What do you do with your old (not expired) seats?

[stayinhomewithmy4]

This a spin off of the car seat recycling thread. Up until recently I still had an Intera that was only a couple years old and in good shape, but it wasn't gettin' any love at our house. It sat & sat & sat in the closet because I didn't know what to do with it. When we were moving, I finally decided it was time to get rid of that seat. Well, then I still didn't know what to do with it. Goodwill doesn't take car seats for liability reasons. Would you post it on Freecycle? Donate it through some other organization? As it ended up, my dad had it with him at work one day (he left in his car, LOL) and was telling the other guys that he was going to drop it off at a teen parent center because it's the only place in the area that will take car seats, and 2 of the guys he works with started arguing about it. They both wanted it, LOL, to use for their grandkids. So, it was far easier to get rid of than I thought it would be. What do you do with your old, but still usable seats? I know I'm not the only one that buys car seats impulsively! :p
Now, I'll have to send the old (as in a couple yrs old) FPSV booster seat with him one of these days.

[Mommy2Five]

What?! You're supposed to get rid of them?!?!?
LOL (says the woman who has 23 of them in her house right now :o)

[NannyMom]

Well, I do have one that I'm going to be selling cheaply on Craigslist. And I had 1 in the past that I posted on Freecycle. If you know it's a good, usable, non expired seat, I don't see anything wrong with passing it on. Maybe I'm wrong?

[drlynne]

I freecycle them or give them to friends.
Lynne

[drlynne]

What?! You're supposed to get rid of them?!?!?
LOL (says the woman who has 23 of them in her house right now :o)

Seriously? OMG where do you put them?

[BookMama]

What?! You're supposed to get rid of them?!?!?
LOL (says the woman who has 23 of them in her house right now :o)

You must be cleaning them (or the cars) again, huh?

If you know it's a good, usable, non expired seat, I don't see anything wrong with passing it on. Maybe I'm wrong?

Nothing wrong with that! :thumbsup: I've passed three of our former seats on to my sister, to use for my nephew. I've also thrown out three seats that were expired, broken (stupid Portabout base broke when I was installing it!), or otherwise unusable.

[wendytthomas]

What?! You're supposed to get rid of them?!?!?
LOL (says the woman who has 23 of them in her house right now :o)

LOL I've got 13. My attic has shelves and it looks like Target up there. Though only one seat (well, two) are not expired that I don't use.

I passed one seat along to my friend who used it until it expired and she passed it back to me.

Actually, come to think of it, I think it may be more odd that I have seven or so seats that ARE expired that I have up there. LOL And that was intentional.

Wendy

[Dillipop]

It depends on the seat. I sold one seat that still had a couple years left on it, but DS had outgrown it. Another seat got tossed, even though it still had a couple years left- my evenflo titan. I hated that seat sooooo much that I couldn't pass it on in good conscience. I think that selling it, freecycling it, giving it to friends would all be fine, as long as the seat is in good condition and hasn't been in any accidents (obviously! LOL!).

[MissKatie]

I give them away unless they can be passed down to the younger one later. When I got my GNs, A had not quite outgrown the Chase and Bolero so I gave them to her family to use in their cars, where she was riding in nothing. When M outgrows the TB completely, I will probably keep it around because I love it as a booster and will use it for A when she outgrows the Chase or Bolero in her family's cars. I might even use it instead of the Nautilus in booster mode... I just like it better. I also have a Cosco combination seat in my trunk that's waiting for a good home... can't decide who to give it to, but I got it on sale and I work at a daycare so there is no shortage of kids who need seats around here.

[Carefulove]

I give them away to friends. I have given away 4 so far (1 of them to my sister to have in her DH's van). The others to co-workers with infants/toddlers.

[bubbaray]

I give them to my DDs daycare, with the instruction manual and pointing out the expiry date.

[NannyMom]

Actually, come to think of it, I think it may be more odd that I have seven or so seats that ARE expired that I have up there. LOL And that was intentional.

Wendy

LOL, that's what I was thinking. Why are you keeping expired seats?

[wendytthomas]

LOL, that's what I was thinking. Why are you keeping expired seats?

Presentations. Plus I buy them off of Craigslist and get them out of circulation. If I had infinite money I'd buy up all of the expired seats on Craigslist, and take in every stray cat and dog that came my way. Cats love carseats. Go figure.

Wendy

[bobandjess99]

I have 4, almost 5 grandkids......'nuff said...LOL!

[christineka]

I sell if they have enough life left in them. If they have only 1.5 years then I'll give it away. Less than a year I hold onto until expired.

[bethng]

Depending on the seat I either sell it, give it to someone who needs a seat, give it to daycare to use ( if they need it) or just keep it for a back up at home! I would rather see a good usable seat being used then sitting in my garage.

[Judi]

What?! You're supposed to get rid of them?!?!?
LOL (says the woman who has 23 of them in her house right now :o)

:yeahthat: I have 13 now. Trying to sell an RA, maybe some boosters, since I have a start now. DH was talking about is pic the other day, when you had all the car seats in the house. He said I need to bring them all in and do that, lol.

[Mommyto2]

I have a few in my basement (2 or 3?) I know the snugride will expire this Dec. The rest I just have. I probably should do something with them.

[Mommy2Five]

:yeahthat: I have 13 now. Trying to sell an RA, maybe some boosters, since I have a start now. DH was talking about is pic the other day, when you had all the car seats in the house. He said I need to bring them all in and do that, lol.

