Is it ok to sell car seats?

[micheleq]

I have two Britax Roundabouts that my girls have grown out of. They are accident-free, but each about five years old. My mom is having a tag sale in April, should I sell them? Or donate to a local charity? I thought I read somewhere that you shouldn't use car seats that are more than five years old, and I'd hate to sell them to someone if that is true.

*UPDATE: Not selling the car seats -- just checked the manufacture dates are 10/04 and 12/04, thus putting them over the five year use limit. Thanks to everyone for the helpful information!

 

[puffkin]

IMHO, I say go ahead.

While there are a lot of people here on the boards who are militant about car seats and expiration dates etc....the general public really isn't that educated. Most have no idea a car seat can expire. Someone will be thrilled to get an excellent car seat at a good price. I don't really see a problem with it.

In a perfect world all parents could afford to replace car seats every 5 years and have the best on the market for their children. But that just isn't reality so you will most likely be helping out a family who needs a carseat but doesn't know or can't afford to get a brand new one.

PS...my answer would obviously change if the car seat had been in an accident or if it was knowingly sold with problems.

 

[doclegler]

I do know that where I live, the police will remove them from the sale if they are noticed. But yes, if they are more than 5 years old or have been in any type of accident, you really shouldn't sell them.
I don't know that many charities will accept them anymore due to liability also.

 

[jodifla]

I would not sell them. I would pass them on to a good friend.

 

[cvjw]

We do not sell used car seats at our church's consignment sale. There are constant recalls on car seats that no one keeps up with, and they could have been in an accident. There are always people coming in looking for them though.

 

[arihillfarm]

I have two Britax Roundabouts that my girls have grown out of. They are accident-free, but each about five years old. My mom is having a tag sale in April, should I sell them? Or donate to a local charity? I thought I read somewhere that you shouldn't use car seats that are more than five years old, and I'd hate to sell them to someone if that is true.

Look for the expiration date on the seat itself or call Britax. I would advertise them as expiring in xxx amount of time and sell them very cheaply if they don't have much time left. Alternatively, if the covers are in decent shape, there is a good market for the Britax covers to be sold by themselves, around $25-$45 per cover or more if it's a rare one. That way you can maximize what you'd get from the seat and not worry about the seat being used past it's expiration date. There's a video on YouTube (I'll have to find it) that shows an expired Britax seat in a crash test where the plastic fails and the straps pull right through the shell, ejecting the child dummy, so seats do expire for a reason. If you do sell the entire seat, I would have whoever buys it, sign a release of liability so if they use the seat after it expires and one of their kids gets hurt in a crash if the seat fails, they won't come back and try to sue you. JMHO. I've been in your position and DH and I decided to destroy the seats rather than risk the liability. If people need seats, there are low-cost and free programs so they can get a current, safe seat without having to buy one from a garage sale.

-Astrid

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I would sell them. An older car seat is better than no car seat at all. I know of a few people that aren't native to the US (Ecuador) who don't use car seats, but I think if they could get one cheaply, maybe they'd use it.

*Yes, I know the law, they don't seem to care.

 

[micheleq]

Thanks everyone for the quick replys!

I will check the expiration date on each seat and take it from there. One seat was given to me by my cousin, so I'd give her seat back to her (she donates most of her old baby items to her church), and see if a friend wants mine if it's within the right date. Selling the covers is a great idea! I'm not worried about recouping the money at this point, just want to get my kids in seats appropriate for their heights and not cause potential harm to others if I sell/give the seats away.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Since they are so close to expiration, selling the covers would be the best choice...the safest, most ethical choice imo.

For the record, those Britax seats expire 6 years from the date of manufacture.

If the money isn't an issue you could also contact your local Safe Kids to see if they need any 'training' seats. I know that I could use a few, I'm a CPST. They would never use them to transport a child, but to bring to a class, demonstrate installs, etc.

 

[wdwfan16]

We find we can get rid of stuff by just placing it at the street with a free sign.

 

[pyrxtc]

I would sell them. Charities won't take used car seats no matter the age since they cannot guarantee they were not in an accident ever. However, there should be an expiration date on the side and I would look at that first and see when it expires since if I buy it at a yard sale I check it out. I will only take a used seat if I know the person who used it and KNOW that it was never in an accident.

 

[dis-happy]

I take that 5 year car seat expiration with a grain of salt, especially since Britax and others started offering seats that were good for 8 years of use. I wouldn't sell it, just offer it to someone who may want an extra carseat in an extra car.

 

[mistysue]

"While there are a lot of people here on the boards who are militant about car seats and expiration dates etc....the general public really isn't that educated. Most have no idea a car seat can expire."

The fact that the public is not educated does not make it ok! I wouldn't want to be responsible for somebody else's child's death just so I could make some extra cash because I could count on them not knowing better. I can't believe I just read that.

