I just got into buying things on e-bay (I've got a full summer wardrobe for my new baby!) and I noticed that a lot of the sellers say "smoke free pet free home." Now, I don't have allergies so couldn't care less, but I found myself wondering how people with pet allergies could be troubled by purchasing some of the items from a home with pets. I mean, toys? If you wash the little toy car does it even matter that my cat might have sniffed it? Clothes? It's not like they were used to line cat beds. They wash.
So I was thinking of trying to sell a few things -- clothes and books mainly -- and I'm just wondering if it honestly matters that I have cats. (I'm also thinking of selling a rug I had in my son's room and I figure it does matter on that item because the cats actually lounged on it.)
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
I'm not certain about pet dander, but I do no that some allergens don't easily wash out of things. People with severe allergies and asthma can react to trace levels even after things have been washed.
I think the smoke free pet free home thing is more about smells than allergies though. While most cat owners I know don't have an odor problem in their homes, there are certainly some that do and those odors can be very hard to get rid of.
While I've seen lots of things on e-bay labeled "smoke free pet free home", I don't think I've seen any labeled with "pet home" or "smokers home" so I don't think it would be considered necessary to list that sort of thing up front. Certainly if a potential buyer contacted you and asked, it would be dishonest (and potentially dangerous if serious allergies were involved) not to disclose you have a cat but that's a different issue.