Buying Good Toys for Christmas and how to avoid counterfeit toys
What you will learn:
- Where to find Good Toys which are safe and beneficial to your child’s development
- How to identify malicious and fake sites and avoid them.
It’s the holiday season! Even though it’s just October, it’s time to start shopping, especially if you are planning to shop online.
Supply chain and logistics issues are still affecting delivery times globally, but despite these delays, shopping for the holidays is easier than ever with the abundance of eCommerce shops.
In 2021, online toy sales globally reached $20.5 billion dollars expected to reach $55 billion by 2024. (the total global toy market generates about $95 billion a year).
Shopping online can be so easy. Paypal and other apps make it quick and simple to pay while providing a sense of security for the consumer. There are over 1000s of online stores. These provide us access to millions of toys in the palm of a smartphone user’s hand. Some are linked to brick-and-mortar stores or large toy companies. Some are solopreneurs curating boutique toy sites for a collector or enthusiasts.
Before you start your holiday online shopping, consider researching your gift ideas at the Good Play Guide. The Good Play Guide is a global organization of researchers, educators, and experts that review toys, games, apps, and programs for children to determine the developmental appropriateness and scope of benefit. There are 1000s of child-friendly products to browse, all of which have been rated for ‘fun/level of engagement’, ‘ease of use’, and ‘skills developed’. Each product page has descriptions of the item and information regarding what areas of development the product offers across all ages, so you can find products that are just right for the special children in your life.
Once you have found the perfect gift, be careful where you buy it from. Some online shops are clever scams. Malicious organizations will create fake eCommerce websites advertising popular products for amazing prices. Many of these are very well made and take your credit card information with no intention of ever sending a product. It is often very difficult to report these purchases and receive a refund of the money spent.
It’s also important to make sure to avoid counterfeit products. Counterfeiters create packaging with a logo, fonts, and colours very similar to a more popular brand name. Some of these companies even go as far as to steal digital images of the authentic item to post on their website, leaving the consumer to find out about the forgery upon delivery. These knock-off boxes sometimes hold absolutely nothing but sometimes they hold a knock-off product as well.
In 2019, counterfeit toys generated $32.3 billion in the US and $44.6 billion in Europe.
Counterfeit toys are a problem for two major reasons.
- Aside from the fact that counterfeiters are essentially stealing money from the company being copied, the quality of the product will likely be very poor. The toy may break easily or not work the way it was intended. The colours may be muted or different altogether. The design of the toy might be awful.
- The second, and more concerning, problem is that counterfeit toys do not adhere to the strict toy standards for safety set by global and national organizations. Reputable companies are required to employ extensive testing during the design, manufacturing, and packaging stages of toy creation. Counterfeiters do not. This could result in the use of toxic materials such as lead paint or design flaws that result in choking hazards or even electric burns.
The Good Play Guide has released the Christmas Good Toy Guide! Developmentally appropriate and fun toys all in one place. The guide also has links to expert advice on how to have a happy holiday so do your research and find the perfect presents, buy from reputable suppliers, and then relax and enjoy the holiday season.