Tips to help when using Freecycle

Lemon_Tree

i've listed quite a few things on ebay but the strange thing is i've only replied to two offers and haven't not even heard a sorry it's gone elsewhere. And i've not seen a note to say it's been taken. I wonder if my emails are actually getting though sometimes.

Buddingblonde

I always check the user name on the replies I get as I want to make sure that items are going to a good home - there is one person in my local freecycle who keeps on posting that she has been flooded and that her white goods are damaged - so far she has had 7 floods in 2 years. She only asks for high value items and has never offered anything on freecycle in the 2 years she has been on. She has replied first to all my items and when I was getting rid of a SNES, a playstation 2 and an xbox just before Xmas she wanted them all. I refused and split them to 3 very needy homes.

Penny_Farthing_4

I have been a member of Freecycle for about 2 years and have offered dozens of items including my clapped out old Micra which was very gratefully taken by a young lad. I've always put pics up of everything I wanted to offer. I've had some lovely thank you emails from recipients.

However when I asked for an old cabinet I could store my computer bits and bobs in and any spare craft materials both on the same day I got a snotty email from the moderator insinuating I was taking advantage of Freecycle by wanting and not giving!

Was absolutely livid - have sent an email back listing all the stuff I have offered. I wish the mods would do their homework before having a go at genuine Freecyclers. :mad:

However despite that, Freecycle is a brilliant concept and I will continue to support it.

nesssie1702

I've been a Freecycle member for well over a year now and have found it an excellent scheme.

When my mum was clearing out her loft, she asked me to get rid of wool that she'd found, got several offers for it. I've also freecycled empty glass jars for jam-making (don't know why, but I can't bear to recycle them in the glass banks, it seems so much more of a waste than an empty wine bottle )

On the offer side - managed to get a rowing machine which has been great!

~*Plushroom*~

Buddingblonde wrote: »

I always check the user name on the replies I get as I want to make sure that items are going to a good home - there is one person in my local freecycle who keeps on posting that she has been flooded and that her white goods are damaged - so far she has had 7 floods in 2 years. She only asks for high value items and has never offered anything on freecycle in the 2 years she has been on. She has replied first to all my items and when I was getting rid of a SNES, a playstation 2 and an xbox just before Xmas she wanted them all. I refused and split them to 3 very needy homes.

Good for you, some people do take the mick. It's amazing how brazen some can get when they are behind a computer screen! I wouldn't have the guts to do some of the things I've seen done

My local freecycle is really good, though I did chuckle the other day at one that said Offered: Small child...I read the listing out of curiousity and they actually meant small childs toys! :rotfl:

li'l_p

On the whole I have been happy with freecycle. I have offered probably more than I have received.

My biggest bugbear is the number of people asking continuously for high value items, i.e. laptops, sat navs, games consoles, etc, which I really think takes away from the whole ethos of freecycle - keeping stuff out of landfill. Yet, when I asked for something so minor as one adhesive floor tile, I was quickly rejected and told by the moderators that I had had my quota of 'wanteds' for the month. I wouldn't mind but when you are asking for odds and sods, does it really matter?

Bronnie

Moving house, we inherited a very messy overgrown front garden covered with a mixture of paving flags and slate chippings. We wanted to replace with a lawn. Advertised the paving and slate on Freecycle as buyer lifts and removes (bring your own spade and bags etc!) and had the garden cleared by 2 sets of satisfied Freecyclers as a bonus!
Have been amazed by what people are looking for on the DIY front, odd bits of wood, bits of plastic pipe, an old cracked sink, offcuts of worktop, piece of old guttering and most recently a pair of very unattractive half glazed doors. I always explain very clearly, warts and all, what I am offering. With items like these I can leave them in a pre-arranged place outside which saves having to wait in and people being under pressure to arrive by a certain time.
Many of these things would have been a pain for me to lift, let alone dispose of so Freecycle does me a great service as the donor as well!

Rachie004

I'm going to post my first item on freecyle soon, its a cross trainer - do you think it'll find a happy new home?
I never use it as I joined a gym after I moved house 6 months ago so its just sat there! I know ebay would be the better option but I just want rid!

Also, is it worth putting broken things on there? Ie I have a headset for my laptop that doesn't work because my rabbit took a nibble at one of the wires, would anyone be able to fix it/want to or do I need to bin it?

ETA: I've just logged in to freecycle and it says my membership is still pending approval. I requested to join ages ago!

Bronnie

Make sure you post your cross trainer at a time when you're available to check responses. Otherwise it's going to take you half the night to go through your inbox! If it's important for me to get rid of an item promptly, I always ask respondents to indicate when they can collect and to leave a phone number. It's likely then you'll find someone who can collect immediately. As I said, people request the most surprising things, just be very clear about describing it. If something broken doesn't go straight away, I'll bin it, but I always try it on Freecycle first.

mandragora_2

I love freecycle - have got rid of some stuff that was too good for the tip, up to and including our kitchen; been given some lovely things - including a beautiful stone bird bath. My son and his g/f were given a nearly new washer dryer far better thgan anything I've ever owned - but they were skint, she was expecting, and they were about as good a pair of recipients as you could hope to find, I think.

I always say I'm doing the 'draw from a hat after 24 hours' as it gives people time to respond. Not all requests actually go in the hat - anyone who's rude doesn't get put in if there's multiple requests, and, if somebody's explanation chimes with me, then they are the ones who get the offer. I do it this way because its how I like to do it, and because I don't like the way some people get stuff again and again.