Please feed back on the Freecycle and Freegle guide

avvie

I tried using Freecycle, but that many people use it there isnt any chance of getting anything lol. But honestly its a lovely thing for people to giveaway items.

mttylad

Rather than remove the comment for #9 all together,how about change it so that it does not say you have to offer however it would be good if you did.

Too many people are getting disillusioned with Freegle/Freecycle because of the numbers of people joining that only ever take, take, take from the groups and do not give back.

This is because there are so many articles in the media where the entire article is all about getting free stuff and not about finding places to get rid of your old stuff which is what the sites were originally setup for.

Join in and do both, don't just take.

mike_paterson

Worth noting that not all the Freecycle groups that left the Freecycle.org (globally controlled in America group) became Freegle groups.

My group Basildon Freecycle and the neighbouring group Benfleet Freecycle are run as independent Freecycle groups - both with thousands of members.

The American controlled Freecycle.org has over the last couple of years tried to force control over the locally run Freecycle groups. Any group not obeying their orders (when asked) to disclose private details of other members for example has had their group delisted from the site index on Freecycle.org and a new fake group that they control put up instead. In many cases these are still run remotely and are not very good as a result. Always check if you have other local freecycling groups with Google searches, or by looking in Yahoo Groups, where many of them are still running.

There is also a great index/search at http://recyclinggroupfinder.com/

Charlotte49

I disagree with people saying you should have to offer first, some people who these sites are most useful to won't have anything to offer due to financial hardship - and these are the people it can help most.

Even if they do, I don't think anyone should ever feel pressured into offering/donating anything to anyone as it's a personal decision. There are also a lot of people (especially the elderly or those who live alone) who wouldn't be comfortable allowing strangers to come to their home.

mike_paterson

Everything on Freecycle and Freegle is supposed to be free with no strings attached. Whilst it is fine to suggest that members it is good etiquette to make an offer first, it should not be a rule.

skoda526

In addition to Freecycle and Freegle there are still some areas that run the original UK recycling site by the name of Realcycle.
Its worth doing a Yahoo groups search for Realcycle it might show one in your area.
Although smaller than freecycle sites it means there aren't as many folk chasing items.
Worth giving it a try.

gromituk

mttylad wrote: »

Too many people are getting disillusioned with Freegle/Freecycle because of the numbers of people joining that only ever take, take, take from the groups and do not give back.

Yes, and unfortunately the MSE article makes it worse by explaining in tip 8 that you can filter out WANTED emails. Please qualify this at least, by referring to tip 2!

I think the most important point about these groups is that people should NOT offer to the first person who asks. Not only is it extremely unfair to non-professional takers, but it disadvantages the givers because people will leap on items to claim them and then not show up when they have thought it through and changed their mind.

gromituk

mttylad wrote: »

Hello Jenny, thank you for the alterations you have made prompted from this post/thread.

I think my local group insists on a post code or area in ALL (their emphasis) emails, including TAKEN items. You could conceivably have two grand pianos on offer and it could avoid confusion.

mttylad

If I can comment on it even further.....

Overall:
It is very "Freecycle" biased, not giving other UK based groups a fair mention. Even the URL contains the Freecycle name.

Many of the sentences could be worded so that instead of saying:

Advertising discarded items on Freecycle is also

could be worded to:

Advertising discarded items on givaway sites is also

Making it a less biased article.

Tip #3:
Says:

Some local UK Freecycle groups moved to this new site.

I think you underestimate how many moved away, 200+ is not "some" - it is "many".

Tip #12:
It says:

On Freecycle, you can also add photos direct to your post online, or, on Freegle, to a group album.

On BOTH groups you can add photos directly to your post, it depends which platform the group uses.

Freecycle uses freecycle.org and Yahoo groups.
Freegle uses Freegle Direct, Facebook and Yahoo groups.

It is only on Yahoo groups based websites that you "may not" be able to post a photo, this is because email attachments may be stripped out on the sever to prevent viruses being spread.

So maybe it would be better saying:

On both Freegle and Freecycle, you can also add photos direct to your post online, or to a group album if they use Yahoo groups.

Tip #13:
This is totally contrary to the idea of people giving away their old stuff locally, it should be advising them to use Dban on or removing the hard drive before giving the computer away.

Tip #19.
Instead of:

Ask if it's worth it

Perhaps it should be:

Ask yourself if it's worth it

That will stop the emails back to the offerer asking them if its worth someone coming over for it. (I have heard of this happening.)

Tip #23:

Some Freecycle groups let members include phone numbers

Would be better being:

Some groups let members include phone numbers

To be unbiased.

Tip #25:
First, call it "Get a givaway group batphone".

OMG! what a PITA that suggestion is.

Changing the SIM card in a phone can mean that you completely miss genuine calls from family etc.
It would be better to suggest getting a PAYG sim and using an old phone just for recycling groups.

Tip #10:
It could be worth mentioning that it is often far eaiser and cheaper to give something away than to pay for it to be disposed of.
...........................

Other than the above, IMO it's a really good article.

mttylad

gromituk wrote: »

I think my local group insists on a post code or area in ALL (their emphasis) emails, including TAKEN items. You could conceivably have two grand pianos on offer and it could avoid confusion.

We don't insist on a post code at all, we insist on the local area name.
This is because local people know the areas by their names, using a full post code gives away too much information and a partial postcode can cover too wide an area. (A whole borough can use the same first half.)

Putting it on all posts - well this is often because of the messagemakers, they were designed to force people to put them on OFFER/WANTED posts but a drawback was that it put them on TAKEN/RECEIVED posts also, where it is not really needed.