Heh! You should!
I :love: Mass Carseat pictures!
I should get a new pic, I have a much more impressive selection now :rolleyes:. :whistle:

[dhardawa]

I loan many of them out. Right now, my neighbor has one of my Marathons for her great-nephew and a friend has my Companion. I will also give them away. I gave my neighbor a new Snugride, gave another CPST friend a new Graco Platinum Cargo, gave the girl I work with two new Big Kids, and gave CPS a new Safeseat. On a rare occasion, I'll sell them, but it is always through a car seat board where I feel confident that people trust me. I have sold some new seats on Craigslist.

[Wineaux]

I know our local Safekids chapter is always looking for seats to use for training purposes. The more makes and models that the new CPST's have to train on the better, plus they have extras to loan out to CPST's doing presentations.

[Jeanum]

I give some away to friends/family, and I hoard some seats to either pass down to DD2 or to use again for either of my DDs in grandparent's vehicles, for travel, car pooling, or other possible "just in case" scenarios. :whistle:

[flipper68]

It depends on the seat. I sold one seat that still had a couple years left on it, but DS had outgrown it. Another seat got tossed, even though it still had a couple years left- my evenflo titan. I hated that seat sooooo much that I couldn't pass it on in good conscience. I think that selling it, freecycling it, giving it to friends would all be fine, as long as the seat is in good condition and hasn't been in any accidents (obviously! LOL!).

Since we lobby strongly against BUYING used seats, I have a hard time saying it's okay to SELL them to strangers - KWIM?

That said, I have found good homes for my seats with family and friends.

[abacus2]

I like to have at least one spare seat per child sitting in the basement, although I don't have an extra for Rachael right now. The others I pass on to family members. I've given two seats to my sister and one to my SIL.

[NannyMom]

I know our local Safekids chapter is always looking for seats to use for training purposes. The more makes and models that the new CPST's have to train on the better, plus they have extras to loan out to CPST's doing presentations.

That's a good idea! I know I have an old Touriva I was going to trash (not expired, but I heard bad things about it), and aCargo I was going to sell, but decided to hold them until after my CPST course. They said we should let them use our carsandour seats for practice. Maybe after the course I'll just donate them.

[Paige]

My son is only 13 months old and has been through 5 car seats already just for 1 car! I have sold the car seats that he grew out of too soon at a local children's consignment store. I just when in and told the owner what I paid for the seat, gave her the manuels, and was done with it. You can even tell them what price you want for it. Also check with local churches. They might have someone in need in their shelter that could use the seat. :)

[Mommy2Marcus]

I give them away or sell them as long as I know they're safe! I gave my 3 in 1 to my brother for my nephew. I knew there was nothing wrong with it, but Marcus had outgrown it RF & I wanted him to stay RF, so I passed it on as they could not afford him one.

I passed my Comfort Sport to someone else who could not afford a new seat. I hated that seat anyhow. It was perfectly fine, just crappy in genreal.

I had an ex-friend borrow & never return my AOE. Not that that was a HUGE loss after all. It was one I bought 2nd hand before I knew better.

Other than that I have not given any away. I have right now an EFTA, MA, Husky (still has 1 year left...I am keeping it to use with my 4 y/o nephew when I move & he rides with me), messed up Scenera & soon to be another EFTA or NEW AOE...have not decided yet!

Oddly enough I :love: my old 3 in 1 & would not mind another. I am seriously considering buying the NEW AOE!

[InTheWoods]

I give them to friends whose finances are running especially tight.

[emandbri]

I've sold most of them but gave some away. I don't buy nearly as many seats and I did in the past! lol Old timers will remember when I bought like 5 seats for Jacob in a years time! lol It wasn't my fault all the seats had stuff I didn't like :whistle:

Right now I'm selling my safe seat 1 at a consignment sale. It looked snazzy I printed up a page about the features of the seat and added that 4 out of 5 seats are used wrong and to please have it checked.

[bobbysgirl7103]

I don't have many extra car seats, but the ones I have are sitting in my daughters closet in case we need them again. I have 2 that are going to expire next year though and will need to be replaced because we do use them occasionally.

When I got DD her MA, I gave her SS1 to my best friend who is expecting because I don't need an infant seat sitting around. We aren't planning on any more.

[papooses]

Cats love carseats. Go figure.
Teehee, so true :p

Last year I had a couple dozen "rescued" (expired, etc.) carseats in our barn. Most were too nasty to use for presentations, but a few were salvagable for such educational purposes. Eventually, I just got a few friends with power tools to help me demolish 'em before we put 'em in the dumpster.

With any of my own seats that no longer meet our needs but are still safe to use, I sell. I need the money & I have the liability insurance + training to feel safe doing that. I've sold a couple seats to forum users here who've shown adequate knowledge/skill to use 'em correctly. When I sell locally, I provide a seatcheck & I complete the Used Seat Checklist form for them. Locals don't get any seat from me without the necessary education.

If I weren't a CPST then I would still provide a completely Used Seat Checklist (www.cpsafety.org) & contact information of local CPSTs for the new owner to get a seatcheck. The CPST might automatically replace the seat for them, but if they do then chances are they'll request to hang on to the used seat & probably use it for training purposes. Either way it's a winwin for everyone.

Of course, it's rather obvious that if a seat doesn't pass the Used Seat Checklist then it should be demolished. Also, it might be easier to simply contact your local CPST & offer it up for training purposes yourself instead.