Freecle / freecycle and balloons on sticks

Absolutely

I have offered items on my local Freecycle a few times. Always taken. No problems e.g a settee and some kitchen equipment.

I have an old iPod Touch, 2nd Gen, 16 gb. Still works. I reset it to factory settings and submitted a request for it to go on 'Offers'. After pending mod authorisation for 2 days, they won't list it. No reason why, no email received from them. I have checked out the rules of my local group and can't see why they won't list it.

Guess I will bin it then! It is worth only 35 quid to O2 Recycle but it has a scratched screen so I reckon it would be an offer of 10 quid at the most if I did send it to them. That is why I wanted to Freecycle instead.

Bizarre.

brightonman123

I get a better response on twitter, using #free, #wanted, etc and #(your town name).

I do have a good laugh at some of the things people are after, especially high end stufF!

Absolutely

Never thought of that but I don't do Twitter and E-bay is a complete no-no for me.

Meh! I guess it is not the end of the world. It just bugged me.

KxMx

Put up an ad for the first time in ages so will let you know how it goes- been sticking to answering wanted's because it's just such a hassle with time wasters. Wanted to try the free route before getting "man with van" removal quotes though.

Following a tip on here I have asked responders to indicate when they can collect in reply, already had a one line message (please and thank you though!) without this info...

atarisrocks

recently i have offered
mirror
arm chair
mobile phones x 4
health grills
dvd stands x 2
fish tank
cd holders x 6
bedding
curtans
unused hair products
car accessories e.g seat covers

the problems i got have been stupid i had threats as i gave 'their' item away. i sat around for hours for people to turn up and never bother. my bf said the people who have collected have grunted at him and acted like their doing you a favour. i have had people trying to charge me to collect and people complain as it not the newest mobile or not the right colour.

one question why do people need photos of every item? (not that i send them) if they are so in need of an arm chair or a mobile phone why does it matter if it not a smart phone or the right colour

ive also recieved a email from someone saying im greedy as i posted my first want in around 2 years asking for a working vcr player

KxMx

To save waiting around for people this is what I do.

Choose someone from the replies and email to see if they are still interested, ask can they collect x,y days or ask when they can collect. I then state I will offer timed slots for collection.

If the replies are affirmative, I then send my address and ask them to collect x day and offer several time slots, such as 12pm-1, 1-2pm etc,and ask them to confirm day/time.

Works most of the time.

mttylad

I do that too, I never ever send anyone my address until the day they are coming, I just tell them the approx area.

If they do not respond to my email then I know that they sent an auto response and they get blacklisted by me.

If they send me a mobile phone number to call that also gets them ignored (I tell them this in the offer)

Nik_Doof

Fresh one in the inbox today:

WANTED: Sony Trinotron TV BBE Digital 100HZ
silver,with or without stand, will collect.

I'm also sharing people's frustrations, my local Freecycle group is turning into a massive joke. I'm not a person to hang around and wait for people to pick stuff up so I usually tag stuff for "collection asap", that way the person who can promise the earliest pickup gets it.

The issue is the moderation is so slack that i'll post the message at around 9-10am on a Saturday only to have it approved around 1-2am on the Sunday. I'd rather have it unmoderated and filtering out the chancers myself than leave it to the mods who can't be arsed.

Last week we didn't have any posts for 3 days then 30 posts came through in a matter of minutes.

pulliptears

KxMx wrote: »

To save waiting around for people this is what I do.

Choose someone from the replies and email to see if they are still interested, ask can they collect x,y days or ask when they can collect. I then state I will offer timed slots for collection.

If the replies are affirmative, I then send my address and ask them to collect x day and offer several time slots, such as 12pm-1, 1-2pm etc,and ask them to confirm day/time.

Works most of the time.

My failsafe method, put it all in the boot of the car and give it to the Douglas MacMillan.
I've had my fill of rude people who think they have an entitlement to everything and can't form a coherent sentence when collecting.

I'd much rather hand it all over to the lovely ladies at the DM who are thrilled to have new stock and I know it will go on to raise a few quid for a wonderful cause.

Never again shall I use FC.

KxMx

I don't drive or have access to a car so for me, despite the frustrations, this is the easiest and cheapest way to get rid of large items. Small stuff gets collected by the box load by the charity I volunteer for by the co-ordinator who lives nearby.

Only ever had to pay for removal of a desk no-one wanted (£10 man with van from Gumtree).

I've tried offering large items to charities and they always reject them, also some items are just not wanted ie car tyres I gave away online a while ago.

The good news is the item I wanted removed went half an hour ago, taker was very polite and thankful too. Had more responses from Gumtree than Freegle/Freecycle put together.

My Freecycle group introduced the "no asking for expensive items" rule and it's amazing how much better the group is now. Like others have said there is a long wait to get posts approved though.