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

mike_paterson

Give it away and feel good about yourself.
Sell it and feel a bit richer.

As it is your property then you are free to do what you choose. Freecycle do not mind what you do as long as it isn't thrown away.

mike_paterson

brightonman123 wrote: »

shame on original giver, for not selling themselves..

havent they heard of MSE, gumtree etc?

Some people like to give things away.

MSE is not the place to sell items, and gumtree is full of so many scams it makes it hard to use - just try looking for a pc and you'll see what I mean.

Freecycle is easy, and helps your local community too.

SusanC_2

Personally, if I no longer need something I got free on freecycle I will give it away but that is a choice I make (and can afford to make). I see nothing "wrong" with selling the item - if it is saleable then the original owner could have chosen to sell it. I have given away saleable things on freecycle on occasion mainly because I just want to get rid of the thing as quickly as possible and don't want the hassle of selling it. In that situation I really don't care whether the person taking it sells it or not as they have done me a service by taking it away and I am just glad to have got rid of it.

roddydogs

Who would give a Telly worth £50 to freecycle? CRTs dont fetch that much!

Pamelamac

I frequently give and occasionally receive from Freecycle (now called Freegle in Belfast)

I'm happy to give rather than dump. All I really would like is a 'Thank you'.

However, often even that is too much for some people.

Any time I receive I always give a small token, some sweets, a cake, or even last time, a bottle of wine. I know that's not the norm because sometimes I give every week and rarely receive a gift (or maybe I just give to 'tight' people)

However, the ethos of Freegle is to keep stuff out of landfill rather than expect something in return.

So I say she should give her friend the TV and her friend should give her a bottle of wine to say Thank you and they both enjoy the warm glow of generosity.

Pamela

valk_scot

I would give it to my work mate and get that priceless free glow of being generous. If he still wanted to give me some cash for it I would suggest a donation in the nearest kids cancer charity tin, or charity of choice.

I suppose though if I was really struggling for cash ie three kids, low paid job, Christmas coming up I'd regard £50 as manna from heaven and yes, then I'd take it. It's fine to say be generous if you can afford it but not everyone can afford to pass up £50.

The Freecycle ethos is to keep otherwise usable items out of landfill...I've put plenty into Freecycle and though I would prefer my items went to genuine needy folk, I also don't mind if the recipient is attempting to earn a bit of cash by selliing items on ebay and the local car boot sale. Good for them for getting off their rear end and making the effort, eh? More than I can be bothered with.

CCBG

1. If you donate something via Freecycle, it belongs to the person you gave it to. They can do whatever they like with it. It's none of your business.

2. If they then sell it on for a profit, good luck to them. Again, it's none of your business. If you're envious, then you should have sold it yourself.

Question: how would you KNOW they sold it on anyway?

As for "that priceless free glow of being generous", I'd rather have the money, and use it to pay for the central heating bills..

* I have never received anything via Freecycle and sold it on..*

minerva_windsong

To each their own. I think personally unless I needed the money I'd give it away to the workmate.

kevanf1

Ok, I run two ex-Freecycle groups now called Freeworld-Recycling. Both Freeworld and Freegle frown upon selling items that have generously been given freely. Unless the person recieving the item is totally up front about selling the item on or the giver says they don't mind about it being sold.

So, why doesn't she contact the original offerer and aks if it's ok to sell on? Failling that, what's wrong with offering the tv back to her local community on either Freeworld, Freegle or Freecycle?

Yes, as owners/moderators we do know that a lot of reselling goes on. We do act upon this if we can get firm information about a member who is doing is. I have kicked out a number of eBayers who were blatantly selling items gained from my groups.

The thing is, each group is not just a place to get free stuff or give away items, it's also a community. That community thrives on trust, the trust of each fellow member to follow the simply rules. If that trust breaks down then the group will die, I've seen it happen to other groups and then everybody loses out.

Take care.

Kevan

http://www.freeworld-recycling.org

iansoady

Sell it and give the money to charity.