Freecycle (Merged Thread)

greenbee

I had someone this weekend who responded to an offered with 'I can collect tomorrow'. Great, I thought, as I need to clear the space quickly. When it came to it, they asked if they could either collect next Saturday (er... no... why should I keep it hanging around when I need the space?) or could I drop it off. I thought the point of freecycle was that they recipient collects? Why should I drive 8 miles to get rid of something (especially as a. there are others who want it and b. I would have to go past the tip). If I wanted that amount of effort, I'd ebay it and at least get some cash!

Having said that, I've had a number of very polite, pleasant responses, and hope by the end of today to have rehomed quite a bit of stuff. My only problem is that being on moderation (and I quite see that the moderators can't be on call 24/7) is that my taken notices take more than 24 hours to go up, which results in a lot of unnecessary email traffic.

JimmyTheWig

Firefly wrote: »

I'm trying to de-clutter my spare bedroom and there's a futon in there so when I read a wanted ad on freecycle that went along the lines of 'we'd like a double futon for our spare room' I emailed them and suggested they'd like mine. I pointed out that was only a small double 4' and would take me some time to unearth but they'd be welcome. It was blue and rarely used so in good condition.

Am I wrong to be slightly 'miffed' by the terse email received saying they would like to come on Friday at 7pm to examine the condition and suitability of the futon to see if it meets the requirements they are looking for!!

There's no way I'm showing strangers upstairs in my spare room so they are out of luck!

Is that wrong?

I can see how you might be miffed, but can also see it from their point of view.
Imagine that they want a futon. Imagine that they could go out and buy a new one, get one from local paper / eBay or get one from Freecycle.

Environmentally, the best thing they can do is get on from Freecycle. This prevents it from going to a landfill. It is also, probably, the most efficient way of collecting it. For us, for example, most things we get from Freecycle are closer than getting them from Argos - and much closer than driving to Ikea.

So is it wrong of them to want to get this item from Freecycle? No, I believe it is right of them to do it.
But just because they are doing the right thing, does that mean that they should put all other concerns aside? Why should they not wait until they find a futon that they like / buy one if they don't like the free one.

hula-hoops

I am feeling much better now and having a chuckle to myself on this thread.

Lately on our group we have had:

- student who posts wanted ads religiously (and twice a day on Saturday) for a laptop or PC because he cannot 'do his studies' without one. So what's he posting to the Freecycle list with? A typewriter and a carrier pigeon? Our local library is open all day Saturdays, he could loads done in the computer room there.

- people wanting a whole bedroom of furniture (from beds to dressing tables to bookcases). Sure, come and empty out my bedroom, I don't really need £2000 worth of furniture anyway. Perhaps you'd like the matching carpet and curtains too?

There are plenty of wanteds that I read out to DH and we both look at each other and say 'ebay is your friend' with a wicked smile. We are so tempted to search for the item on ebay and reply with the item number.

The best one lately was the woman in our group who had experienced the Immaculate Conception twice:

My friend has just found out she is expecting a baby boy! She is very
happy about this facta s she already has a little girl of 13 months.
However as a single mum and on benefits she cant afford much in the way
of clo9thes. I have given her all the clothes my son has grown out of
from 6months onwards but was wondering if anyone has anything from
newborn up?
She would be very greatful of anything you have to over. Thanks ion
advance

A few of us at work had a few choice words to say when this e-mail popped into our inboxes.

My reply was:

Hi there
I don't have any baby clothes but I do have wool and needles so that
she can knit her own.
The wool is a nice lilac and I have enough for at least 2 cardigans.
I might even have some patterns somewhere that she can have too.
Let me know if she wants them.

Tongue firmly in cheek, of course. DH laughed and placed a bet that she would actually turn up for wool and patterns and I would have to stand there blagging my way out of it.

Her reply:

Thank you for your kind offer but she says she has no idea how to knit and even if she did she wont have spare time with her 13month old! Thanks again

No time to knit? What about when 'her 13-month-old' is asleep? Oh sorry - of course she's too busy getting pregnant by the holy spirit then.

hula-hoops

Meant to add to the above that I have 2 jobs (one full-time and one part-time) and I still manage to knit our jumpers and more for Christmas presents, plus make latch hook rugs, go to my book group and much more...

