Freecycle- people asking for too much?

polkadot

I never knew this thread existed . I have recently discovered I'm good at cakes so have started a home business-I asked for a stand mixer. didn't mind what kind, as long as I could get my sugar and butter going at the same time as I was making my syrup. I got a response from someone with a Kenwood Major, I went on a bus to get it and she found it hilarious as the mixer was so big-I tried to take cupcakes to the place she said she worked as it was close by, but no one could tell me how to find her.

I responded to a wanted for a buggy board when I was moving house. I was in a different borough at the time and so suggested if she had time to wait for me to move to her borough then I would just move it with me and she could collect then. She and her husband came the day we moved in, they saw we were still unpacking the van and insisted on helping. I hadn't mentioned we were moving in that specific day as I thought it was irrelevant.

gem599

My dad is the perfect example of one of the principles of freecycling of ‘one man’s junk is another man’s treasure’.

He’s got rid of old carpets and cardboard boxes, which were worth nothing, and he’s gained old paving slabs and a lean to greenhouse/conservatory! The person offering said whoever wanted it had to dismantle and transport it and my dad was only too happy to oblige!

He’s recently bought himself a large shed/retreat and has kitted it out with blinds from someone’s kitchen, used old kitchen worktop as a work bench, and even got enough offcuts of decking from one guy to build a deck outside it. These are all things that would have gone to landfill. All he needs now is an old camping fridge for the beer!

My dad offered a lawn mower to the guy that brought the decking, and the guy was so delighted he went home and found some old wall racks for bikes for my dad’s garage because he’d noticed he didn’t have any!

It’s enough to warm the heart.

HalfaSixpence_2

I'm just about to enter another orgy of freecycling because we will be moving again and I need to clear out. Last time I had some really good experiences and only a couple of irritating ones. The worst experience with with some stuff that was 'too good to give away' so I sent it for auction via a 'man with a van' who was recommended to me by someone who should have known better - well, we never did get any money back from him and the amounts weren't going to be worth fighting over by the time we paid him for shifting the stuff but it left a bad taste; I really wished I had freecycled it and made someone's day in a good way.

dekaspace

I moved to a flat a few months back and had nothing, not even a matress to sleep on, well TBH I had a fridge and cooker that landlord owned but nothing else. because of the 2 items per post rule and no more than 2 requests a month I asked for a bed(Even a bed frame or even just a matress) and a computer desk, and on the second curtains(didnt even have them!) and a wardrobe I was offered a wardrobe but I told the person I had no transport of my own and it would take a few days to sort, on the day when I was coming round, in fact minutes before I was going to leave got an email saying "sorry my husband has already given the wardrobe and chest of drawers away"

Same people 2 weeks later offered some posters and I went around at the agreed time and they never even answered door.

In the end I had to get a credit card and use that(was lucky as I have a bad credit rating) used to really annoy me as I would get no replies to my wanted ads for stuff like furniture and then a few days later someone would offer to the board the same furniture that I needed and when I replied they told me it had already gone so I was in a bare room for weeks.

JoolzS

rosie-marie wrote: »

Regarding the WANTED ads, as long as they are polite and not overly fussy requests I don't really mind, it doesn't bother me - its sometimes amusing but thats all. I did put a WANTED ad for a certain piece of furniture but stressed that the condition or size really didn't matter and I can collect at their convenience. Is that OK? Or are all WANTED ad frowned upon?

I definitely don't frown upon general WANTED ads. I do dislike those asking for the newest games console, computer, etc, but I have no problem with someone asking for a general household item. I occasionally visit my local freecycle site just to see what people are asking for because I have an attic full of things that I can't quite bring myself to ditch, but I know I'd have no problem giving them away to someone who has a use for them.

Julie

isabelle304

dekaspace wrote: »

... I would get no replies to my wanted ads for stuff like furniture and then a few days later someone would offer to the board the same furniture that I needed and when I replied they told me it had already gone so I was in a bare room for weeks.

On my group we are advised frequently by the mods to check the Wanted ads before offering anything just in case what we have to offer could go to someone straightaway but to be honest, I always forget to do so It's a good point though.

Sunny_Saver

One of my fellow freecyclers has been clearing out her flat, so she's had loads of stuff to post/give away.

The moderator refused to let her submit anymore posts on the grounds that 'you've been giving away too many items'.

Surely that's the whole point of Freecycle?

If no one had anything to give away, there were be no website!

I've had issues with that moderator too because he refused to let me freecycle train tickets. I asked him why not given that theatre tickets have been allowed, but never got a response.

In general, I don't mind what people ask for or what people give away, but there is someone on the site who has posted several times asking for 'designer clothing' to set his own charity shop. Hmmm.

adouglasmhor

dekaspace wrote: »

I moved to a flat a few months back and had nothing, not even a matress to sleep on, well TBH I had a fridge and cooker that landlord owned but nothing else. because of the 2 items per post rule and no more than 2 requests a month I asked for a bed(Even a bed frame or even just a matress) and a computer desk, and on the second curtains(didnt even have them!) and a wardrobe I was offered a wardrobe but I told the person I had no transport of my own and it would take a few days to sort, on the day when I was coming round, in fact minutes before I was going to leave got an email saying "sorry my husband has already given the wardrobe and chest of drawers away"

Same people 2 weeks later offered some posters and I went around at the agreed time and they never even answered door.

In the end I had to get a credit card and use that(was lucky as I have a bad credit rating) used to really annoy me as I would get no replies to my wanted ads for stuff like furniture and then a few days later someone would offer to the board the same furniture that I needed and when I replied they told me it had already gone so I was in a bare room for weeks.

If you ever get in the same boat again you should try St Vincent De Paul or Salvation Army they usually have some stuff to help people out and they don't worry if you are religious or not.

Trembling_Turnip

I gave away a Playstation 2 on Freecycle, had about a hundred emails for it, a lot of the usual stories, some just saying "I'll take it" but I decided to give it to a bloke who said his son really wanted one but they couldn't afford it because he'd been out of work.

Well I don't know if it was a genuine story or not but they sent me an email that night saying how grateful they were and how much fun they had with the dancing game. So as long as it made somebody happy and it wasn't just sat around gathering dust then that makes me happy.

Somebody asked on my local group for a home cinema entertainment system - I mean, come on!!!!

Claire_Bear

Like others here, I've had good and bad experiences with Freecycle. I've offered a few things, and had those well irritating mails back saying 'I'll have it'. Whenever I'm replying to offers I at least say please, I'll collect whenever is the most convenient, thanks for reading etc, it's just common courtesy. Impolite people automatically get disregarded. Once I went to meet a man in town to collect a scanner, he seemed quite shocked that I was polite, said thanks and how much I appreciated it, he even said he was shocked that I was there on time. How bad is it when people are surprised at someone being polite? I also wouldn't mind people selling stuff on eBay or at a car boot sale, as long as they state their intention in the mail, then if they are the only person asking for it I'd happily give it to them, otherwise it goes to more needing people first.

I'd be tempted to just give up on the whole thing, but occasionally you get such a good experience that it restores your faith in humanity a little. For instance, someone posted a wanted for old broken laptops so his son could use the screen to fix his own computer. My old laptop broke ages ago and can't be fixed so it was just sat around taking up space. I would have felt bad about throwing it in the bin, so I offered it to the man, he was genuinely grateful and happy to receive it which was really nice to see.

Sorry for going on a bit here, I've been wanting a good rant for a while now!