help me with my garage sale script

KaiLing

New member
Well, garage sales are ruining my morning, again.

I went to one, was chatting with the lady and said "can I show you this? Most people don't know this, but car seats have expiration dates and this one expired in 2010." She said "well, it might help someone," and I responded (getting mad now, but calm and polite) with something like "actually the old plastic that's been sitting in the sun can't be trusted in an accident, the harness rips out of the plastic here, I'm a CPST and I can print out a check list for you." She said "No, I'm not interested in that. I'm comfortable with it, you're welcome to look at any of our other items," (this was borderline angry as well). I said OK, meandered around trying to look like there wasn't steam coming out of my ears, and left quietly. (I didn't, for example say, "have a nice day! Hope you sleep well at night selling expired dangerous safety items to your neighbors!")

Is there something else I should do? Do I need a better schpiel? I don't think people who think an expired car seat "might help someone" would be receptive to the used car seat checklist. And I don't think someone with that attitude is going to let me drop one off for the person buying it either... I know I can't win them all, but now I'm feeling kind of like I need to have a better script going in. Ideas?
 
ADS

mama2girls

New member
I'm not sure there's much you can do, besides what you did. I saw a Craiglist ad where the person acknowledged that the seat was expired, but because they had stored it carefully out of the sun and they felt comfortable using it, that of course it was fine to sell as well.:rolleyes: I think that all you can do is point out the facts and people make their own choices. Some people genuinely don't know car seats expire and appreciate the info; others just don't care. Sorry she was so rude about it.
 

KaiLing

New member
Ah, it gets even better! Turns out it was a joint garage sale with someone I sort of know, and he sent an email out advertising the garage sale. So I responded to the email saying I understand they are comfortable selling it, but if it doesn't sell, I'd be happy to take it off their hands for training. Actually I think it was *his* item (judging on the age of kids), not hers, and maybe he would have liked to know. Sigh.

I just wish it didn't make me feel so. bad. I know the only thing i can do is be more practiced next time, but I just hate that the adrenaline takes over and I can't stop imagining some new parents thinking their kid is properly safe. I don't feel like this when I disagree with someone on something else (politics, say? Parenting styles?). Bleh.
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
There are some battles worth having and others that you just have to take a deep breath and look away from.

In the case of a garage sale seat, I'd probably fake being interested, and turn the seat around wondering out loud when it was manufactured. Then just say "oh, don't know if you realized this or not, but this seat is expired and isn't safe." If she says something further, you can make a calm statement about being a tech and mention that expired seats could be very dangerous and there are programs available for parents who can't afford to buy a new seat. (Assuming their are programs available in your area.) You might just leave it as a calm comment of letting her know it's expired.

In the end, it is the parent's responsibility to make sure they are purchasing a safe seat and using it correctly. If the manual isn't present, you could always try asking for the manual before looking for the DOM of an obviously expired seat and then might be able to mention how you couldn't use a seat without a manual.

If it's cheap, you could always offer to buy it for $1 or something since it's expired and tell her you were going to use it for training.

Many people have big issues with the idea of something going to waste - think of how some people clean every crumb off their plate while others are ok leaving a bit behind because they're full. It may have nothing to do with safety of the seat and everything to do with them justifying it so they don't have to throw it out and "waste a perfectly good seat."

And that's where picking your battles comes in. Sometimes you could say everything perfect and not have success. Other times you might stumble around your words and the person would still decide to destroy the seat.

I know as techs we feel passionate about helping other people keep their kids safe, but we all have limits as to how widespread our influence is and can be. By recognizing the limits that give the most effect without causing undue stress to us, life gets to be a lot less easier, and it'll decrease those nervous moments too. :)
 

KaiLing

New member
Thanks, Trudy, that actually makes me feel a lot better, because I basically did exactly that: one sentence of "hey, most people don't know this, but..." and one sentence of "old hot plastic is bad and I'm a CPST." All the escalation was hers, and I can't predict that, and I responded fine. A little unrehearsed, but not mean or upset or accusatory. I said what I said, I moved away, and I should be proud of myself for not letting my annoyance color my words.

I just know I'm not going to stop either going to garage sales or feeling like I need to tell people about expiration. So for that 1 in 10 who sees even my careful openers as an attack, I need to learn to let it go. Which y'all are helping with, thank you. :love:
 

Evolily

New member
Do you volunteer to do checks sponsored by the fire department or police department?

If you do I would say "Hi, I'm a CPST, I work with the fire department to help install car seats, and I noticed..."
 

Kac

Ambassador - CPS Technician
This is why I don't do garage sales, consignment shops, or look at craigslist. I would be frustrated 24/7 if I did.
 

CrazyBoysMamma

New member
If someone told me they were comfortable selling something like that I'd probably semi-jokingly say "Gee, I must know too many lawyers, I'd be afraid of getting sued if it failed..."
 

KaiLing

New member
Um, yeah, I thought she looked familiar. She's the president of the board of the day care / preschool most of my friends' kids go to. Brilliant. Small town life: gotta love it.
 

Jan06twinmom

New member
Um, yeah, I thought she looked familiar. She's the president of the board of the day care / preschool most of my friends' kids go to. Brilliant. Small town life: gotta love it.

Can you do something at the day care to provide information/resources to parents? If it is a low income preschool, information about how to get a low cost car seat would be helpful. If it is a higher income area, maybe make arrangements to do a car seat talk and/or set up arrangements to be available to do checks.

Melanie
 

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