MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Janine profit from a Freecycle telly?

MSE_Jenny

Here's this week's hypothetical situation for you to cogitate on:

Should Janine profit from a Freecycle telly?

Janine needs a new telly, and is thrilled when she wangles a free fab-condition Sony from her local Freecycle (see full Freecycle guide). Yet a month later, her friend Archie offers her his old, even better, HD-TV. She mentions the fact she's getting a new telly to a work colleague, who then offers her £50 for her current one. She's tempted to flog it rather than donate it back to Freecycle.

Click reply to have your say

Previous MMDs: View All

[threadbanner]box[/threadbanner]

JimmyTheWig

I'd say that was ok. She was honest in wanting it in the first place.
If she's friendly with the person at work she should just give it to them rather than selling it. Because how would _they_ then feel if they found out she got it for free?

If she's feeling guilty she could always go round the house and dig out some other stuff for freegle / freecycle.

Whatever happens, the TV is staying out of landfill, which is the main thing.

mumslave

Where's the dilemma? Someone decided to give a tv away on free cycle instead of sell it, that's lovely but I dont see there is then an obligation for whomever takes it to not sell it. It could be worse, she could have got it with the intention to sell in the first place. Incidently I gave away lots of things last year that i was too lazy to sell, I wouldn't care if the recipient sold them.

wildthing01

if she has previously donated things to freecycle (as i think you have to if you want to recieve things from it????), then i can't see a problem with it. although if it were me, i would let the work colleague have it for free, if i was getting my new one for free.

gemmacarolyn

wildthing01 wrote: »

if she has previously donated things to freecycle (as i think you have to if you want to recieve things from it????), then i can't see a problem with it.

You don't need to donate to receive things from other Freecyclers

makemineadouble

gemmacarolyn wrote: »

You don't need to donate to receive things from other Freecyclers

The rules of our local Freecycle ask that you do donate before asking for something for the first time anyway (but not necessarily every time).
Also, after much ado with a fellow freecycler getting caught selling something they received (where they did not mention this to the giver), the majority of members voted that they would prefer the recipient to state that they intend to sell on items so the giver can then decide whether or not they would rather choose someone else who actually needs the item.

In this situation, I would give away the TV I didn't want as I still got the one I preferred for free

--Tony--

makemineadouble wrote: »

The rules of our local Freecycle ask that you do donate before asking for something for the first time anyway (but not necessarily every time).
Also, after much ado with a fellow freecycler getting caught selling something they received (where they did not mention this to the giver), the majority of members voted that they would prefer the recipient to state that they intend to sell on items so the giver can then decide whether or not they would rather choose someone else who actually needs the item.

In this situation, I would give away the TV I didn't want as I still got the one I preferred for free

Should be called free-loaders as thats what the sites full of, half the items are snapped up by jobless free-loaders who stay at home all day monitoring the site and selling the items on ebay or car boots.

BTW I'm talking from the point of view of a giver who is fed up with seeing items being sold-on

elizabethhull

The point about Freecycle is to keep things out of landfill. I have donated loads of things from my parents house, and I am not bothered whether they were sold on or not. Doubtless some were, but that just makes more people happy than before. In this instance, the morally correct thing to do is to decline the £50 and give the TV to the colleague. Everyone is happy, she has a nice warm glow from having done the right thing and just maybe the colleague recipient of her generosity will pass the favour on somehow - the world can always do with more kindness rather than less.

makemineadouble wrote: »

Also, after much ado with a fellow freecycler getting caught selling something they received (where they did not mention this to the giver), the majority of members voted that they would prefer the recipient to state that they intend to sell on items so the giver can then decide whether or not they would rather choose someone else who actually needs the item.

brightonman123

take the money! an item doesnt hold any freecyle 'obligations', once you own it.

its all very green and tree huggy, but i reckon a lot of freecyle-to- carboot goes on.. shame on original giver, for not selling themselves..

havent they heard of MSE, gumtree etc?

Aaagh

Give it away! I don't think people should profit from Freecycle. I'd like to know that the things I put up on Freecycle go to those than really need them.

One good turn deserves another.

andy40

Give it away and let the peson know that it was free in the first place.
The original owner could have sold it but was generous enough to give it away, so Janine should do the same and keep the ethos alive.
If everyone started selling their spare stuff then freecycle/freegle would die a swift death.