Freecycle is it corrupt??

Big_Bird_4

Cardew I can't find those on the site I'm looking at. Have you got a link?

Cardew

Big_Bird wrote: »

Cardew I can't find those on the site I'm looking at. Have you got a link?

It seems you need to log in to my site to get the FAQs and that was a straight 'cut and paste' - I am too lazy to type that lot.

You could go to my group Shrewsbury(do a Google) and join.

From previous threads on this subject(as well as this one) I thought the 'no profit' rule was standard.

judderman62

Cardew wrote: »

It seems you need to log in to my site to get the FAQs and that was a straight 'cut and paste' - I am too lazy to type that lot.

You could go to my group Shrewsbury(do a Google) and join.

From previous threads on this subject(as well as this one) I thought the 'no profit' rule was standard.

dont think so Cardew.

I think I have seen the reverse in some of my groups saying it is allowed - not certain though

rosieben

my local group has a similar rule, you must state if you intend selling any item that you take. I think that's fair. If anyone is making money out of my stuff then I'd prefer it to be a charity.

I dont use freecycle anymore. I believe freecycle org is becoming political and that not what people get involved for.

Incidentally I voiced my concerns to my local mp - he dismissed my statement in half a sentence and then filled the rest of an A4 sheet with details of the wonderful conservative recycling initiatives. When I had further conversations with his office I found that none of them had heard of freecycle and weren't aware of what they did!!! Just one more politician paying lipservice to environmental issues without having a clue what its all about :mad: I wont be voting for him needless to say!

RacyRed

Cardew wrote: »

It seems you need to log in to my site to get the FAQs and that was a straight 'cut and paste' - I am too lazy to type that lot.

You could go to my group Shrewsbury(do a Google) and join.

From previous threads on this subject(as well as this one) I thought the 'no profit' rule was standard.

Each Freecycle group can adapt the rules as it sees fit, they are local organisations and have to adapt to fit their communities. No 2 groups are the same, and that is how it should be.

Re-selling is not against the rules on most groups, but members are expected to be honest about their intentions and say if they are planning to sell the item they have asked for, of course hardly anyone does.

As for moderators stopping inappropriate emails like the one about the Ann Summers parties, they can't! If you want to see if your mods are working the way they should be, go to your Freecycle home page and see if that message has been deleted, because that is all the mods can do. Mods cannot stop the emails from unmoderated members once the messages have been sent to the group, they cannot even stop them getting into the daily digests, Yahoo just doesn't work that way.

Do mods go for stuff first? How can they do that when usually the first time they see something is when the message goes out to everyone else in the group?

If mods are working on the group when they see something offered they would like then yes, they are in a position to send a quick response. It is still up to whoever made the offer to choose who they give it to, doesn't have to be the mod!

Last Saturday morning I spent literally hours helping to stop spammers/email harvesters getting onto our group. That involved having 8 or so tabs open so I could check with mods from other groups to see what new user name this particular pest was coming up with as fast as we banned the old one. I was also one of many trying to bombard Yahoo with enough emails to make them take notice quickly and block this person from Yahoo. This guy was hitting groups all over the UK and the USA!

In between doing all of this stuff our group members have no idea that we do, I was monitoring the group messages, Saturdays can be quite busy. From time to time (maybe once every few months) I see something offered that I could really put to good use so send off a polite request. I miss out far more often than I get offered the stuff and that is just as it should be.

But I really feel offended when people accuse volunteer moderators of taking advantage just because, while we are giving our free time to the groups, we happen to be online when something catches our eye. Look me in the eye and tell me that, in the same situation you would wait 24 hours before sending a response for something you really, really need? I know freecycle moderators who do exactly that.

If you really think your mods are dodgy, report them; if you think a fellow member is selling on without having owned up to it, report them; if someone doesn't turn up, use your email filters so they never bother you again. If you think a wanted message is OTT, delete it and filter that member out of your inbox; if you do not like the way someone asks for stuff you have offered, don't give it to them. If you live somewhere that isn't properly covered by a group, apply to start one.

Freecycle is YOURS, please use it responsibly.

I'll shut up now

Cardew

RacyRed wrote: »

Each Freecycle group can adapt the rules as it sees fit, they are local organisations and have to adapt to fit their communities. No 2 groups are the same, and that is how it should be.

Re-selling is not against the rules on most groups, but members are expected to be honest about their intentions and say if they are planning to sell the item they have asked for, of course hardly anyone does.

Thanks for that clarification; I had obviously only read the rules of my group.

However it doesn't matter IMO if it is against the rules to sell on, or that members should be "honest about their intentions" to sell on, it comes to the same thing - namely that Freecycle is being abused on a widespread basis.

I suspect that most Freecycle members want their offered goods to go, in the first place, to someone who can make use of them and find it distasteful to be deceived by a trader who has not declared their status.

I do appreciate that the people who run Freecycle devote a great deal of their own time to a worthwhile cause, That said, as witnessed by posts on this forum, there is considerable disillusionment with the way Freecycle is being exploited by traders and the begging requests.

It surely would not be difficult to determine which traders were abusing the system and ‘name and shame’ them.

judderman62

Cardew wrote: »

Thanks for that clarification; I had obviously only read the rules of my group.

However it doesn't matter IMO if it is against the rules to sell on, or that members should be "honest about their intentions" to sell on, it comes to the same thing - namely that Freecycle is being abused on a widespread basis.

I suspect that most Freecycle members want their offered goods to go, in the first place, to someone who can make use of them and find it distasteful to be deceived by a trader who has not declared their status.

I do appreciate that the people who run Freecycle devote a great deal of their own time to a worthwhile cause, That said, as witnessed by posts on this forum, there is considerable disillusionment with the way Freecycle is being exploited by traders and the begging requests.

It surely would not be difficult to determine which traders were abusing the system and ‘name and shame’ them.

Indeed there have been several threads on here about this including a long running one which was shunted from pillar to post which I participated in which have clearly demonstrated that a fair number of members are disappointed with some aspects of freecycle and I often ponder whether I want anything to do with it.

Ken68

Surely as MSE's we didn't ought to be giving away sellable stuff.
What is the point of chasing for the cheapest house insurance whatever then giving away something of value.
Don't ask and don't tell about re-selling is my motto.
If someone else has the contacts and nous to make a profit, let them, or sell it yourself.

Sarahsaver

Good point Ken68;)

I think some of the rules are getting a little too picky, like I had been unmoderated for some time now because all of my posts were appropriate and then I got an email saying one post had not been put in because it was inappropriate. WHy? because I wanted something and I supplied my postcode but not the name of the location. DUH! If I am collecting something what does it matter where I am if I have said I will collect from anywhere in our freecycle area. Give some people a little 'power' eh;)...

judderman62

Indeed SOME of the mods don't have the intelligence that they don't credit their members with,