As sold can be brown or white (5)
I believe the answer is:
goods
'as sold can' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'be brown or white' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'be' could be 'go' (going is a kind of being) and 'go' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ods' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for goods that I've seen before include "- - and chattels" , "Commodities" , "Merchandise; freight" , "Merchandise, possessions" , "Wares" .)