Freecycle - some questions !!

mike_paterson

As others have said it is best to wait a day or so so that those on Daily digest get to see the offer. You also then have a variety to choose from. I only ever gift to people that are polite. Anybody that is not polite has their email sent to trash.

trynsave

I use Freecycle all the time to give and receive and it's GREAT!

When giving I always make sure that the person has named the item they're asking for in their email. I have found that when they don't they are much more likely not to turn up. :mad: Don't know if that means they have their auto-responder on and are automatically saying yes to all.

I also always ask for some idea of when they expect to collect, so I can pick someone based upon when is most convenient for me. If they don't tell me, they don't get offered it!

I also always only give to those you say 'please' and 'thank you', and usually prefer to give to those who live the closest. Not only are they more likely to turn up, but carbon footprint for my giveaway is reduced.

Hope you stick with it and don't get messes about.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I am polite to people I contact - after all, they are prepared to give something to me for free, so the least I can do is show some manners - and I ask when it would be most convenient for them for me to collect the item. If something is unsuitable, I contact them and say 'thank you but not for me this time'.

As such, I expect similar treatment back. My children know to say please and thank you if the old lady next door were to buy them some sweets and I would be furious if they were to say 'We want them. Now.'

Manners cost nothing and it is quite a good way of eliminating the uncouth dealers and the sort of person who will take the chance of looking inside your home to see what is worth coming back for when you are out. Admittedly, there will still be some element of risk, but you will have done what you can to minimise it.

tpsjrm

I'm an enthusiastic Freecycler, being brought up never to throw stuff away if it's still got life in it! However, it can be a bit disillusioning. Lots of rude and greedy people out there. And many responders seem to be car booters, so it's worth stating in your offered posting if you don't want them to respond. It's also obvious that there are some people who are logged in all day and will respond immediately on all the good, 'expensive' items, like your tumble dryer, so I always give it 24 hours to give others a fair chance to respond. Sorry if this sounds like a bit of a rant - it really is a great scheme!

traleegirl

I always do a search on their username and see how much they have offered previously. I then give whatever I have to a person who has given away items before.
You'd be surprised how many people have never offered ANYTHING but are desperate for whatever you have.

richardvc

Thanks for all your help and advice - my tumble dryer has been collected and the people were very nice but I do have a few questions and a little feeling of uneasiness....
We received quite a number of email from people who seemed desperate for our TD and yet could not be bothered to write a proper email ie Dear, please, thanks, etc etc there was also the email equivalent of a grunt on there !!! So they got binned !!
We offered it to the first emailer as their TD had gone bang and they duly came and collected it in their 08 reg car (ie brand new) telling us how much stuff they had bought that day whilst out - I felt as though we had been taken for ride and had naively believed that freecycle was to help 'people in need' rather than save money for those of us who can afford it.
I have since received a number of email from people whom, perhaps, I should have given the TD. Because of this, in future I shall wait the full 24 hours and then choose the winner a bit more carefully.
Finally, how can you search their username ? I have tried but can't see how.

clairibel

Hiya Richardvc,

I have the same reservations as you about who to choose as i have just posted my first freecycle stuff onto the board but in your question to how you search username just type it into the search box at the top of the posted messages page. There are two boxes a small and large one, you put it into the large one and click search and results should appear....very interesting!

ScoobyRay

Freecycle is great, We've given and received quite a bit of stuff on there, and I always give to people that seem to have a valid reason for wanting it, however, I have noticed of late that no matter what you are giving away, the same people reply to your ad's, which makes me think a lot of stuff that is collected is sold at car boots, ebay etc. That isnt what freecycle is about, after all, if I wanted cash I would of flogged them myself. Ah well

richardvc

Hiya Claribel,

I went and checked out the people who took our TD today - they have placed a large number of 'wanted' ads but have not put anything 'into' the system which I thought was compulsory to benefit from Freecycle.

Something isn't right somewhere, is it ?

This is the sort of thing that will put me off using freecycle !

Dee140157

I also do a search to see if the person requesting an item is a regular on freecycler. Often I find a name results in lots of "wanted - washing machine" "wanted cooker" "wanted sofa"...... They don't get the item. For others their name never apears so they are less likely to get the item offered, unless they are the only person asking for it. If however it is someone who has offered a lot then they go to the top of my list as a potential person to give to. Then the issue of politeness kicks in. There is one person I have given to who is Polish, but every time he has requested something from a list of items posted, he has only ever requested one thing that he really wanted. His email was badly written due to a lack of english skills, but really did attempt at politeness. When he arrived the first time he was so delightful, he went away with more than he asked for! And finally if sonmeone asks "for the lot" then again they get ignored!