Selling Magnetic Products on Etsy: The CPSC Magnet Safety Rule (16 CFR 1262) Explained

If you sell anything with a magnet in it — magnetic jewelry clasps, fidget balls, magnetic building tiles, lash kits, purse closures, or "magnet sets" — there is a federal safety standard you are legally responsible for, and Etsy has its own policy layered on top. Most sellers have never heard of it until a listing disappears or a CPSC notice lands in their inbox.

The rule is 16 CFR Part 1262, the Safety Standard for Magnets, and it is not optional. It became mandatory on October 21, 2022, and it applies to products manufactured after that date. Unlike a trademark complaint, which is a private dispute, a magnet violation is a regulatory matter — the penalties and recall powers sit with a federal agency, not a brand owner.

This guide explains exactly what the rule covers, the single technical number that decides whether your product is legal, what Etsy bans outright regardless of the rule, and the practical steps to keep your shop compliant.

The short version: if your product contains a loose or separable magnet small enough to swallow, that magnet must be weak enough to fall under a "flux index" of 50 kG² mm². Strong small magnets that can be swallowed are the entire reason this rule exists, and they are effectively banned.

Why magnets are regulated at all

This is not bureaucratic box-ticking. High-powered magnets — typically rare-earth neodymium magnets — are the problem. When a child or teenager swallows two or more of them, the magnets attract each other through the walls of the intestines. That traps tissue between them, cuts off blood supply, and causes perforations, blockages, and sepsis. These injuries often require emergency surgery, and there have been deaths.

The CPSC spent years trying to regulate magnet sets, lost a court challenge in 2016, and came back with a formal rulemaking that produced 16 CFR Part 1262. The point of the standard is simple: a magnet that is small enough to swallow must be weak enough that it cannot do this kind of internal damage.

That single design philosophy — small or strong, but never both — is the key to understanding whether your product is compliant.

What the rule actually covers

The standard applies to consumer products that contain loose or separable magnets and are "designed, marketed, or intended for entertainment, jewelry, mental stimulation, stress relief," or a combination of those purposes.

Read that scope carefully, because it is broader than "magnet toys." It captures a lot of common Etsy categories:

• Magnetic fidget toys, magnet balls, and desk sculptures
• Magnetic jewelry — clasps, magnetic bracelets, magnetic "healing" jewelry
• Magnetic simulated piercings (nose, ear, lip studs that hold by magnet)
• Magnetic building or construction tiles
• Magnetic lashes and lash kits
• Craft and hobby magnets sold for "stress relief" or "mental stimulation"

A magnet is loose or separable if it is not permanently fixed inside the product. A magnet glued and sealed inside a closed plastic housing that a consumer cannot get to is treated differently from a magnet that can pop out, be pried out, or is sold as a loose set.

Important exemption: toys that fall under the separate toy safety standard (16 CFR Part 1250 / ASTM F963) are governed by that standard's magnet provisions, not by Part 1262. So a children's toy with magnets follows the toy rule, while an adult fidget, a piece of jewelry, or a "desk toy" marketed to adults follows the magnet rule. If you sell handmade toys, see our guide on ASTM F963 toy safety testing for Etsy sellers.

The one number that decides everything: flux index

Here is the technical heart of the rule, in plain terms.

The standard uses CPSC's small parts cylinder — the same cylinder used across children's product safety rules to model a young child's throat. If a magnet fits entirely inside that cylinder, it is considered a choking/ingestion-sized part. The cylinder is roughly 1.25 inches deep with a diameter of about 1.25 inches at the wide end; any object that drops fully inside it counts as "small."

For any magnet that fits inside that cylinder, the rule sets a limit on magnetic strength measured as a flux index:

The legal threshold: every loose or separable magnet that fits entirely within the small parts cylinder must have a flux index of less than 50 kG² mm². A magnet with a flux index of 50 kG² mm² or more that fits in the cylinder is a "hazardous magnet" and the product fails the standard.

Flux index is the square of the magnet's surface field strength multiplied by the pole-face area. You do not need to calculate it by hand — it is determined by a defined test method (the procedure referenced in the rule, consistent with the magnet provisions of ASTM F963 sections 8.25.1–8.25.3). What you need to understand is the practical consequence:

• A small, strong rare-earth magnet (the kind in magnet balls and most "power magnet" sets) will almost always exceed 50 kG² mm². That product is non-compliant.
• A small, weak magnet — a low-strength ferrite or a tiny neodymium magnet below the threshold — can be compliant.
• A large magnet that does not fit in the cylinder is outside the size trigger, so the flux limit does not apply to it on size grounds. (It may still face other requirements.)

In short: you can sell small magnets if they are weak, or strong magnets if they are large enough that they cannot be swallowed. You cannot sell small and strong loose magnets to consumers. That combination is exactly what the rule exists to eliminate.

What Etsy bans outright — separate from the federal rule

Even when a product might be arguable under the federal standard, Etsy applies its own prohibited-items policy, and it is stricter and more black-and-white. Etsy's policy is what gets your listing pulled, so treat it as the operative line for your shop.

