Garage Sale Crimes

“Put your hands in the air and step away from the Easy-Bake Oven” - me

The new federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act makes it a crime to resell toys and other products for children that have been recalled by its manufacturer. The Act was signed into law last year over concern of lead in Chinese made toys in 2007. According to McClatchy News, “The crackdown affects sellers ranging from major thrift-store operators such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army to everyday Americans cleaning out their attics for yard sales, church bazaars or — increasingly — digital hawking on eBay, Craigslist and other Web sites.”

An agency spokesperson said they would not be sending Strom Troopers to raid Tag Sales but would focus instead on the big web sites and used item resellers in a campaign called Resale Roundup. To kick off the new campaign, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified the top 11 recalls out of thousands it has on file.

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

Bottom Line

For more information see: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09299.html