We did pay someone to come install in 3 vehicles (2 parents + nanny car that we owned) but it was primarily me trying to signal to the nanny how seriously we took car seat safety and not to uninstall or reinstall it herself. We only did it for infant/rear facing, we installed forward facing ourselves.

Charging more bc a child is disabled (did I read that correctly?) is gross.

So I suggested this service to a friend who was thinking about a new business. I was in the fray because we originally were going to go straight to a convertible with our second but then had to scramble for a bucket seat. The convertible we selected needs a spacer underneath but that cant be used until 6 months. So the bucket car seat needed to be installed when the baby was already here which means that driving safely somewhere isnt a possibility and honestly, I couldnt find a reasonable location that offered the free service locally. And when we finally did have it corrected, the hospital installed it wrong and our baby hated it because the straps were too low and choking her. So the NICU nurses also didnt know what they were doing.
Also the car sear needs to be adjusted regularly. If you had an all inclusive price like 1st install, one free check/adjustment (give parameters of when that needs to be done), convertible install and then switch to FF facing install then yes. If its piecemeal, eh. And you would need to go to their house/place of their choosing for this to be a fee-for-service IMO.

If you look at the safekids map theres definitely areas where availability is not a given. Limited hours, not a lot of locations near AACo or Baltimore.

I would pay $25 - because I have seen so many incorrectly installed seats. In fact, most are installed incorrectly. It's a small amount to pay for something that is very important. but that is just me.

I’m not sure the idea for this business. Most hospitals provide car seat safety information to parents and almost all police or sheriff offices offer these services for free as well to ensure that kids are properly secured. Finally, I know that many school districts do back to school events where they bring police/fire in to ensure things are installed properly (no proof of going to the school needed).

I think it’s great that you want to open your own business. I just think you need to think about the market for what you want to do. I’m not sure one exists for this.

OP, I think you will be able to charge for this but it will be by and large only the super rich who don’t want to be bothered to look up/schedule an appointment with one of the free places. So I think you could charge $50 regardless of the car seat type or style. That being said I can’t imagine anyone paying for “information” that’s readily available for free on the internet. So I really think you would only be able to charge for installation. Also, I think you could make a lot if you offered rentals of ride safe vest things that people are always asking to borrow in parenting groups.

So if you don't have a helpful answer, go somewhere else.

80% of car seats are incorrectly installed. I live in a county that just cut their program that offered these services.

Anonymous wrote:I have a few questions for anyone here who is available to answer them!
First, here’s what I’m trying to do: open a unique business that offers car seat safety education, installation, and fittings.
Here are my questions:
1) How much would you pay for installation of an infant car seat before due date?
2) How much would you pay for installation of a convertible car seat? Please note which seat you have when answering this question.
3) How much would you pay for fitting and/or education about car seat safety regarding your specific child?
4) How much would you pay for basic car seat safety education before your due date?
5) Would these answers change based on if your child were disabled?
6) What are you willing to change in order to accommodate safe car travel for your family? (Esp if you have 3 children in a 5 seat vehicle).

If you can, I’d love to have answers emailed to me at sagecogswell@gmail.com, but I understand if you can’t and will be checking on the post regularly.

Zero, you can go to plenty of places for free installations, and it's not hard to install. There are also plenty of videos to teach you.

I do offer this for free at the moment, but I am looking to turn it into a business as many people offer to pay me for this.

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would anyone pay for a mindless task such as this? This is a dumb business model, OP. Plus you can easily be sued if the driver gets into an accident and the child is injured or killed.

That's what liability insurance is for.

Fairfax county just stopped providing this service.

I’m a car seat technician and provide this service for free.
A lot of police and fire stations ( not all) provide it as a free service. The county ( moco) has free safety seat inspections on a weekly basis at car dealerships and fire stations.
Not sure why anyone would pay for this.

Thanks for sharing your email though! I will hit you up.

Why on earth would anyone pay for a mindless task such as this? This is a dumb business model, OP. Plus you can easily be sued if the driver gets into an accident and the child is injured or killed.

I have a few questions for anyone here who is available to answer them!
First, here’s what I’m trying to do: open a unique business that offers car seat safety education, installation, and fittings.
Here are my questions:
1) How much would you pay for installation of an infant car seat before due date?
2) How much would you pay for installation of a convertible car seat? Please note which seat you have when answering this question.
3) How much would you pay for fitting and/or education about car seat safety regarding your specific child?
4) How much would you pay for basic car seat safety education before your due date?
5) Would these answers change based on if your child were disabled?
6) What are you willing to change in order to accommodate safe car travel for your family? (Esp if you have 3 children in a 5 seat vehicle).

If you can, I’d love to have answers emailed to me at sagecogswell@gmail.com, but I understand if you can’t and will be checking on the post regularly.