Craigslist and expired carseats

I've been looking on Craigslist for cheap baby clothes, but I see a recurring theme of people offering carseats that are expired. What can I do? Should I email the poster, and tell them about the carseat expiration? If I should, how should I go about it?

I emailed one poster about a Century carseat that looked ancient, and had a 3 point harness with a shield!

Here is what I sent... what do you think?


Hi,
I was wondering what the date of manufacture of the carseat is. There should be a sticker somewhere on the seat, possibly underneath the cover, stating what the date of manufacture is.

The reason I ask is because the majority of people do not realize that carseats expire 6 years after the manufacture date. If this seat is expired, please, please, please cut the straps and throw it away. Carseats expire due to the expansion and contraction of the plastic over the years due to the temperature changes they are exposed to in a vehicle. I'm assuming that you are a parent, since you're selling a carseat - and that you would not want a child to be put in harm's way. I don't think that any parent would knowingly do that.

For more information, please see www.car-seat.org

If the seat is not expired, please update your post with the date of manufacture so that parents know better what they are buying.

Thank you very much.
 
ADS

castanuela

New member
:thumbsup: I think that your e-mail is good and not offensive, there is a lot of threads here regarding expired cars`eats you may want to check to see all the answers.
 

Mommy2Five

New member
THANK YOU for e-mailing before flagging! Your letter sounds pretty thorough.
Keep sending them (but don't be surprised if you get some not-so-polite responses).
 

Marinesfamily5

New member
I say
e-mail
Flag
AND post your own PSA ... alot of people still don't know and they may read your PSa and decide to pass on the piece of junk. :thumbsup:
 

gbpmama

New member
Ditto Marinesfamily. I know people dislike the off topic "ads" with just info.. but I find when you post "ads" with info about car seats, they tend to not get flagged as fast as other ads where people are flaming, for instance.

Anyway, I email with a link to this forum and then a web site stating simply how seats expire and why, etc. I've received probably one nasty reply out of about 50-75 emails I've sent in the past 6 months now. Most do not reply and some do reply thanking me.
 

Neatfreak

New member
This issue with CL seems to come up so much! I wonder if anyone has ever proposed that CL writes up a policy about ads for car seats and boosters, maybe requiring the DOM to be listed in the ad or something?
 

CTPDMom

Ambassador - CPS Technician
I think your letter is great but just be sure that you know what the expiration date is for THAT seat specifically. NOT all seats are 6 years from DOM. And some of the older seats have a clearly stated 'Do not use after XX/XX' date on them. I ask them to check for that as well.

Expired seats is a pet peeve of mine right now...I've been absolutely appalled by the # of expired seats being sold for $$$ on ebay lately!
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
I keep an information letter up on my craigslist. I have had a couple people actually send thank you emails!
 
I know pretty much for a fact that it is expired, as my little sister had the same seat (and she is about to turn 15!) I checked my mom's photo album to make sure, and it is definitely the same seat!

Later on I found one that stated the date of manufacture of an infant seat was in 2001.:thumbsdown: I emailed the poster and got a response of "Thanks, but we didn't use it the whole time, so its still safe" :eek:
 

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