Would it be legal to sell my hand made picks online?

[peoplma]

I am in the US and am thinking about making a small website and selling picks that I make custom by hand. I would be operating out of either PA or OH. I'd be making picks out of hacksaw blades, a benchtop grinder, and a dremel. I'd sell them on a website. I'd offer help and instruction to my customers as well.

Would I be able to do this legally? Would I need to apply for a special license to distribute lock picking tools? If so, would I be able to protect myself legally by making a disclaimer or terms and conditions saying that these are just a novelty and not to be used for picking locks? Just want this to be a small side project, something fun to do, not like, a quit my day job type of business. Any advice is much appreciated, thanks!

[mseifert]

I am by no means a lawyer .. but I would say that as long as you have some kind of warning/disclaimer about the buyer being aware of there local laws you would be ok. Search through some of the websites that sell picks already and see what they post to protect themselves

[smokingman]

First I would make sure that it it legal to possess them where you live,
then check the sale aspect and do not send them through the postal service,
use another delivery service.
There is some funky law about the postal service handling them.

[Legion303]

I have some first-hand experience with this.

It is absolutely legal. If you want to send picks through USPS, make sure you ask your buyers to state whether they are bona fide locksmiths. USPS regulations prohibit sending locksmith tools to anyone but "bona fide" locksmiths. Keep in mind that many states don't have a specific locksmith license, but you don't need to keep track of this, only whether you believe in good faith that the person you are sending tools to is a bona fide locksmith. I would avoid sending auto tools via USPS as these are less of a gray area and more of a federal offense if you screw up.

Private carriers (UPS, FedEx) had no restrictions, last time I checked, but are generally more expensive.

EDIT: since you are thinking of making this a website, a simple "I am a bona fide locksmith" checkbox at checkout should be good, but if this is going to be a registered business, I would consult a bona fide attorney instead of relying on internet strangers. :)

[peoplma]

since you are thinking of making this a website, a simple "I am a bona fide locksmith" checkbox at checkout should be good, but if this is going to be a registered business, I would consult a bona fide attorney instead of relying on internet strangers.

Excellent advice, and yeah, I will definitely talk to a real lawyer. Just thought to consult internet strangers first. A lawyer friend of mine told me similar info about USPS.

I'm curious what you mean by "since you are thinking of making this a website, a simple "I am a bona fide locksmith" checkbox at checkout should be good", if I'm selling a product, it would have to be registered as a proper business wouldn't it? For tax reasons and whatnot? Sorry, really new to the whole idea of selling stuff and having a "business". If possible, I'd like to keep it as un-business like as possible. Kinda like a yard sale, "I have these hacksaw blades I grinded down, I know a couple things you could do with them". lol, thanks again

[Tyler J. Thomas]

It might be worth the effort to look into the laws of states that require locksmiths to be licensed. They're typically comprehensive with their locksmith laws. In my state, where there is no licensing, anyone can say they're a locksmith.

ALOA used to have a URL that listed each state but off hand I know states include:Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, Nassau County and New York City too.

Sure wish they'd hurry up and license my state.

[billdeserthills]

It might be worth the effort to look into the laws of states that require locksmiths to be licensed. They're typically comprehensive with their locksmith laws. In my state, where there is no licensing, anyone can say they're a locksmith.

ALOA used to have a URL that listed each state but off hand I know states include:Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, Nassau County and New York City too.

Sure wish they'd hurry up and license my state.

I wouldn't be in such a hurry to get my state licensed, if you ask around generally you'll find that the licensed states aren't in a big hurry to shut down the offenders & unlicensed. They are usually in a bigger rush to simply gather all the cash they can from the honest folks, while the dishonest continue business as usual...