Seller, beware: Feds cracking down on garage sales

If you're planning on hosting a yard sale, you may want to brush up on the latest and greatest government rules on resales. You will have a legal responsibility to check and double-check the recall status of every product you intend to sell. Its all in the name of "safety and security".

WASHINGTON — If you're planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you'd best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products.

Here is the best quote of the article

Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the agency, said it wouldn't be dispatching bureaucratic storm troopers into private homes to see whether people were selling recalled products from their garages, yards or churches.

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission has launched a drive to prevent used goods that have been recalled from being resold. Among thousands of recalled products on the market, the federal agency has identified 11 that it considers very dangerous for children:

Product..........................................................................When recalled

Playskool Travel-Lite Play Yards (portable cribs)...........March 10, 1993

Baby Trend Home and Roam.(portable cribs)...............Dec. 19, 1994

Evenflo Happy Camper Play Yards (portable cribs).......June 25, 1997

Baby Express Portable Cribs and Play Yards...............Feb. 28, 2001

Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets..................................March 31, 2006

Polly Pocket dolls with magnets....................................Nov. 21, 2006

Easy-Bake Ovens..........................................................July 19, 2007

Simplicity Drop Side Cribs..............................................Sept. 21, 2007

Simplicity Bassinets....................................................... Aug. 27, 2008

Hill Sportswear hooded drawstring sweatshirts.............Feb. 12, 2009

Evenflo Envision high chairs..........................................April 2, 2009"

Be careful out there!

HAHAHA>>>>> I think by the time ANYONE has a garage sale these particular items would have broken on the original owners and been sent back to th store for refund or exchange, I really don't think ANYONE would stoop so low as to knowingly try to pass on a broken item, I know there are people out there that would try to take advantage of the unsuspecting 'consumer' but really come on....

If I had something broken I certainly wouldn't sell it, unless I knew it was valuable, say a carriage clock or pocket watch , but a babies high chair?

I guess I can't resell my easy bake oven now! Sigh... wonder when they're going to add my creepy crawlers machine to the list..

If you acted in good will (didn't know about the recall) and sold something on the list, a "reasonable person standard" in American jurisprudence would mean that you won't be in trouble (despite what the link says).

reply to post by Hazelnut


Garage Sales fund terrorism, don't chya know?

Things are getting downright silly in politics these days

reply to post by warrenb


You said silly. I say downright opposite of common sense. I ask you why is the opposite of common sense the expected norm in 2009? Please someone tell me, its driving me into a mentally questionable deviation from the status quo and politically correct pro-establishment hypnotic trance I'm expected to maintain as a show of solidarity with my enforcers.

Why do we need federal regulation at yard sales??? Let the buyer beware, remember?

Ok, I'm done now.

They won't need to waste money on garage sale police, Obama's "obedient army" of campaign supporters are sure to take on the challenge for free, even to donate money like they are doing for Health Care, not to mention the White House's phone-in "fishy" line. Of course this would be hard to coordinate, except for DHS's massive "terrorist" data base. Be careful, you could get on a no-fly list.

Yeah...if you buy some piece of crap at a yard sale and you think your ten cents was taken under false pretenses, you should email the details to: [email protected]. You can't have my polly pockets.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

I don't think private people having a Garage or Yard Sale have to worry. It's not like the Feds would have time to move on a Yard Sale before it was even over.

The law is primarily focused towards Flea Markets and Dollar Stores where sub-standard goods that do not meet Federal Safety Standards are routinely sold intentionally. Flea Markets especially would get around previous Federal Laws by selling sub-standard goods as "used" even though they were new. This law was meant to close that loophole.

Unless you are running a Garage Sale for 3-6 months at a time I don't think you have to worry of running afoul of this Federal Law. And, if you are running a Garage Sale for 3-6 months, the Federal government would be the least of your concerns as most Municipalities have local laws prohibiting Garage Sales and Yard Sales that last longer than 3 days a year without a Business License, and even then most Municipalities wouldn't allow it as Residences are not zoned for Commercial use.

[edit on 21-8-2009 by fraterormus]

I know I have seen the easy bake ovens at yard sales in the last year. Some of them are just creepy. I would never think to put out underwear to sell at a yard sale. Go yard sale hunting for a few Saturdays and see what you turn up. We go every once in awhile when we have nothing else going on.

Big deal. Congress has also made it illegal to grow your own garden, due to the onerous job of complying with food safety laws.

Just because an insane tyrannical government makes a law, especially one that is inherently unconstitional, doesn't mean you have to obey it.

The only authority granted to the federal government is to make currency, provide for the national defense, appoint the judiciary and to run the post office.

Everything else is left to the states and to the individual. It's time we take our country back.

[edit on 22-8-2009 by SevenThunders]