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Buyer Beware

Recalled products resold on eBay
Study finds a significant number of children's products are resold online years after being pulled off the shelves.
By Stephanie Gottschlich

Sunday, August 19, 2007

DAYTON — With the recent recall of more than 10 million toys made in China, parents may feel the threat posed by those toys is over.

What parents don't know is that recalled children's products are often resold in the world's largest yard sale — eBay — and winding up back in kids' hands.

A new study by a University of Dayton child psychologist found a significant number of recalled toys, safety devices, bassinets and baby walkers at online auction sites years after those products had been recalled, putting other kids at risk of injuries or death.

"These things resurface in secondhand markets or are recycled" as hand-me-downs, said Keri Brown Kirschman, assistant professor of child psychology specializing in pediatric injury prevention. "When we go to buy, or sell, or donate, we're not thinking of recalls that happened two or three years ago," she said.

Kirschman's research didn't deal with the 2007 recalls, but illustrates how responding to those recalls now will keep the Mattel and Fischer-Price toys out of circulation in the future.

While eBay has a policy prohibiting the sale of recalled products, enforcement is lax and products are still getting through that safety net, according to Kirschman.

Parents — as buyer or seller — need to be more diligent in verifying that those products weren't previously recalled, Kirschman said.

"If you think there's a potential for a recall, if you're in doubt — leave it out," Kirschman said.