Etsy does not allow:

• High-powered magnet sets and small high-powered loose magnets, because of the ingestion risk to children and teenagers.
• Jewelry made with loose or separable small, high-powered magnets — Etsy specifically calls out magnetic simulated facial or body piercings as not allowed.

For toys, Etsy permits low-powered magnets that comply with the toy standard's magnet section, and those toys must survive use-and-abuse testing so the magnet cannot work loose if the toy is damaged. Toys with small high-powered magnets are not permitted.

The practical takeaway: if you are selling magnetic nose/lip studs, magnet balls, or "fidget magnet" sets with strong rare-earth magnets, Etsy's policy already prohibits them — regardless of how you describe them. Relisting the same item with a new title will not fix a policy problem; it usually just accelerates enforcement against your account.

Labeling and tracking requirements

The magnet rule is not only about strength. Like other CPSC children's-adjacent and consumer product rules, it carries marking and information obligations. Compliant magnet products are expected to carry the required warnings and tracking information so that products can be identified and recalled if needed. Tracking-label-style information typically includes the manufacturer, the production location and date, and batch or run identifiers.

If your magnets fall under the toy standard instead, you are in children's-product territory, which brings its own testing and certification regime. That includes third-party testing and a Children's Product Certificate. We cover that in detail in our guide to CPSIA safety testing for handmade baby and kids products on Etsy.

How this differs from the button-battery rule

Sellers often confuse the magnet rule with Reese's Law, the button- and coin-cell battery safety law. They are cousins — both target small swallowable hazards — but they are different standards with different requirements:

• Magnets are governed by 16 CFR Part 1262 and the flux-index limit described above.
• Button and coin cell batteries are governed by Reese's Law and 16 CFR Part 1263, which require secure battery compartments and specific warnings.

If your product has both a magnet and a coin-cell battery — think some light-up jewelry, magnetic LED gadgets, or novelty fidgets — you have to satisfy both regimes. For the battery side, read our breakdown of Reese's Law button and coin battery compliance for Etsy sellers.

A compliance checklist for magnetic-product sellers

Work through this before you list anything with a magnet:

1. Identify whether the magnet is loose or separable. A magnet that a consumer can remove, that comes out under normal use or abuse, or that is sold as a set, is in scope. A magnet permanently sealed inside the product is treated more favorably.
2. Check whether the magnet fits in the small parts cylinder. If it is small enough to swallow, the flux limit applies.
3. Confirm the flux index. Ask your supplier for documentation, or have the magnet tested. If it is small and exceeds 50 kG² mm², it is a hazardous magnet and the product is non-compliant. Verbal assurances from a wholesale magnet seller are not documentation.
4. Decide which standard applies. Adult jewelry, fidgets, and "desk toys" follow Part 1262. Children's toys follow the toy standard (ASTM F963 / Part 1250) and trigger CPSIA testing and a Children's Product Certificate.
5. Check Etsy's prohibited-items policy. High-powered magnet sets, small loose high-powered magnets, and magnetic simulated piercings are not allowed on Etsy at all — independent of the federal analysis.
6. Apply the required warnings and tracking information. Make sure your product and packaging carry compliant labeling.
7. Keep your paperwork. Test reports, supplier specs, and certificates are what protect you if CPSC or Etsy asks. "I bought them from a supplier who said they were fine" is not a defense.

One mistake to avoid: assuming that because magnets are sold freely on wholesale sites, they are legal to resell to consumers in your product. Industrial and craft magnets are frequently strong rare-earth magnets that would fail the consumer standard the moment they go into a swallowable, loose-magnet product. The wholesale market is not filtered for consumer compliance — that responsibility lands on you as the seller.

What happens if you get this wrong

Two separate consequences stack up. On the Etsy side, a prohibited-items violation can mean listing removal, and repeated or serious violations can escalate to account suspension. If your shop is suspended, your livelihood is frozen while you appeal — a far more expensive problem than reformulating a product. On the federal side, selling a product that violates a CPSC safety standard exposes you to recall obligations and civil penalties, and CPSC enforcement does not care how small your shop is.

The good news is that compliance is usually achievable by changing the product, not abandoning the niche. Switch to lower-strength magnets that fall under the flux limit, seal magnets permanently inside the product so they are not "loose or separable," or redesign so any magnet is too large to fit the cylinder. Many magnetic-jewelry and craft sellers stay compliant simply by sourcing weaker, properly documented magnets and keeping the test reports on file.

Bottom line

The magnet rule comes down to one principle: a magnet that can be swallowed must be too weak to cause internal injury. If your product contains loose or separable magnets that are both small and strong, it fails the federal standard and Etsy almost certainly prohibits it already. If you sell magnetic jewelry, fidgets, lashes, or craft magnets, audit your inventory against the checklist above, get documentation from your suppliers, and confirm which standard — magnet or toy — applies to each item.

Product-safety compliance is becoming the new front line for Etsy enforcement in 2026, sitting right alongside trademark and copyright risk. Sellers who treat it as a paperwork-and-sourcing discipline, rather than something to hope nobody notices, are the ones who keep their shops open.

ShieldMyShop monitors your listings for the policy and IP risks that get Etsy shops suspended — before enforcement does. Start a free trial and find out what's quietly putting your shop at risk.