything and all the customer has to do is solder the diode to the driver). So if i send someone a "kit" would it be illegal because i simply gave them the parts and they assembled it (soldered the diode to the driver)? Also, what is a fair selling markup? 20 bucks maybe?

I'm in the same boat as Fiddy...

A LOT of people message me almost everyday asking for some sort of build or if I have something for sale.

If they have 0 post count I don't even bother replying. If someone comes that looks legit, I go through their posts... if they're noobish and don't know what they want or are asking 1 million questions about where to get themselves a laser in AUS, I just tell them they need to do more research before buying off me, because lasers are not a toy.

Even if they tell me they'll pay me $100-200 extra (which happens alot) to do the job, I turn it down, which I feel not many people would.

Just be selective with who you're selling to and you should be fine... atleast that's how I've worked over the last 4 years or so with no problems.

-Adrian

I see your a student bobhaha so are your parents ok with you doing this or are you like a university student and live on your own? The question on my mind now is if i sell someone a disassembled laser (the whole laser, with the driver, heatsink and all that in place just not soldered to the diode) would i get in trouble if they misused it and got busted?

Laik said:

I see your a student bobhaha so are your parents ok with you doing this or are you like a university student and live on your own? The question on my mind now is if i sell someone a disassembled laser (the whole laser, with the driver, heatsink and all that in place just not soldered to the diode) would i get in trouble if they misused it and got busted?

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I think ultimately if you supply something that has illegal connotations then you are going to be somewhat liable if misuse happens. If you want to sell them separately or as a DIY kit that's not fully assembled you must make sure its abundantly clear that it's for an OEM product.

I'd also like to add that you should probably only sell to 18+ that way they will be liable for their actions. If they are underage, they can't be charged and the cops might trace it back to you, inorder to get a result.

Lastly I'd also suggest selling the laser with a pair of safety glasses or make sure the person has the proper eye wear for the wavelength that you're selling him/her.

-Adrian

What bobhaha said.... If someone joins the forums and inboxes every aussie within the first week then the answer is no.

If they seem to have a genuine interest and ask the right questions on the forums then I'd consider it. I get asked a fair bit too...

bobhaha said:

If you want to sell them separately or as a DIY kit that's not fully assembled you must make sure its abundantly clear that it's for an OEM product.

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I don't quite uderstand, can you give me an example? So i couldn't sell someone a JAD kit? But i could sell them a driver, torch, diode, lens, heat sink and module?

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer. ie you are building something from scratch.

I kind of disagree. It's not illegal to sell parts in NSW or most states as far as I remember. You can buy a 1 Watt diode and legally put it into a non-portable laser, or into a laser projector for example. So if you have a laser diode you could sell it as parts. Or if you have a heatsink, host etc then you could sell them as parts as well. I wouldn't be shipping them in the same package however.

AUS said:

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer. ie you are building something from scratch.

I kind of disagree. It's not illegal to sell parts in NSW or most states as far as I remember. You can buy a 1 Watt diode and legally put it into a non-portable laser, or into a laser projector for example. So if you have a laser diode you could sell it as parts. Or if you have a heatsink, host etc then you could sell them as parts as well. I wouldn't be shipping them in the same package however.

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That's exactly what I meant...

OEM means its not a fully working item, its used to complete another product or item.

I know you can have labby's and buy parts legally. So as long as i dont sell a JAD kit, a whole laser, an almost complete laser (eyerything assembled just have to solder the diode that is provided) or a host with a heat sink and the driver already installed it is legal? Do i just have to sell everything speratley?

EDIT: Just saw your latest post bobhaha you said as long as its not a full working item but earlier on you said that you think ultimately if you supply something that has illegal connotations then you are going to be somewhat liable if misuse happens. Which one do i go with? A JAD kit isnt fully assembled so i would be able to sell that wouldnt i? Sorry if i am annoying, i just dont quite understand wha you are exactly saying.