YummyMummyBigBummy

I have been a member of Freecycle for quite some time and have given away loads of stuff to some really nice, grateful people. I have also been lucky enough to receive some good stuff too. I was given a writing bureau by a really nice gentleman who picked my reply from all the many he received as he said that I was the most polite and respectful in my email! So it goes to show that good manners really do help if you are keen on asking for something.
I have noticed lately, however, that the number of wanted ads far outweighs the number of offered ads. TBH I just delete them as it is the same old people posting for ridiculous things, like iPods, plasma screen TVs, an Aga and other wildly expensive things. We also get people posting with shopping lists of stuff that they want, then they have the cheek to ask if you can deliver it to them!
So, after some intital success with Freecyle I think it has gone down hill quite a lot and is now being abused by blaggers. I have mentioned it to the moderator, and they say that wanted ads are being vetted more now, but still my inbox is crammed full of them every Wednesday.
I still advertise stuff on there, but I'm a lot more picky about who gets it now.
Shame really, as it's an excellent concept that's being abused. Sigh...:(

judderman62

YummyMummyBigBummy wrote: »

I have been a member of Freecycle for quite some time and have given away loads of stuff to some really nice, grateful people. I have also been lucky enough to receive some good stuff too. I was given a writing bureau by a really nice gentleman who picked my reply from all the many he received as he said that I was the most polite and respectful in my email! So it goes to show that good manners really do help if you are keen on asking for something.
I have noticed lately, however, that the number of wanted ads far outweighs the number of offered ads. TBH I just delete them as it is the same old people posting for ridiculous things, like iPods, plasma screen TVs, an Aga and other wildly expensive things. We also get people posting with shopping lists of stuff that they want, then they have the cheek to ask if you can deliver it to them!
So, after some intital success with Freecyle I think it has gone down hill quite a lot and is now being abused by blaggers. I have mentioned it to the moderator, and they say that wanted ads are being vetted more now, but still my inbox is crammed full of them every Wednesday.
I still advertise stuff on there, but I'm a lot more picky about who gets it now.
Shame really, as it's an excellent concept that's being abused. Sigh...:(

Yes I feel the same about it in y area - definitely feel it has gone down hill. Also some time back there was an article in the local paper about it and it actually said in the article why buy stuff when you can get stuff for free - our mod was by all accounts delighted by this article. I on the other had was horrified - with a statement like that in the article is it any wonder folk are coming out in droves asking for all manner of luxury items and expensive items.

Victim of it's own success and not strong enough moderation in my humble opinion.

Yes I also favour the polite replies - lack of manners will see the reply deleted and as for ppl usin txt spk Argggghhh !!! I detest text speak - not even keen on it on mobiles to be honest and certainly no place for it elsewhere as far as I'm concerned. If you want to be guaranteed your message will be deleted in anger in a flash then yes please reply to me in text speak.

rant over :o:p

BrandNewDay

YummyMummyBigBummy wrote: »

I have been a member of Freecycle for quite some time and have given away loads of stuff to some really nice, grateful people. I have also been lucky enough to receive some good stuff too. I was given a writing bureau by a really nice gentleman who picked my reply from all the many he received as he said that I was the most polite and respectful in my email! So it goes to show that good manners really do help if you are keen on asking for something.
I have noticed lately, however, that the number of wanted ads far outweighs the number of offered ads. TBH I just delete them as it is the same old people posting for ridiculous things, like iPods, plasma screen TVs, an Aga and other wildly expensive things. We also get people posting with shopping lists of stuff that they want, then they have the cheek to ask if you can deliver it to them!
So, after some intital success with Freecyle I think it has gone down hill quite a lot and is now being abused by blaggers. I have mentioned it to the moderator, and they say that wanted ads are being vetted more now, but still my inbox is crammed full of them every Wednesday.
I still advertise stuff on there, but I'm a lot more picky about who gets it now.
Shame really, as it's an excellent concept that's being abused. Sigh...:(

The greedy "wanters" do ruin it, don't they? And, the sad thing is, I think its possible to have a legitimate wanted request... I've asked for toys for a friend who is starting up a toddler play group. I don't think it would be out of order to ask for a kettle or iron or something if yours breaks and you're not fussy about what you get. But, too many people just ask for crazy things and, ultimately, there are simply too many "wanted" requests.

cookiedough38

I think I am pretty lucky with our freecycle hearing some of your stories! I havent seen any cheeky wants as yet and wants in themselves are few and far between.

Keys

I like the idea on this Forum of passing on something we have put on freecycle to someone who offers things themselves, some folk only ever ask for stuff, but how can you find out what people have offered in the past, please? I get the daily digest but delete it after reading each day. Thanks

grannybiker

If you go to the "Messages" page on the site, then use the "Search" box at the top. Enter the user name of the person you're interested in tracking and all their posts will appear.
Very useful if you're inundated with polite and friendly emails (any others are the first to be discarded!) when you've posted an offer.
HTH