Hundreds of deadly infant sleepers that have been recalled are still for sale online secondhand on websites like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and eBay, according to Consumer Reports.
Sellers could be held responsible if someone buys a recalled item and a child ends up getting hurt.
"It's understandable that a lot of individual sellers may not be aware of the recall or of the law, which makes it illegal to sell recalled products, whether you're a person at a garage sale, whether you're posting something online," says Rachel Rabkin Peachman with Consumer Reports.
Websites discourage the practice on their policy pages which, let's face it, people rarely read.
But if you are a secondhand shopper, you should know Consumer Reports found that eBay does a better job at policing recalled products. And remember, only a few brands of infant sleepers have been recalled, but safety groups have said it's not safe to use any inclined infant sleepers.
"A new government commissioned study has also shown that there are many ways this positioning and this design puts infants at risk for positional asphyxiation, which means that they could lower their head and compromise their airway," Peachman says. "Even without rolling over, they could suffocate."
It's not just inclined infant sleepers. IKEA dressers and Bumbo baby seats were also being resold.
So what can you do about this? You can check recalls.gov before buying or selling anything secondhand. If you see something for sale online that has been recalled, you want to let the seller know.
