If you are hosting a garage sale, and are in Canada, it is important to understand that you are legally responsible for the items that you sell.  If they are damaged or do not meet safety regulations, you can be responsible for any injuries that are sustained.  It is important to check the safety of the items you are selling before your garage sale.

If you are attending garage sales and are picking up some items for your kids or your baby, it is important to understand some of the safety issues when it comes to garage sale items.  I have listed some of them below.

• Cribs: There are many inexpensive cribs being offered through garage sales and occasionally you can find a good deal on one.  It is important to bring a measuring tape with you to check the width of the bars and the height of the posts.  The crib bars should never be wider than 6 cm apart and the corner posts should never be more than 3mm high.  The mattress itself, should never be farther than 3 cm from the side of the crib.  When it comes to age, any crib made before 1986 should be avoided since it does not meet current standards.  Other cribs to avoid are ones with suspended mattresses held on by an S hook.
• Walkers:  This is something that is applicable to Canada since walkers are banned.  Exersaucers are legal but these are the toys where baby cannot push himself around with.  Walkers lead to a high level of accidents and should be avoided.
• Bicycle Helmets:  You should never purchase any type of helmet at a garage sale since there is no way to know the history of the helmet since they could have minute cracks that offer the child no protection if they were to fall.
• Baby Gates:  Avoid any gates with large openings or a “V” shaped pattern.  Also make sure that you have all the important information with the gate such as manufacturer, and the date it was manufactured.
• Car Seats:   I would recommend never purchasing a car seat at a garage sale since you do not have any of the history on the seat.  If a car seat is in even one accident, it is deemed unsafe and should not be used or sold.  Since there is no way to really determine if it was in an accident, it is better to avoid them all together.  If you do decide to purchase a car seat make sure it meets all the Motor Vehicle Safety Standards of your state or country.
• Strollers:  Any stroller manufactured before 1985 should be avoided and you should also check to make sure that everything is in working order.  Test the brakes, folding buttons, wheels and straps.  Also make sure that the folding button locks securely and that the stroller will not fold up on your child.

For most of the other items, you can pretty well use common sense. Avoid purchasing anything that was used for bathing and try to purchase items that are not broken in anyway. All in all, if you feel uncomfortable with the item, don’t purchase it, even if the seller is offering it to you at a steal. 

All the best and happy garage sale hunting.

Sirena Van Schaik

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