Garage sales are included under product-safety act
By Nathan Poppe | Staff Writer |
The Oklahoman
[ JUNE 15, 2009 - OKLAHOMA CITY, OK ] - Before sticking a garage sale sign into the grass of your front yard, it would be wise to take another look at what you’re selling.
The 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which is a lengthy set of product-safety laws, is broad enough to include products being sold in garage sales.
Selling anything the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls or bans is a violation of the act. Toys, nursery furniture, clothes and home appliances are common examples of everyday items that get recalled.
So, if you’re selling something that’s been recalled and you know it, you might be subject to a fine as high as $5,000. If you do it again after the first “noncompliance charge,” you might spend up to a year in prison or pay up to $50,000 in fines, Oklahoma City attorney Doug Todd said.
“Ignorance is not an excuse,” warns a 27-page Consumer Product Safety Commission resellers’ handbook, released this month.
Commission spokeswoman Betty Davis said the commission will not be sending representatives to police garage sales.
Davis said the focus of the commission is on retailers and manufacturers, which are strictly held to the rules set up by the act. However, she said those having garage sales should be cautious.
"Our advice is to make sure you’re not passing on recalled products,” she said. “The last thing you want to do is (pass) on a danger to another family.”
Whether you’re a large manufacturer or a garage seller, the commission works to inform people about hazardous items. Its Web site is responsible for posting recalled products.
Davis said joining the recall email list on www.cpsc.gov is the best way to keep up on faulty products.
While Edmond resident Suzanne Morava, 54, was preparing for her garage sale last weekend, she said going online is a good way to check recalled products.
“People should be responsible for what they sell,” Morava said.
Before her garage sale last weekend, Midwest City resident Kathy Singer, 53, said she had not checked to see if any of the products she planned to sell were recalled.
“I don’t think anything about me being responsible for selling (a recalled item)” Singer said. “I would say buyer beware. If I were purchasing something secondhand, I would do my research.”
A bill was introduced in March to amend the act’s effect on small and family-owned businesses.