Is Your Junk Someone Else’s Treasure or a Safety Risk?

Are you one of the thousands of families across the country that holds a garage sale in hopes of making a few extra bucks?  If so, you may want to check your inventory before putting it out; you could be passing on a danger to an unknowing family.

In 2008, a Consumer Product Safety law, known as Resale Roundup, makes it illegal to sell recalled products, yet few people realize the rule applies to anyone selling on internet sites like EBay or at yard sales.  The law, targeting mostly toward children’s toys and other products, was enacted after millions of lead-tainted toys from China were recalled in 2007.

Although the goal of CPSIA is not to police every private citizen who wants to sell an old toy at a garage sale, it is important to know that it is illegal for anyone – individual or company – to sell recalled products. “Those who resell recalled children’s products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children’s lives at risk,” said Inez Tenenbaum, the recently confirmed chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The agency admits it doesn’t have the manpower to actually enforce the rule at garage sales and internet resale sites, but does encourage sellers and buyers to research products to make sure they are safe.  Before you hang the balloons on the mailbox to sell your used baby gear, click here to check your items for recalls. Doing so will help remove dangerous products from circulation. No garage sale dollar is worth serious injuries or loss of a child.

Buyer should also take positive steps to protect children from dangerous products.  It doesn’t take much effort to find out if a product has been recalled.  You can search the CPSC website for recalls by product type, manufacturer, or a specific danger or hazard or visit Recalls.gov.

Before hosting your next garage sale, take the right steps to not resell recalled products.