Old or Gold?

Old or Gold? / Garage sale

Garage sale

A garage or yard sale feels informal, but the product safety rules still apply to the person selling. Here is what the safety agencies say, then a few old things to guess.

Good to know

  • Product safety rules apply to people holding garage or yard sales, not only to stores, and sellers should not sell recalled products.1,2 #
  • Before selling a used item, safety agencies say to check whether it has been recalled: CPSC.gov/Recalls and SaferProducts.gov in the U.S., Health Canada's recalls and safety alerts database in Canada.1,2 #
  • Drop-side cribs must not be resold: the CPSC says there should be no drop-side cribs in the used marketplace, and Health Canada lists traditional drop-side cribs as banned products that are illegal to sell or give away.1,3 #
  • Do not use a secondhand car seat that has been in a moderate or severe crash.4,5 #
  • Check a used car seat for recalls before using it; in the U.S. you can ask the manufacturer or search NHTSA's recall tool, which covers car seats.4,6 #
  • Car seats carry a date on their label; safety bodies say to check it and not to use a seat that is too old or past its expiry date.4,7 #

Your sale-day kit

Tick them off as you go; each line links to the fact behind it.

Old or Gold? Guess first

How we checked this page

Checked on October 17, 2026. We kept a fact only when two independent sources agree, and each one is numbered to its sources below; every fact has its own link (#). We never write a price: the listings come straight from eBay and show what sellers ask. This page was written with an AI assistant and checked against the sources below.

Sources

  1. Reseller's Guide to Selling Safer Products, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
  2. Facts for Garage Sale Vendors, Health Canada
  3. Buying and selling second-hand products, Health Canada
  4. Car Seats: Information for Families, American Academy of Pediatrics
  5. Information for shoppers of second-hand products, Health Canada
  6. Recalls, U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  7. Second-hand car seats, Health Canada

Other places: Estate sale Flea market Thrift store Police and government auction Storage unit auction

Rooms: Kids' room Jewelry box Coin jar and stamp album Attic Living room shelves Bookcase and media Kitchen and basement

How we decide

The verdict is our own, written from public sources (coin specifications, maker histories, collector guides). It is not computed from eBay listings. OLD: a typical one found at home is worth little; rare dates, errors or editions are the exception. IT DEPENDS: maker, date, model and condition make a real difference. GOLD: even ordinary ones are worth real money, usually for their precious metal. The eBay listings we show are a few current asking prices, not sold prices and not an appraisal. For anything valuable, ask a certified appraiser.