# "do not remove" tags

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-remove-tags/177769>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 27, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-remove-tags/177769 "2003-05-27T14:22:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-remove-tags/177769/21 "2003-05-28T06:52:00Z")

</div>

Heh, I remember when I was 6 and discovered one of those things made of some stiff fabric sticking out the edge of the mattress. It annoyed me so I pulled and tugged until it tore off. Then I read it. :eek: I nearly passed out from fright. That was back in the 1960s, before the comforting words (“Except By Consumer”) were added.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@CJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJo)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-remove-tags/177769/22 "2003-05-28T13:58:20Z")

</div>

i know exactly what you are talking about, mojo. my little nephew was swinging around his toy story pillow by the “do not remove” tag and it tore off. he didnt know how to read the except by consumer part and ran into my room and cried that he was going to jail. i was a little curious with why those tags were even there and that is why i started this thread in the first place.  
😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@CJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJo)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-remove-tags/177769/23 "2003-05-28T21:55:48Z")

</div>

hey yeah…what **if** the tag is gone and you are sending the matress on e-bay…or any online auction site…what then? would it still be illegal?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-remove-tags/177769/24 "2003-05-29T01:17:25Z")

</div>

IANAL, but I wouldn’t think so, since you are conducting a private sale, not through a business. Much in the same way that you can sell clothes in a garage sale without the tags or CDs without the original wrapper. Laws for businesses and for private deals are different, and auctions apply to the latter case, I’d imagine.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@CJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJo)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-remove-tags/177769/25 "2003-05-30T19:40:29Z")

</div>

hmmmm…i think you might have a point there.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-remove-tags/177769.md?page=1)