I am NEVER giving anything away again.

[Ohjakestopbeingatwat]

I’ve had it now with giving things away. I think I am just a twat magnet.

I put the children’s old wooden play market/kitchen thing up on Facebook, for free.

I put up photos and was very honest that it needs two new screws/wood glue as they have come loose and can’t be tightened, some of the paintwork is chipped, but if someone wants it, it would make a great up cycle project. If no one wanted it, it would go to the tip. But you know, it’s free and I know lots of people like a project.

Someone immediately said she wanted it and sent her husband to collect it a while later.

Then, all hell broke loose. She messaged me saying it was in a terrible state, the paint was chipped, the screws needed replacing - no shit Sherlock. That was the actual description.

She demanded that I come and pick it up. No. She kept on and on until I had to block her.

Half an hour later, her husband turned up again and threw it on my driveway, smashing it. So now, no one can have it to do up and it will have to go to the tip.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had shit like this. I don’t know how I attract these people. So never again. It’s the charity shop, or the tip.

Let’s be honest though, she’s not doing a lovely thing, it’s because she CBA to take it to the charity shop (they wouldn’t take it anyway if it was missing screws and needed glueing) and it’s an effort to take it to the tip. Someone coming to your door is far more convenient - but in this instance neither the OP wants the tat in her house and neither did the buyer.

What was she going to do for her child’s birthday if she hadn't seen the free dollhouse offered? She’s ridiculous!

And as for the horrible people with the play kitchen! Disgusting behaviour!

I used to offer stuff on freecyle many years ago, mainly baby/ kids stuff. Most people were fine but there were some absolute pisstakers!

I agree with this.

I am having a huge clear out at the moment and as I am going through my stuff I am thinking, ' would I buy this if I saw it in a charity shop?' . If the answer is yes, it goes to the charity shop. If the answer is no, it goes to the tip.

I've stopped giving to charity shops now because they're so rude now. Rifling through, wanting me to take back what they didn't want. Really horrible attitude. I said I'd given similar things before and they said 'that was a misunderstanding on your part.' All nice condition things that I ended up giving to friends/community centres. But I was made to feel like the charity shop were doing me a favour and it wasn't good enough.

In Germany they have a Sunday once a month (I think) in the area where everyone puts out the stuff they are getting rid of and you can wander round and pick things up. Then on the Monday the council pick up what’s left

but op mentioned people trashing stuff if left out so it probably wouldn’t work here. The antisocial ruin everything for the rest of us

I’ve also stopped. Some people are so rude! I had one girl take Ugg boots when she was collecting free baby clothing and she said no when asked to return them. So she stole my Ugg boots off my front porch and got really nice baby clothing for free. I did go nuclear and threaten to report her for theft so she ended up sending me the money that I was selling them for (only £40) but it was the principle! I’ve found the more you sell things for the better people behave but I mostly donate to charity now as dealing with people is too much

No one forced the mad cunts to take it. The OP explained exactly what it needed.

People like you fill up landfills and would rather have some toxic plastic shite that won’t last, simply because ‘new’.

Preloved and upcycled is so much better.

I think this is what they do in 'Mens Sheds'. Sounds idyllic to me. Where's the women's equivalent?!

This is such an aggressive post that you sound like quite a mad cunt yourself - just at the opposite end of the recycling spectrum from the husband.

Rubbish, she mentioned it being a project, they should have rejected it the scuffers. My lovely dad, RIP, would have taken it, repaired it, repainted and as a small project and then given to my DC when small. Brought up in the 30s in extreme poverty he would make, mend or restore anything. God, I miss that man. We have home made toys in our garage, that were ours, then our DC and soon to be for our grandchildren. Cannot wait for that Shepherd's crook, Soldier Fort and Doll's House to come out of storage again. 😢

You encounter the worst of humanity on Facebook marketplace. I have had:

Selling
Thomas the tank toddler bed, bought for £250 and barely slept in as my son didn’t like being in it. Put it up for £80 for a quick sale as the new ned was coming and I needed it gone, agreed sale with zero negotiation, when the guy came to collect he handed me £60 and when I noticed and asked where the other £20 was he tried to intimidate me into letting him have it for £60…..
Mamaroo rocker - bought for about £280, again in immaculate condition, I had it listed fairly at £140. Lady asked if I would take £80, is said no. She replied that there was another one listed at that price on marketplace. I looked and sure enough there was, an earlier model than mine without the features, and located in Coventry (we are in Northern Ireland!)

