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Effects of returns/recirculation regarding kashrus

Question:

ב”ה’
Hi.
Given many people’s especially eco-friendly attitude, is there a concern about kashering or buying ‘new’ kitchen or cookware from a store?… I think I have seen a question in the Blumenkrantz Pesach digest about possibly kashering (at least to an extant) certain brands due to certain parts of the manufacturing process, but my question is more -what if it was bought by someone, used w non-kosher, and then returned? I think I have asked this once or twice, but as far as i recall the response was that they had never heard of such an issue/the stores wouldn’t do that, etc… However, I feel that today, in many places, it is very likely that a store would either acquire or accept a return, and then resell it with just a clean that might be insufficient for kashering purposes.. I have been in a physical store which kind of boasted it’s re-used/ recycled products, and (although i’m certainly not an expert) – it seems to me that most amazon sellers have no problem with returns, (at least here in U.S… and even though there may be a clause online that says ‘new and unused condition’, I think that if something like a pot or pan was returned relatively clean, I feel it would be hard for the store to tell or many would just clean a little more and resell..)

Thanks very much

 

Answer:

Thank you for your question.

If you want you may kasher any new pots etc. that you buy, and there is nothing wrong with doing so.

However from a halachic standpoint, in consultation with a kashrus professional, if you are buying the pot from amazon or another reputable place, the returns are not resold, but are sold to a different company who will sell it as used. However, if you are buying from a place like e-bay, where anyone can sell anything that they like in any condition, then your point is valid if the seller is selling it as “like new” condition. If the seller however is selling it as “new” then you can assume that he is not lying and selling a used pot as new. If he does sell the pot as new when it isn’t, he is running the risk that if he gets caught, someone can make a serious complaint against him, therefore he wouldn’t want to do something like that.

Best wishes

 

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