Freecycle (Merged Thread)

grannybiker

The post below which appeared in the daily digest exposes all that has tainted Freecycle. I was left pretty speechless and will leave you to cast your own judgement upon it. (Incidently, I would have though this post was a "Wind-up" by another frustrated Freecycler had it not been for the fact this poster has made 3 previous posts, all making the same requests, so it's obviously real and they're very unlucky or selling them on!)
wanted a few things **** ***

Posted by: "********" *********yahoo.co.uk ********

Sun Nov 16, 2008 1:15 pm (PST)

hi my children are after a ps2, or 3, or psp, they have been let down
so many times, so plase some one if you got them, my children would be
very greatful,also i am looking for girls clothers age 2/3yrs in good
condition please, also i am looking for a good working laptop, so my
son can do his home work, he needs won badly, also last thing has
anybody got a mp3 player or mp4 please, i know i am asking a lot, so
please please make my children happy thanks for reading
***
The group's concept is wonderful and harks back to a society before we all became obsessed by consumerism and selfish greed. Posts such as this leave me deeply saddened that others seek to abuse the kindness of others.
P.S. In their defence, they do say "Please!"

Cardew

grannybiker wrote: »

The group's concept is wonderful and harks back to a society before we all became obsessed by consumerism and selfish greed. Posts such as this leave me deeply saddened that others seek to abuse the kindness of others.

Well said!

My group is full of begging requests that get ever more outrageous!

Laptops, PS2 etc top the list.

One I found amusing was for a Flat screen LCD monitor - not enough room for a CRT monitor - as large as possible please, but a 17 inch will do!!

To my mind the wanted adverts should be restricted to items that cannot now be obtained for purchase, or that people wouldn't advertise because they think there is no demand. e.g(from my Group) An out of print car manual, a bowl for an old Kenwood mixer, an old style Scout badge etc.

cheekyweegit

Grannybiker - I wonder if your poster is related to this one on my freecycle group?


Wanted Playstation 3 games or blu ray movies

Just bought a PS3 and wondered if anyone has any spare/used/unwated
games or blu-ray dvd's surplus to requirements. Thanks in advance.

They do not say please, but in their defence do say "Thanks" as you can see. I was gobsmacked at this one, but then again we have had quite a few wants for expensive things on ours recently, particularly with Christmas coming up and it seems to be for console related things for kids Christmases or so little Johnny is not bored after school / weekends. You get the picture.

sarahs999

Hi all,
I recently advertised something on Freecycle (a blender) which was given to the first person who replied (which is the way I always do it). He offered to make a donation to a charity of my choice for £5 - is this unusual? He was a really lovely bloke too, when he came to pick up the blender, and I even got an email from him today saying he hadn't forgotten but he was waiting til he got paid and then he would send me a link to show he'd done it! I was quite amazed - it's alovely idea but I can't believe many people do that.

JimmyTheWig

Cardew wrote: »

To my mind the wanted adverts should be restricted to items that cannot now be obtained for purchase, or that people wouldn't advertise because they think there is no demand.

I've heard the rule (not quite sure from where) that wanteds should be restricted to the sorts of things that get posted as offered.
Obviously the obscure items you've mentioned should be allowed in addition to this.

But I think the point is that if people often offer video recorders, it is not unreasonable to post a want for a video recorder. Equally with something like a mattress - there's always these sorts of offers on there.
But I've never seen anyone offering a PS3, or even games for one. So asking for one is not on.

molley

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I've heard the rule (not quite sure from where) that wanteds should be restricted to the sorts of things that get posted as offered.
Obviously the obscure items you've mentioned should be allowed in addition to this.

But I think the point is that if people often offer video recorders, it is not unreasonable to post a want for a video recorder. Equally with something like a mattress - there's always these sorts of offers on there.
But I've never seen anyone offering a PS3, or even games for one. So asking for one is not on.

I have offered a few things on Freecycle but I must admit my first thought when considering listing something is " Does it have any value to me to sell" and if it does it goes in https://www.adtrader.co.uk After all I paid for it originally so I think it reasonable to get something back and at least I know if someone pays something for it it's because they want it to use and not sell it on .
If the item has little or no chance of selling or if it's not worth a lot then I'll list it .

JimmyTheWig

Yes, I agree.
I wouldn't give away to a stranger something that I thought was worth the effort and expense of selling. For this reason, I am not too bothered about a trader collecting stuff, though I realise it's not quite in the spirit of the thing. But if I don't want to spend my time and money selling the thing, then someone else is welcome to do so.

JimmyTheWig

Oh, but the reason I replied was to ask if you found adtrader better than eBay - and if so for what reasons?

BrandNewDay

In addition to adtrader there's also gumtree

Cardew

BrandNewDay wrote: »

In addition to adtrader there's also gumtree

That's where people sell the goods they obtain on Freecycle;)