Freecycle is it corrupt??

niksyg

I love Freecycle, but it also drives me mad!
I moved into my new flat in January and was able to kit it out mostly from Offered posts - I was always polite in my replies and have never wasted anyone's time. But, I have also made sure that I have offered stuff I no longer want, rather than just chucking it away.
But...it drives me mad, as with so many of you, to see wanteds for expensive items, or wanteds that are so picky and precise. I also get annoyed when it is obvious people are giving stuff away on a first come first serve basis...it's ok I suppose if they state in their ad that they have an urgent need to get rid, but if not, it isn't fair for those people who don't sit at computers all day.

The other thing that is REALLY annoying is the amount of animals put on there - even though the administrators send out emails saying it isn't allowed. The thought of peopl just giving away animals, and with the speed they come us as 'taken' it seems without doing much research into where they are going....

Anyway, enough of a rant, on the whole, freecycle is great but the administrator people for my area are pretty rubbish!!

miss_corerupted

skellysgirl wrote: »

I have watched a girl on our local proceed to ask for fence, gate, padlocks, sand, paving, cement,gravel, garden toys, plastic sheeting, lawnmower, sledgehammer, strimmer, pots, bbq and loads more each in a different post. I think i counted about 25 wanteds in about 2 weeks. She is not the only one, it seems like there are several people putting up5-10 wanteds a week. Buy stuff if you need it badly
Its puts me off and i have stopped offering i would actually rather throw things away than give to the greedy.

How can you tell??? On my freecycle you just send a private email.

flea72

miss_corerupted wrote: »

How can you tell??? On my freecycle you just send a private email.

just send a private email to who, about what?

Flea

stilernin

I have been using my local Freecycle group for over a year now and have had almost 100% positive experiences.

When I offer anything, I wait for two days before checking out the 'offering history' of those who have asked for the item and as long as someone has given before, I metaphorically put the names in a hat and choose someone.

I don't have any problem with those who ask for cars, computers or diamond rings........ I just delete the emails without a second thought, but only because I don't have those items to offer. I wish I'd known about Freecycle 3 years ago when I moved house though, as I had to take a perfectly good PC, monitor etc to the tip after contacting many charities who said it was too old.

I have a theory about the mystery 'wanted' and 'offered' for the same items - although the order they appear in is confusing. Person 1, asks for an item. Person 2, has this item and is prepared to give it to Person 1. However, to improve their offering history, the put an 'offer' post on even though they will be giving it to Person 1 anyway. Mind you I could be completely wrong!!

All of the great people in the Freecycle community makes it worth ignoring the few who just want something for nothing. So I'll keep on offering anything and everything, you never know what others can use. I save jiffy envelopes from the incoming post at work, and there are always ebayers who snap them up when I offer them. There would be hundreds going into landfill from just my department.

dirtyflannel

There are lots of genuine people who really need things and probably have nothing to offer at present. My freecycle seems to make a point of polite requests only. Surely people who ask are polite? The thing is with freecycle there isnt always a pic available or the description can be vague. We travelled miles for an item that was so no what was described luckily the guy said there were loads after it lol We also once got an item and wasnt given the option to say yay or nay lol it was dragged outand literally thrown at us. Luckily it was ok and served its purpose for a while till we passed it on. All good fun and surprises

chnelomi

well their is definitely something going on with my freecycle. i have replyed to numerous posts one i was really excited about, it was a broken item that my dad had(his was broke too) so i thought great switch parts get a working one sent polite email within minutes of it posting and got a reply back within ten min. It was allready gone!

The same thing yesterday seen an item come up whilst i was waiting on an important email and was about to send a message about the posting and the taken post flashed up total of 8 min between offer and taken posts. how on earth are people ment to have a chance if they get the daily digest!!

have been a member since we got out flat in october last year and have never managed to get an email sent before stuff has gone. i don't mind if i get refused for a more needing person but i know for a fact that some of the local second hand shops near me use freecycle. acually seen it on a guys laptop when i was looking for furniture and left in disgust. no way was i paying him for something he got for free, thats what charity shops are for:mad:

Mojisola

chnelomi wrote: »

The same thing yesterday seen an item come up whilst i was waiting on an important email and was about to send a message about the posting and the taken post flashed up total of 8 min between offer and taken posts. how on earth are people ment to have a chance if they get the daily digest!!

This is why I always wait at least a day before choosing who to give things to - it gives more people a chance to see the offer.

lightisfading

I agree that it's annoying, however freecycle is for stopping things going to landfill, it's primary purpose isn't to give everyone a fair shot at it. I usually wait a while myself before deciding who gets an item, but some people may not want to do it / may not have time to / may struggle to fit in collections.. etc. That's up to them. I've given away a fair few plants recently and rather than waiting 48 hours I've given it to the first polite person who lives locally.. as I don't want people driving from miles away for a plant!

niknaknoo1982

chnelomi wrote: »

well their is definitely something going on with my freecycle. i have replyed to numerous posts one i was really excited about, it was a broken item that my dad had(his was broke too) so i thought great switch parts get a working one sent polite email within minutes of it posting and got a reply back within ten min. It was allready gone!

The same thing yesterday seen an item come up whilst i was waiting on an important email and was about to send a message about the posting and the taken post flashed up total of 8 min between offer and taken posts. how on earth are people ment to have a chance if they get the daily digest!!

have been a member since we got out flat in october last year and have never managed to get an email sent before stuff has gone. i don't mind if i get refused for a more needing person but i know for a fact that some of the local second hand shops near me use freecycle. acually seen it on a guys laptop when i was looking for furniture and left in disgust. no way was i paying him for something he got for free, thats what charity shops are for:mad:

There could be a genuine reason for it seemingly being taken so soon after being offered. If the member is on 'moderation' meaning the moderators have to check the post before it is approved. (I'm an ex - mod/co-owner of my local group)...

I (for some reason) am now on moderation, and i offered an item the other day at around 11.15am. It did not get approved until 5pm, By which time i'd already managed to rehome it before it even got approved on Freecycle! Quite annoying really, It was only a small item but if it had been a sofa or something large it would have had to sit outside all day as i've no room to keep stuff dry indoors.

grayme-m

dirtyflannel wrote: »

There are lots of genuine people who really need things and probably have nothing to offer at present. My freecycle seems to make a point of polite requests only. Surely people who ask are polite? The thing is with freecycle there isnt always a pic available or the description can be vague. We travelled miles for an item that was so no what was described luckily the guy said there were loads after it lol We also once got an item and wasnt given the option to say yay or nay lol it was dragged outand literally thrown at us. Luckily it was ok and served its purpose for a while till we passed it on. All good fun and surprises

I don't understand your point. We offer things (for free) and people have the option to request the item or not; we choose from the requests.

We expect the chosen person to then take the item away, we're not offering a viewing service to decide if they want the item; if we did it would then become a chore to give things away.