# Used Kids Store Sells Used Carseats!!!



## Raene (Jul 24, 2008)

The used kids store in my town is selling used carseats...isn't this illegal? I am surprised no one has said anything b/c they are displayed in the windows. What can I do?


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## mrsfrenchy (Apr 14, 2008)

Ours does too. It irks me and I've considered saying something.
Its just not that safe--not to mention some of them are really icky looking.


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## Raene (Jul 24, 2008)

Not safe, but it isn't illegal? I thought you couldn't legally resell used carseats.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

A used carseat is better than no carseat at all.


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## Multimomma (Jan 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *vbactivist* 
A used carseat is better than no carseat at all.









:

If it's not expired, which you can check by the date, the only risk you're taking is that it may have been in an accident, and most thrift stores will ask or have the seller sign a form stating that it hasn't been.

It's by no means illegal...and if someone can buy a sturdy carseat and save money, then what's the problem?


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## Ducky5306 (Jul 2, 2006)

a resale store told me it goes by the store, its not illegal but some store's insurance won't cover them if they choose to sell used carseats.


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## LittleBlessings (May 26, 2008)

I am shocked to hear that


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## mamarootoo (Sep 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Multimomma* 







:

If it's not expired, which you can check by the date, the only risk you're taking is that it may have been in an accident, and most thrift stores will ask or have the seller sign a form stating that it hasn't been.

It's by no means illegal...and if someone can buy a sturdy carseat and save money, then what's the problem?

there would be no way to *know* if it had been in an accident. that would be the only problem i would have, but it would be del breaker for me.

that said, though, i agree that a used carseat is better than no carseat. just not good enough for *my* child.


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## goodheartedmama (Feb 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *vbactivist* 
A used carseat is better than no carseat at all.

Are you really going to find a used carseat for under $35-$40, though? Because a brand new $35 scenera is a better choice than a $35 used carseat.


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

I rarely ever see convertable seats but the infant seats are often $10-$15


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## KayleeZoo (Apr 8, 2003)

Our local used kids stores won't sell seats by themselves, but will sell infant seats with travel systems. Drives me CRAZY! The bottom line is, you never know the history of a used seat if you don't know the person who used it and trust them to disclose any/all damage the seat could have suffered.


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## PuppyFluffer (Mar 18, 2002)

My local consignment store sells car seats.

They also sell EXPIRED car seats.

I explained to the owner that they have expiration dates and why this is so. She seemed very uninterested in the hazards of this. It irked me a great deal!

Maybe I should try to find out who her insurance company is and talk to them about it.....that's an idea!


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## straighthaircurly (Dec 17, 2005)

It is not illegal and I am glad it is not. Our local thrift store sells them and the fundraiser garage sale for the local early childhood programs sells them. We bought an extra carseat for a trip to Costa Rica that we just used for the plane ride (we only travel by bus once there). That way we didn't need to worry about it getting lost or stolen. I also bought a used carseat for cheap that my DH could keep with his airplane for our son to use just in the plane.To the poster who wondered what you pay for a used seat and could it be cheaper than $35, the answer is yes, try $5. I have way more concerns about all the people I see who don't have a car seat or the people like I saw the other day who put the child in the carseat but it was not buckled into the car and the child was not buckled into the seat.


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## MacKinnon (Jun 15, 2004)

These sorts of threads frequently dissolve into a "is no seat better than a used seat" debate. I don't think any tech will say no seat is safer, but there are options for free and/or low cost seats in most areas. Selling used seats is a bad idea but not illegal, unfortunatly. Even ebay that thinks used diapers is a bad idea, lets you sell used car seats.

An example that I often use with parents when explaining this is that... I had a parent come in for a check with a seat bought from a used children's store for her granddaughter. She was having trouble making the harness fit correctly, it didn't seem to adjust properly. So we pulled it out. Turns out the seat was expired AND recalled AND had the harness from a different style of seat, threaded essentially upside down, so it turned a 5 point into a 3 point that you couldn't adjust. It was a disaster. Now, if the SAME resale shop had a sign up that said they didn't sell used seats because of the risk and liability, but free or low-cost seats were available at your local Safe Kids, that SAME grandma would have had a low-cost SAFE seat for her grandchild.

Used seats aren't safe because you don't know their crash history, how they have been maintained (i.e. was the harnessed washed, ironed, etc.), missing pieces, recall and expiration status. They are just not safe.

It's not to say that you can't take your or trusted friends or family members seat, of course!


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## urchin_grey (Sep 26, 2006)

Our Goodwill has a ton of seats for sale. Most of them look ANCIENT (3-point harnesses, over head shield harnesses, prints that look like they came straight out of the early 90's)... Its really scary.


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## BeagleMommy (May 26, 2006)

As long as this is a relatively free country, selling used car seats had better stay legal! The alternative would be police searching yard sales every Saturday. How silly! And I think there are many situations where a used car seat is a good option. Not every area has free seats available either.
I'm in the market for a used bucket seat for my baby that is on the way to use if the baby comes before I can get a second Boulevard. I'm waiting on the Blvd partly to save up for it and partly so I will know if I can get a "girly" seat or not. No point in having an ugly seat if this is another girl.


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## goodheartedmama (Feb 1, 2007)

I have been through bad financial times before, but I can't fathom why someone couldn't save $5 a month for the 8 months before the baby comes so that they can buy a brand new cosco scenera, where you know the seat's history. I know that $5 can be a lot of money in a lot of situations, but surely you can scrape it together. I could never buy a used seat, no matter the condition it appeared to be in, or whatever situation I was in financially (and we were really bad off when my son was little).


