Second-hand car seats: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Or Sell Them

Technically, it’s not illegal to sell a used car seat in the UK.

However, it is very much not recommended to buy or sell second-hand car seats.

When buying a second hand car seat there is no reliable way for us (or a buyer) to know the history of your car seat - including whether if it's had any bumps or accidents, however big or small.

We also can't tell how long it's been in storage (both in store before purchase AND at it's first home), and believe it or not, car seats have a shelf life of around six years.

While car seats in the UK don’t come with an expiration date they do come with a Service Life, date of manufacture or manufacturer's suggested expiry date on the base.

These dates are similar to a best-before date on your food packets and are there to let you know that the plastic and other components of your car seat may weaken and degrade over time.

Technology and safety standards are also continuously being updated. All car seats need to meet the R44.04 or R129 car seat regulations which you’ll find on an orange label.

Seats that are labelled R44.03 are still legal to use but this does mean the car seat will have been made with less modern materials. R44.02 and 44.01 have been illegal to use since 2008.

In terms of the environment and the circular economy, car seats aren't great. They are big hunks of plastic that are hard to recycle and can't be reused. But being parents ourselves, we know that safety really does have to come first.

While it isn’t illegal to sell a used car seat in the UK, here at KiDSiE, as a second-hand baby gear listing site, we prioritise safety and don’t allow the listing of secondhand car seats on our platform.

If you’re lucky, it’s possible that your might be able to take your old car seat to your local recycling centre.

Unfortunately recycling centers aren't all created equally, so this is very dependent on whether your council accepts ‘hard plastic’, but if they do - it’s likely that they will take your car seat and it can be recycled!

You should be able to search on your local council website for what you can and can’t recycle, you’ll be looking for ‘child’s car seat’ on the list.

If they are able to take the car seat for recycling - don’t forget to cut the straps. This is a requirement for recycling car seat and is stop it being used by someone else who doesn’t have the safety details of the car seat.

Why are car seats hard to recycle?

Car seats are made for a complex variety of materials including hard plastic, metal, foam padding and fabrics.

Part of the strict safety requirements means that these materials are tightly bonded together which makes it challenging to separate them for efficient recycling.

Many recycling facilities are not equipped to handle this complex mix of materials found in car seats, further complicating the recycling process

Silver cross are the first brand in the UK to offer a recycling service for all of their car seats, with a promise that nothing will go to landfill. They will even collect your old seat free of charge.

At the time of writing this is the only brand in the UK who have an in house recycling scheme, but here’s hoping that this doesn’t stay the case for much longer.

1. Check with your car seat manufactuter. Some brands, such as Maxi Cosi offer a free replacement service if your car seat is involved in a crash.
2. Contact your insurance - many car insurers will cover the cost of a new car seat and base if you are in a collision.
3. Dispose of your old car seat safely. You can either choose one of the recycling options above if available to you, or alternatively take it to a household waste centre.

When disposing of a car seat that has been in a crash, make sure to cut the straps of the seat to ensure this car seat isn’t accidentally used by another child.