Seats expire because of weather conditions and the temperature in the car. If you search for a bit online, there are test videos of car seats that are expired. In one the straps pull right through the plastic in the accident and the child hits the seat in front of them!

I wouldn't sell them even with the date because chances are you are just helping somebody endanger their child.
Babies R Us has sales where you trade in an old item and get a coupon toward something else in the store. You could always trade in and buy a gift or let somebody you know with a baby take your old seats in.

 

[dis-happy]

We find we can get rid of stuff by just placing it at the street with a free sign.

Yeah, that works great! I cleaned out my garage one weekend when the neighborhood wide yard sale was taking place. Too much trouble to sell my things, so I just stuck it out there with a sign that said FREE. It was awesome!!!

 

[Samar]

"While there are a lot of people here on the boards who are militant about car seats and expiration dates etc....the general public really isn't that educated. Most have no idea a car seat can expire."
The fact that the public is not educated does not make it ok! I wouldn't want to be responsible for somebody else's child's death just so I could make some extra cash because I could count on them not knowing better. I can't believe I just read that.

Seats expire because of weather conditions and the temperature in the car. If you search for a bit online, there are test videos of car seats that are expired. In one the straps pull right through the plastic in the accident and the child hits the seat in front of them!

I wouldn't sell them even with the date because chances are you are just helping somebody endanger their child.
Babies R Us has sales where you trade in an old item and get a coupon toward something else in the store. You could always trade in and buy a gift or let somebody you know with a baby take your old seats in.

I agree with Misty Sue! When a small plastic piece of DS's old booster seat broke off when I got stuck adjusting the straps, I tossed it. I tore apart the cover, cut up the belt pieces and wrote DANGEROUS all over the carseat itself. I disposed of all the pieces in different places to do what I could to keep someone from choosing cheap over safety. Some might find that overkill but we lived in an apartment building where people dumpster dove for some of the craziest things and my carseat was not going to be one of them.

 

[micheleq]

Thanks again! I will see if I can donate them to our local Safe Kids site (I think our Fire Dept. still does installations and checks). And I may have a friend who needs a seat for a child who is currently car seat-less mad:!!bad family situation, it's not her child, but part of her family).

My DH's cousin is a Mass. State Trooper and a car seat tech, so I've already sent his wife a note asking what seat I should get next for the girls (leaning toward the Radian XTSL) DD4 is almost 5 years old, but only weighs 32 pounds, DD2 (almost 3) also weighs about 30-31 pounds, so they need to stay in car seats vs. boosters (40 pounds is the law in CT and most states I assume).

 

[natashag76]

If you look on the carseat itself it should have a "do not use after..." date on it. I found it on mine, but it took a lot of searching because it was embossed onto the plastic itself. Good luck!

 

[arihillfarm]

"While there are a lot of people here on the boards who are militant about car seats and expiration dates etc....the general public really isn't that educated. Most have no idea a car seat can expire."

The fact that the public is not educated does not make it ok! I wouldn't want to be responsible for somebody else's child's death just so I could make some extra cash because I could count on them not knowing better. I can't believe I just read that.

THANK YOU for saying what I was thinking but didn't want to say for fear of being mobbed on here.

-Astrid

 

[puffkin]

The fact that the public is not educated does not make it ok! I wouldn't want to be responsible for somebody else's child's death just so I could make some extra cash because I could count on them not knowing better. I can't believe I just read that.

I understand what you are saying, I really do. I live in an area with a high hispanic population. They just don't understand the need for car seat safety in most cases, it just isn't part of their culture. It is a victory around here just to get a kid in any kid of car seat. My friend works at Babies R Us and she said the cops that come for the car seat installation demonstrations have horror stories about the lack of understanding many of the parents have that come out of the city. It is a sad, but real problem.

My coworker got pregnant unexpectedly with her second. She wasn't planning on more children and got rid of all her baby gear. She makes just above minimum wage and doesn't have two pennies to rub together. The hospital used to give free infant seats for newborns but stopped due to budget cuts. She called several agencies and was told they had boosters but no newborn seats. Again, budget cuts. So she borrowed mine (well she insisted on giving me $5 for it, poor thing). It is about 5 years old and if not expired yet it will be soon. She was so grateful for anything.

I understand the fears about liability, etc. If it concerns you then I wouldn't sell them. But I do know that a 5 year old car seat in my town is better than no car seat at all. It is sad that is the reality, but it is true. And honestly, not a single one of my well educated professional friends knew that car seats expired. I didn't either until I came on these boards!

 

[Swimalie]

The fact that the public is not educated does not make it ok! I wouldn't want to be responsible for somebody else's child's death just so I could make some extra cash because I could count on them not knowing better. I can't believe I just read that.

Thank you from me as well.

Thank you, too, for recommending Safe Kids. We have a Boulevard that my 4 year old outgrew in length. It hasn't been in any accidents but is coming up on 5 years old. We didn't know what to do with it. I will try to donate it to Safe Kids.