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

madforitdiver

--Tony-- wrote: »

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

Personally I think it is totally against the freecycle spirit to sell on items, although I do agree with a previous post stating that the intention is to keep things out of landfill. However, there is an easy solution to Tony's point - I use freecycle a lot to give things away (I've only ever had one thing from there). When I advertise something I wait until all responses have stopped coming and choose which one I think is the most deserving/needy/worthy. OK its not perfect but it works for me - I gave a TV away only last week that went to a very deserving cause and it brought a ray of sunshine into both myself and the recpient's lives.

(but yeah, I would never willingly give to someone who intends to sell-on)

kl970303

:rolleyes: It would be ethically wrong for Janine to make a profit after a kind stranger helped her out in the first place.
If Janine doesn't have much of a conscience then fine - go and make a small profit but if she believes in Karma then she will do right thing and put it back on freecycle. Happy Holidays

JimmyTheWig

madforitdiver wrote: »

When I advertise something I wait until all responses have stopped coming and choose which one I think is the most deserving/needy/worthy.

But how do you know the stories are genuine?

skint_but_working_on_it

I'd sell it ... 50 quid is 50 quid!! I can feed myself, pay bills, Xmas shop, and much more with 50 quid. You can't do that with a "warm fuzzy feeling of doing the right thing"!! The work colleague offered to pay - if they're happy to do that then I'd be happy to take the cash. And they are only a work colleague after all. If it was family it would be a different matter!!

I've heard of this Freecycle but never checked it out. I've put it on my list of "things to do"!!

freelancemermaid

it's not right to get things from freecycle with the intention of selling them.

if your situation later changes, i don't think it's too bad to do it, but how about donating 50% to charity or back to the person who gave you the item in the first place?

A.Jones

kalaika wrote: »

However, the whole Freecycle ethos works on there being people willing to give away items that are still usable (and could be alternatively be sold if the giver wanted to). She has been fortunate that someone on Freecycle gave her a TV to create this situation. Now that she's in the opposing camp and has an excess of TVs then, barring the financial reasons for needing the cash, to me is just appears to be a little selfish if she is happy to receive goods for free but then not return the favour to someone else if she has the opportunity to (be it by giving it to a colleague, a stranger on Freecycle, a charity shop, whatever).

Yes, freecycle's ethos is that there are people willing to give items away that are still usable. There are many ways to do this, and freecycle is just one, that is fairly easy. The downside is that you cannot get paid to give items away on freecycle, unlike other places such as ebay. Everyone has a choice when getting rid of items, go for profit (with a little effort) or give it away free (with virtually no effort). I have used freecycle many times when I reckon the small amount I could get by selling something does not account for the hassle of selling it. So I give it away free, someone collects from me, virtually no effort on my part. If that person goes on to sell the items, I don't care. I got what I wanted - junk cleared out by someone else. I didn't want the items, I didn't have to make a trip to the dump, I didn't have to put much effort in to get rid of it and it stayed out of landfill. The person collecting it would have to put some effort in to sell it, so they deserve something back.

As to who gets the items I want to get rid of, I usually give them to the person that tells me the shortest story. Any sob story about needing something for sick children or dying grannies go to the back of the queue for me.

JimmyTheWig

A.Jones wrote: »

If that person goes on to sell the items, I don't care.

While I agree to a large extent, my concern would be what if the person can't sell it. I've already decided it's not worth my while selling it. What if, once they collect it, they decide the same thing too?
Will it then end up in landfill?

I think the real moral dilemma of this question is whether to take money off a colleague (and possible friend) for something you didn't pay for. I think the problem with taking the money would be if they found out you originally got it for free. How would they feel about it? Would it put stress on the friendship / working relationship?

pineapple

If it was a colleague, I was just on nodding terms with - I would have no problems selling it. Though if I knew they were in need, it would be a different matter. Same goes for friends.

Zoelikesjam

The girl has recieved the item because she needed it. Her circumstances have changed. If the person at work was just an aquaintance instead of a friend then yes, i would sell it on, but i would sell it to them for a little less than the 50 pounds they have offered. The difference is the person has offered her the money, she hasnt asked for it. Or if she was in a real quandry about it and felt wrong doing so, then if she still has the original tv owners email she could always email them and ask if they mind her selling it on, or email one of the moderators on freecycle and ask their opinion.

I've skim read some of the posts, and noticed someone had commented on this, dont know if anyone has mentioned it already or not(sorry if they have, i've not had chance to read through every post!) but these are the rules for receiving an item from freecycle if you intend to sell items on
If you are an EBAY seller, thrift store owner, or a reseller of any kind, FULL DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INTENTION TO SELL ITEMS RECEIVED FROM FREECYCLE MEMBERS IS REQUIRED UP FRONT. You MUST disclose your intent to sell either in your original Wanted post or when responding an offer so the donor can make an informed decision as to whom they give their item to. Members have the right to enquire as to the intended use of any item they offer.

I totally agree with this, as if i put something on freecycle, for example i put a dolls pram on there the other day, i received lots of emails for it. I would have been(and in fact was) more inclined to give the pram to a little one, as aposed to it being sold on.

brokeinwales

I think part of the point was that someone offered Janine £50 for her old TV. She didn't go out specifically seeking to sell the TV, and she's not abusing freecycle by making a habit out of it.

I always saw the point of freecycle as keeping stuff out of landfill, getting rid of things as quickly as possible, and making sure they go to someone who needs them. All these criteria are fulfilled by her just giving it to the person who's expressed an interest - as they happen to have offered her a bit of cash, I reckon she'd be daft to turn it down. (If she really felt bad she could always give it charity).

I think there's a huge moral difference between taking advantage of an offer that falls into your lap, and actually purposly buying things up to flog at the car boot/ebay.