Where's Olio? 18 March 2022 at 7:36PM in Freebies (no spend required) 18 replies 1.4K views

Brie

No I'm not doing a Where's Waldo.  Or maybe I am in a way....

Anyways I've suddenly been getting notices on NextDoor to sign up for Olio as supposedly there are now in our neighbourhood.  But the NextDoor site covers quite a large area.  I've checked the Olio website and there's no way that I can see to tell how this is being run locally. Now I might take advantage of it if it was convenient but not if it's an hour's round trip by car.  So I don't want to download an app to find out that it's a waste of phone space. (yes I could delete it of course)

Does anyone know how this works?  Or how I can find out?  fyi - Bournemouth/Poole area.

newlywed

It depends how many have signed up in your area. People post bits they no longer want and you set your profile as to how many miles away you want to see results (you still have an option to view things further away.

it can be a case of one man’s junk…. To be honest.  

The god stuff gets snapped up quickly.

im not in your area so can’t comment how busy your area is. 

shykins

i collect for Olio and distribute and its very active in most places with lots of bread, salad, veg etc available to collect for free.   what you get depends on what is available on a given day, we try to share it out as fairly as we can

@newlywed not sure why you say its one mans junk as its predominantly food thats available but maybe your area is different

i just set my location as Poole and lots of stuff came up so i would say download it and give it a go, i cant say exactly where your collector is exactly but certainly Parkstone came up.   hope that helps

newlywed

@shykins. Our area is about 50/50 food.  It is quite busy. Some things are really good and snapped up quickly… personally I’m not so sure about seriously well worn shoes, battered saucepans but it’s not all like that and as I meant - it can all be someone else’s treasure.

I have collected a couple of things myself. My sister has given away quite a few things in it as it saves carrying things to a charity shop. 

[Deleted User]

hi Brie, I think the only way to find out is to download the app and you can then pop your postcode in under the location section and it will show you everything available close to you.

Like shykins I also collect and distribute for Olio, last nights collection included lots of veg, bakery items such as croissants, scones, wraps etc and as an added bonus several bunches of beautiful flowers 💐

The app is definitely becoming more popular, I’d recommend having a look, as you say you can always delete the app if it’s not for you.

elsien

In my area food goes very quickly - as in minutes. So you need to download the app and keep an eye on what’s being posted to see if it’s worth it for you.
My nearest Tesco collection person is walking distance, which is fine. I don’t ask for food that’s more than a mile or so away. Because it’s so popular and people are trying to be fair, you might only get one or two of the things you ask for and I’m not driving for 10 minutes just to pick up a pack of coriander. 

Having said that, my haul over the last couple of days has been strawberries, 2 packs of baking potatoes, fresh cut chips, corn on the cob, broccoli, sprouts, carrots, bread and wraps. 

Last week I got some packs of feta cheese that were still dated till August. 

Nothing I’d travel a huge distance for but fine locally. I’ve also been turned down for a load of other stuff, which is fair enough. 

maggiesoup

I'm in Edinburgh and have used Olio for over a year.  The second hand non  food stuffs are a bit of a waste of time but the free food is definitely worth it.  I think I've cut my food bill by about £10 a week by getting Olio stuff and either using straight away or putting in the freezer.  There are so many large supermarkets in Edinburgh that there is tonnes of waste (putting best before dates being the main culprit I think) so I'm glad that I can help out and save myself some money to boot.

shykins

lol @newlywed can see why battered saucepans wouldnt be your thing.   round here its 95% food rarely anything else but its a rural area and we are still building up interest so maybe thats why

glad to hear others are finding it useful, its definitely helping people with their bills but its disgraceful how much would normally go straight to waste!

elsien

Just popping on to say that I’ve acquired 4 frozen lamb shanks these evening with a bbf date of end of April.
Thats easter lunch sorted.  

PS I’m not keeping them all - don’t want to be greedy. 

Redstar38

is a fantastic free community resource. Also giving away free food.
I'd like to know how many of you have used or heard about OLIO?
I use it to keep things out of landfill too.
I've given away: new bulbs, books, rugs, kitchen ware.
It's an incredible opportunity to give and receive!

Redstar38

In my city, OLIO is really popular. I've managed to keep 'stuff' out of landfill such as: books, new bulbs, rugs, pots of paint. I've also acquired plants, music CDs.... I love OLIO.