Question Buying used carseats?

mommyin05and07

New member
Sorry, I have another question...
I thought buying used carseats was a BIG NO NO, unless of course you KNEW the people you were buying from.. I see theres a carseat FSOT forum here, Is it ok to buy used off here? I mean most are certified techs and its a carseat forum, so I guess its a HOPE the seller is telling the truth that its never been in an accident,or anything? a take your chance kind of thing? Just wondering
Thanks:)
 
ADS

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
As with everything else, use your best judgement. If you don't trust a seller, don't buy from her or him. But if you've been reading a person's posts for a good long time and are impressed with his/her knowledge and apparent integrity, then it's your call. There are people here from whom I would buy, and people I might not (and it's not necessarily that I think they are bad or evil, but I don't "know" them well enough).

ETA that I'd be somewhat less picky when buying/swapping for a cover than a carseat.
 

Andie

New member
I personally, have no problem with it. In fact, that's where I got my Uptown. I figure that people on this board know the "rules" of seats. They also have to be members for awhile, make a certain number of posts and have a certain amount of rep points before being able to post in the swap forum. This makes me even more comfortable with it. They kinda have to "prove" themselves first, if that makes sense.
 

Splash

New member
The simple act of not being brand new does not make a seat unsafe. All of my car seats are used, some for weeks, some for years. They're all still safe.
Used seats are NOT unsafe seats. Seats that have been in a wreck, improperly cared for, missing pieces that cannot be replaced or that the average person would not know to replace, are expired, have had the straps washed, etc are unsafe. If a seat has never been wrecked, is a few years old, has been properly cared for, all pieces and manual are present, then the seat is perfectly safe. It's the act of determining if all of those are true that is tricky.

I would not buy a seat from you (not trying to be snarky, trying to explain) because I know nothing about you, you have no history here, and I cannot determine, well, anything. I would buy a seat from chickabiddy because I know she knows her stuff, I trust she's not selling something unsafe, and I am pretty sure if she had been in a wreck she would have posted here about it! The fact that she is a CPST weighs very little into my decision. I am as likely to buy a seat from Morganthe, equally knowledgable and trustworthy without the fancy title. Or Andie, for that matter. On the flip side, though, there are a few CPSTs on here that I would NOT buy a seat from, as well as other 'regulars' that I would not feel comfortable doing it.

The "do you trust this person with your child's life" standard is, IMO, a bit overdone. I trust that if I dropped my kid on chickabiddy's door and told her that I was in dire straights and needed someone RIGHT NOW to take him, that he would be alive when I got back. But I don't know her well enough to trust her to baby sit him day in and day out and make sure she does everything just like we want her to (don't know her well enough to judge). But I do trust her with a car seat, because I would trust her to keep him alive in an emergency situation, which is what a car seat does.

I hope that, uh, maybe cleared that up for you. If not, forget I tried. And I just used chickabiddy as my main example because she had posted on this thread. And she can install a Radian in a Subaru with a seatbelt and that takes some mad skills.
 

arly1983

New member
As with everything else, use your best judgement. If you don't trust a seller, don't buy from her or him.

Well said. :)


Also some of us have a slight addiction to trying out all the new seats but not keeping them so someone can usually get a good deal on a barely or never used seat.

I have been guilty of selling seats that were new with tags just because it would cost me more to ship it back to a seller for a refund.

But it really boils down to do you trust the seller.
 

mommyin05and07

New member
That makes since, guess its really no different the the other FSOT boards Im on, but usually thats clothes/diapers/toys...

and just so you know I was not thinking about selling a carseat...I know Im new here and it takes awhile to build trust...I was truely just curious about it...plus my carseats are in use or spare for the just incase times.

Thanks for your answers
 

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