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FrozenGate by Avery
Legalities for selling lasers on a website.
- Thread starter Midknight
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you could be tracked down, beaten, and tortured until you confess! then again this could happen to anyone no matter who they are
GooeyGus
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You can build your own for private use, but if you are selling them they need to be FDA/CDRH/whatever else compliant.
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^I would probably start by reading their website.
As far as requirements, each laser (ie each model) will have to be verified and approved that it meets all the standards that the FDA sets out, mostly the warning notifications and 5 safety features, but some other things too. You basically have to do paperwork to show that your products meet all FDA regulations, or explain why it is impossible to meet the regulations. If everything is included in your lasers, such as the 5 safety features, then it will get passed and the FDA will give you an Accession number under which you are allowed to sell that product in the US, basically your permit number. If all requirements are not met, such as a safety feature not included, then you ahve to explain why it cannot be incorporated into the product. For a pointer, they're not likely to let you get away with not including the safety features, so be prepared to put them in there.
But again, you need to do a lot of reading if you're thinking about doing this and going about it all the legal way. I applaud you for wanting to do it the right way, but remember you're dealing with a bureaucratic government agency, so you need to be prepared to go through some paperwork. All their regulations are on their website, and I recommend you read them thoroughly.
ETA: Also, this only applies to selling lasers in the US. I don't know what country you're in, but this applies when in the US or selling lasers to people in the US.
As far as requirements, each laser (ie each model) will have to be verified and approved that it meets all the standards that the FDA sets out, mostly the warning notifications and 5 safety features, but some other things too. You basically have to do paperwork to show that your products meet all FDA regulations, or explain why it is impossible to meet the regulations. If everything is included in your lasers, such as the 5 safety features, then it will get passed and the FDA will give you an Accession number under which you are allowed to sell that product in the US, basically your permit number. If all requirements are not met, such as a safety feature not included, then you ahve to explain why it cannot be incorporated into the product. For a pointer, they're not likely to let you get away with not including the safety features, so be prepared to put them in there.
But again, you need to do a lot of reading if you're thinking about doing this and going about it all the legal way. I applaud you for wanting to do it the right way, but remember you're dealing with a bureaucratic government agency, so you need to be prepared to go through some paperwork. All their regulations are on their website, and I recommend you read them thoroughly.
ETA: Also, this only applies to selling lasers in the US. I don't know what country you're in, but this applies when in the US or selling lasers to people in the US.
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^What does your intuition tell you, in light of everything else you've read?
So what if you sell kits to build one?
Or is it illegal to sell a laser pointer without a lens (that someone could easily obtain else ware?). Because then all you're selling is an unfocused coherent light source which is still technically "laser" but not collimated into a beam?
I’m sure there are ways around this...
Is it illegal to sell a diode module (driver, housing, diode and lens) that someone could easily just fit into some "custom" flashlight you also just happen to sell?
Or is it illegal to sell a laser pointer without a lens (that someone could easily obtain else ware?). Because then all you're selling is an unfocused coherent light source which is still technically "laser" but not collimated into a beam?
I’m sure there are ways around this...
Is it illegal to sell a diode module (driver, housing, diode and lens) that someone could easily just fit into some "custom" flashlight you also just happen to sell?
GooeyGus
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k-shell said:
It is not illegal to sell components. You can sell an entire disassembled kit and as far as I know you're fine, but it is a good idea to put a disclaimer such as "it is the buyers responsibility to make sure this kit meets FDA requirements when complete" or something along those lines.
As far as unfocused laser light, I'm pretty sure the FDA website answers that. From what I've read in the past, it is my understanding that lasers can be given a lower 'class' than they normally would have based on power density. I'm not sure exactly what the numbers are so you'd have to look it up
pullbangdead said:
My intuition tells me what is done here is illegal. So i'm just curious why we dont get bothered by legal agencies. I'm not complaining at all. I just recieved my first laser today and i'm loving this shit. Just general LEGIT concerns.
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Midknight said:
Bingo. How many lasers get sold here? One or two at a time, and by lots of different people. The highest volume sellers might sell 100 lasers ever, I guess? Whereas DX was probably shipping thousands/year to the US before increased enforcement. And for the most part, people here aren't operating like a business as much as they are operating like hobbyists, just reselling the things that they bought or the extra one or 2 that they made. Most of what is here is selling OEM components, like the diodes themselves.
And yeah, like k-shell says, that's one of the things I've never really seen talked about here, I don't know if it's been kindof a "Don't ask, don't tell" thing, or just nobody thinks about it to bring it up and ask. Or I just missed the topic. But it's such a low volume through the forums, anyway. I do know of one member here who had started his own website and store selling components and lasers that he had made got a scare and completely stopped selling 3b lasers on his site.
