Freecycle is it corrupt??

Steel_2

unsure wrote: »

Anybody who can't manage a "please" or "thank you" gets nothing from me...nor do those who wish to subject me to their religious views..

Have you had someone do that??!!

Scary

unsure

Yup,
I've had all sort sof responses which I've found it very easy to ignore...but also plenty I've found it easy to be sympathetic with!

anewman

But do some people reply to try and appeal to your kind heartedness to try get you to part with what you're offering?

For example, you could post to offer a fridge freezer, and I could reply saying my daugter who's a single mother of 3 young kids has just moved into her own place after splitting up with her nasty piece of work ex, has no money, is eating bread and water, and they're all sleeping on the bare floors, and a fridge freezer would be most gratefully accepted - please and thanks etc, then sell it at the car boot for £40 at the weekend.

jellycat40

I have recently put a fridge on freecycle and had a really good experience. Really nice lady came and collected, called first to say she was on her way and seemed genuinely grateful.
She may be about to take it to the local car boot but she was nice and I did not want the hassle. So I don't mind either way.
All the responses I got were nice.
However before I put the fridge on freecycle I thought I would see if they were inundated and if I was likely to get a taker. Some of the fridges on there sounded really skanky. "Has been in the garage for a couple of years" or "has some rust spots on". Surely freecycle should be about getting rid of things that are still serviceable.
As for folk wanting cars - if I had a runner that was worth under 300 quid I would probably put it on there because trying to sell cars privately is a nightmare. I just had to sell my car - book price £3500 I actually got £2150 and I had 4 lots of listing fees from Ebay!!!!
I did once go to collect a three piece suite from some on Freecycle and it was disgusting - I took it straight to the tip. The lady giving it was very nice but Hygiene was not a good point and when she told me that the previous 4 people who were supposed to have turned up hadn't - I expect they were braver than me and when they saw the state of outside they drove on by!

Louise

MORPH3US

jellycat40 wrote: »

Some of the fridges on there sounded really skanky. "Has been in the garage for a couple of years" or "has some rust spots on". Surely freecycle should be about getting rid of things that are still serviceable.

I disagree (to an extent)...

The point of freecycle is to keep stuff out of landfill. If someone is a fisherman and wants a fridge in the garage to keep maggots in or something then they might be very greatful of a fridge and not care about a few dents / some dirt as long as it works.

They say one man's junk is another mans treasure... so within reason anything is worth a try on freecycle if it helps meet the aim of reducing landfill.

M

Sarahsaver

I signed up to my local dontdumpthat forum but the last post on there was a month ago and beore that 2 months! How long before the vultures get there too...
This has made me think about what an earlier poster said, we are money saving experts, and I am a bit strapped for cash co I am going to put some stuff on ebay today;) though the postal strike does put me off...

Ken68

Ebay is popular because it is anonymous. With freecycling you have to make contact. When I collect something I don't know if it is ideally suitable, as someone said, have to dump some. Then maybe it wrong size, wrong colour.
Then I offer to the family and neighbours. If it is too good to dump, will sell it, helps to defray collection costs.
Some people can't SELL, they are afraid of being rejected.

Cardew

Sarahsaver wrote: »

How long before the vultures get there too...

I think that sums it up for many of us.

Incidentally getting an old fridge of freezer can end up costing you a lot of money in running costs.

Ken68

I don't really understand why big business havn't mounted a campaign against Freecycle, at least with Ebay it's buy and sell and even church fetes make an income.
Obtaining something free is putting shops out of business.

geordie_joe

Ken68 wrote: »

I don't really understand why big business havn't mounted a campaign against Freecycle, at least with Ebay it's buy and sell and even church fetes make an income.
Obtaining something free is putting shops out of business.

Because it would thier reputation more harm than good. recycling is very popular and business can lose customer simply for not doing it. They would lose even more if they openly campaigned against it.

Years ago the gas board took away your old cooker when you bought a new one from them, they may still do it but haven't bought one from them for a long time. This was not because they were trying to be gren or even recycling the old cooker. The main reason was to stop you selling it to someone else. The less second hand cookers on the market, the more you had to buy new.

Many companies are doing this now, for the same reason. I'm sure Curry's advertise on TV that they will take away your old appliance when they deliver your new one.

They may not be campaigning against recycling appliances, but the are fighting it.