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## SiobhanAoife (Jun 10, 2008)

I'm thinking of donating my baby's bucket seat (very lightly used, never in an accident, etc.) to the local Homeless Prenatal group which provides assistance to very poor pregnant women. How do these women get a seat in order to be allowed to leave the hospital even? But I feel inhibitions re: used car seats. Still, I figure I should offer it to the program and see how they feel about it. Right?


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## claddaghmom (May 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SiobhanAoife* 
I'm thinking of donating my baby's bucket seat (very lightly used, never in an accident, etc.) to the local Homeless Prenatal group which provides assistance to very poor pregnant women. How do these women get a seat in order to be allowed to leave the hospital even? But I feel inhibitions re: used car seats. Still, I figure I should offer it to the program and see how they feel about it. Right?

I wanted to do the same with my travel system but the shelter refused. They get brand new ones.


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## accountclosed2 (May 28, 2007)

Most people here rent their car seats from Plunket, the Well Baby nurses organisation. So the seats are used, and of course, hard to know if they have been in an accident.

We don't as we opted to go for extended rear-facing. But my friends are annoyed that we won't let DD ride in their kids seats (I don't drive), because they are forward-facing. They claim she's "old enough", and it is safer to be forward-facing correctly as most children injured in crashes are not (or something like that). DD weighs 7.5 kg, about 16 pounds, and is just over a year. Although my friends said this several months ago. Funnily enough, these friends are quite "crunchy", extended breastfeeding, Steiner playgroups, homebirthers, EC etc.


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## RunnerDuck (Sep 12, 2003)

I feel like we have been forced into a culture of fear regarding used car seats.

I certainly wouldn't have bought one for my son, ever. He was my first and I followed all the rules.

With my girls, I would have used used if I had known the owner. (I didn't want to reuse my son's because it was the base-line Graco bucket and he never liked it, I thought maybe the padded ones would be nicer so we got the cushy graco-pedic ones and they did seem to like them more than he did)

Now... I have my son's old Marathon which has 2 years left on it but he's too tall for - and I don't need because I'd already gotten new ones for the girls when I realized this. (I'd hoped to keep him in it another year...) I also have the buckets the girls used - I'm not banking on having twins again so I'd like to sell at least one of them, possibly two - since getting rid of all baby gear tends to increase your fertility and I would like one more baby.

So - 3 car seats which I am 100% sure are in 100% safe condition.

Not selling them here - just giving my situation - and I tend to think most people with old car seats are more similar to me than dissimilar. Ie - they're not hiding anything, they just don't need that seat any more!

Now yes - some of them are old and funky. You could say this of any baby gear. But assuming it's safe from an accident standpoint - so long as it is not "expired" (such a goofy term IMO) - any other safety concerns such as recalls, you should be able to call the manufacturer and get replacement parts if needed. I think they will honor a recall on a car seat even if you are not the original owner.

I don't think selling used car seats should be illegal.

In most accidents, people have insurance and the seat will be replaced if needed - people don't really have a motive to sell damaged seats. Plus - don't some insurances make you turn over your old seat if they replace it?

Now it would be nice if maybe car seats had serial numbers (maybe they do?) and if one were in an accident, police would take that number - and you could look it up in some national database, like carfax.com only for car seats. Of course there are people without insurance and accidents which aren't reported or don't have police involved - but it would catch some of them.

Anyway most times I think it's probably OK - though I'd probably be more comfortable buying from an individual I know somewhat (friend of a friend, someone at church, etc) rather than a resale shop.

There's just so much perfectly good baby gear getting thrown out before it's time is up, sometimes because it's not "fashionable" but sometimes out of fear. That stuff is big and bulky and will take FOREVER to break down. With reasonable precautions, I see nothing wrong with a used car seat.


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## goodheartedmama (Feb 1, 2007)

I think that fear is a good thing. I would prefer be overparanoid and not have to find out the hard way that the seat was sold when it shouldn't have been.


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## RunnerDuck (Sep 12, 2003)

Well, I've made some very bad choices out of fear, so I tend to be more skeptical than the average viewer. I don't disregard all warnings, but I don't hold back on the salt, either.


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## goodheartedmama (Feb 1, 2007)

I get that, but when it comes to safety, you can't protect too much, you know? Being fearful of a used carseat won't hurt your child. Thinking everything will be okay just might.


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## Giraffe (Feb 13, 2009)

I've sold some of my used seats that were still safe. I always include the manual, a quick demo, brief history (how long it was used), when it expires (and why), plus I have a booklet that covers the basics & a handout about ERF/EH.

I couldn't buy used though. It's just not worth the risk IMO, but if I can sell a seat I know to be safe to someone that is going to buy a used one anyway then I'm happy to do it.

I found an expired one at a resale shop & took it to the front counter to tell them. I was braced with info because I've heard of some bad outcomes with resale shops. Turns out it had slipped by because their rule is no seats over 2yrs old. They figured out who took it in & said something about it on the spot in a friendly not demeaning sort of way.


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## RunnerDuck (Sep 12, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *goodheartedmama* 
I get that, but when it comes to safety, you can't protect too much, you know? Being fearful of a used carseat won't hurt your child. Thinking everything will be okay just might.

Agreed, somewhat - I guess I feel like if someone were to say "I would never buy a used car seat, I want everything new" - I wouldn't try to talk them into a used car seat - but if someone were feeling they are low on funds, all they can afford is a used car seat - I wouldn't try to make them feel they are taking some huge risk. It's OK to be wary but I don't think you can say across the board all used car seats are bad.

I definately don't think it should be illegal to sell them in a resale shop... though I do question the wisdom of buying most things in a resale shop - as you can often find better for less through a private party.

Though I suppose if you got it and something were wrong - serious recall, parts missing, whatever - you might be able to return it to a resale shop. They definately wouldn't want the publicity of having sold something unsafe and then refusing an exchange.


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