Aug
31st
Mon
31st
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. The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that’s been recalled by its manufacturer. “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 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.
—
Seller, beware: Feds cracking down on secondhand sales of some products
You can thank the NYT for this dumb law, since back in 2006-2007, they led the charge against “unsafe” products imported from China, etc.
Then the toy companies led the charge for a new “child safety” law, designed to thwart secondhand sales of toys, etc. And voila, all manner of vintage and second-hand products (even some books) are no willegal to sell.
Well done.
