I’m pretty excited about a deal Toys R Us has going on right now. I heard it on the local news the other day, and it can be found on their website too. But you have to go into your local store to participate.
From now until February 20, 2010, they’re allowing people to bring in certain types of used baby gear to trade in for a 25% off coupon toward one new baby gear item. The categories for both include car seats, strollers, cribs, play yards and more. It’s only for participating brands also.
You don’t have to have bought the item from them or have a receipt. You do have to make your purchase on the day you do the trade in, and only in the store.
The condition of the item doesn’t matter. The whole idea, in fact, is to get unsafe baby gear out from where it might be used.
This is exciting for me because I have a car seat that is on the old side. Selene’s about the age where she’ll be going into that size, so it’s nice that we’ll be able to upgrade to a newer model for a nice savings. The car seat is heading toward 7 years old, which is older than is commonly recommended for use, especially since it has spent most of that time installed in the car as my two older kids used it.
I gather they destroy the trade ins, and I hope they recycle what materials can be sent for recycling. An awful lot of baby gear has significant plastic content, so I don’t know how easy that is. But it’s nice to think that some of it could be recycled.
Figure out what you want and contact your local store to be sure they have what you want before you bring in your trade. That step could save you a lot of trouble if what you want is out of stock.