If you’re hoping to buy kids toys and clothes at second-hand stores and thrift shops, you may soon be out of luck.

Bonnie McBride with the Second Chance Thrift Store in Kamloops says they’ll have to stop selling those items at her store by the end of this month, and says many other stores across North America may soon follow suit.

“We did find out that there was a significant change to the way Lloyd’s of London, who underwrite most of the commercial insurance available in North America were going to be looking at second-hand sales,” she said. “They have decided to not insure really anything that has to do with children.”

McBride says there are two reasons for this change – the first is that most children’s items, especially toys, aren’t donated in the original packages, noting it’s hard to sometimes track if donated items are subjected to recalls.

“We actually went back and forth for a long time trying to find a happy medium, along the lines of is there a way we can sell something [in our stores]?” McBride noted. “Things like board games and the like.”

“And I think a lot of it comes down [with a number of brokers] to the fact that once something enters the retail market at the second-hand stage, it doesn’t include it’s warning labels. That’s absolutely true. We rarely get things in that condition.”

And the second is the fact that insurance claims regarding children often have very high payouts.

She says her store is one of the first to be affected as her insurance was up for renewal.

“We’ll probably sell [our inventory] at very reduced price and give as many people an opportunity to stock up as we can. It’s one of the reasons that we announced it publicly to our customers,” she said. “And so now is the time to look at that for your family. Can you stock up on the next couple of sizes for your kids?”

Listen to Bonnie McBride with the Second Chance Thrift Store in Kamloops speaking on NL Newsday below: