Freecycle help

Mummy_Jo

I regularly use swindon freecycle and the search facility isn't very good at all. When I put an ad up say: Offered: Sleeping Bag:Wootton Bassett and someone comes to collect it I just change the heading to: Taken: Sleeping Bag:Wootton Bassett - I suggest you do the same. The offered and taken posts are not linked in any way (it would be a nice touch if they were) and the only way people know if a wanted was fulfilled or an offered taken is to search through until they see it. If you have any questions you could ask the moderators - they are very friendly.

If I can help you in anyway with freecycle Swindon - just let me know

Jo
xxx

mttylad

Ask your group moderators for help, that is what they are there for.

As for how to post, AFAIK all groups have a message maker, go to the group home page and look for the link to it, then follow & bookmark that link.

The message makers are very good for people that cannot understand the simple 123 of the subject line formats for posting.

Freecycle/Freegle/Realcycle etc posting all works on the same basis.

YOU make an OFFER, you give it away then you let everyone else know it has been TAKEN. Only you post the TAKEN, the recipient just says thank you with a personal email (if at all).

Or YOU post a WANTED because you want something, someone has it & gives it away to you, then YOU post a RECEIVED to let everyone else know that you now have it & do not need it any more.

Posts go in pairs and are only posted in tha pair by the one member account.

OFFER & TAKEN

WANTED & RECEIVED.

You do NOT have:
OFFER & RECEIVED as some seem to think there is.

On the freecycle.org website if you post a TAKEN then your OFFER gets removed.
On Yahoo they do not have this ability (because the Yahoo site is not designed for Freecycle groups) so on Yahoo groups you would have to find your own post and delete it yourself. Your group moderators CANNOT demand that you do not do this as it is part of the Yahoo TOS that you are allowed to.


If you have difficulties following this pairing then please try and discuss it with your group moderators, the more you can understand the format & follow it the less work these volunteers have to do.

And if you are sent emails with group rules and information in then please, please read it all TWICE! I have lost count of the number of emails I have sent to people pleading with them to use the message makers that do the job for them.

Although not the same in all groups the general basis of the 123 of posting is that you
have "1) KEYWORD 2) DESCRIPTION 3) LOCATION"

The Keywords are OFFER/TAKEN/WANTED/RECEIVED.
I.E.
a) OFFER wardrobe Manchester
b) TAKEN wardrobe
c) WANTED wheelbarrow Manchester
d) RECEIVED wheelbarrow

a-d explained =

a) You are offering a wardrobe and you live in Manchester.
The location is at the end so that people know whereabouts you are, so that they can make a more informed decision about whether to ask you for it.
You may be 10 miles away and the cost of travelling to you may not be worth the value to them put in the item.

b) You managed to give away your wardrobe so noone needs to ask for it any more, I do not need to know where you are (although because it is the way the message maker is programmed you may have to on that)

c) You want a wheelbarrow, but we want to know where you are - you may be round the corner & we may drop it off or we may not want you travvelling a long way for something & spending on all the fuel & making the carbon emmissions that it would entail.

d) You got your wheelbarrow - I have no need to know where you are.

Your individual group may operate in a slightly different way, but the above is the general gist of how it works on Feecycle/Freegle etc.
(that's when the Freecycle.org website is actually working).

And finally, I would recommend that leave that US Freecycle group and join your local UK based Freegle group, at least the moderators will live in the UK & are not led by a dictator.

Matty
5 year veteran volunteer.