Giving away
Numerous items from shed, photographed and put on FB. One lady commented saying she wanted the spacehopper, another commented saying she wanted the bbq. I agreed to both and gave my address with the items left out the front for collection. Spacehopper lady took both items, and when I messaged her to tell her the bbq was for someone else and could she give her address so the lady could collect it, she told me to fuck off and blocked me.
I gave away my son’s old kindle fire, and the person who took it listed it up for sale.
Stroller - lady asked for it but advised she can’t drive and it’ll be a few days before she can collect, I said message me closer to the time to see if I still have it as it’s first come first served. Someone else was able to collect that day so they took it. A few days later the original lady messaged to ask for my address, to be advised the pram was gone. I got a mouthful of abuse, and reported to the page admin for promising an item and giving it to someone else…

Free circulation of stuff is a nice idea. But it just doesn’t work. The takers are either chancers, moaners or finicky up-cycling hippies.

They’re all a pain in the arse.

Just chuck it in the local dump.

I don’t even bother with the charity shops any more they are often incredibly hostile towards anyone donating. I was trying to donate a lovely dolls house that my DD had outgrown, really beautiful and had cost a fair bit so I messaged the local large charity shop to ask if they could take it, sent them a photo to show size/quality and got a really snotty reply saying that no they couldn’t, just that, no explanation. Funny because they are constantly begging on facebook for any toy donations and the shop has recently been full of actual crap but yeah they couldn’t take the lovely dolls house (which thankfully a colleague of MIL took off our hands as I would have loathed to send it to the tip).

My DH got told off at another local charity shop for taking in a bag of books to donate - again in response to their online plea for book donations! Madness. I won’t give them anything now.

Far more convenient?!

You’ve clearly never sold or given away goods online!

Why are finicky upcycling hippies a pain in the arse? They take it away, make use of it and don't bother you.

My friend worked in Toys R Us and would regularly get people in a few days before Christmas when stuff had sold out screaming at her that she had personally ruined their Christmas.

You sound lovely. One of my hobbies is collecting make up and nail polish. I've given away £1000s of it (unused), either to my church's young women's organisation, charity shops, or during lockdown at work (put it in a basket in the women's locker room.) Someone else might as well get some joy from it. (I got a chocolate bar and got called the make up fairy. 😁)

For fees stuff I use the trashnothing app, I think it might even come with some user ratings and you can definitely see the number of requests and offers a person has made which can be useful information when choosing who to say yes to.

I gave away my son’s old kindle fire, and the person who took it listed it up for sale.

This wouldn't bother me. Once you've given it away, it's theirs. If they want to go through the hassle of selling it, they can. You could sell it if you thought it was worth the potential aggro.

Ah op I feel hour pain. I had a big (heavy) box of cat food my cat didn't like. Put it on local fb page and was told by a few people to take it a cat shelter few miles away. I don't have car so gave it to a woman few streets down instead who also commented on my post. This draw comments from the other posters that I was "starving' the strays and I should've just paid for a taxi. I was 'effectively killing' the strays.

Another time I was giving away baby books (the soft fabric type) and 2 women commented on my post. I went with the one who was first as that seemed fair. Upon hearing that, the second woman told me how her baby was in NICU and it would "really have cheered up" the baby and hopefully the other woman was as low-income and disabled as her.

Wow! if she really CBA it could have been smashed up and stuck in the bin. What did I just read?

I always put a nominal value on things and then when a pick up is arranged I say I don't want anything. The reason being there are dodgy types out there who have notifications for free stuff and will try to sell them on. A genuine buyer will be happy to pay a small amount.

I have great success leaving things out the front. We call it wall treasure round here and things almost always get taken really quickly. I once popped my old bike out there as a last chance before it was loaded up for the tip run and it was gone in 20 minutes.

No, they don’t. That’s why they’re finicky. They either whinge about the furniture, ornaments etc as being less good than they thought and refuse them, or they expect you to deliver to their home ‘workshop’ where they flog badly re-painted toy chests for £500 a go.

People are batshit.

4 bar stools, padded, swivelling. Cost over £100 each. I put them on for a fiver each. Two had slight damage where the kids had pushed them under the island and there was about an inch of snagging, only on 2 of them.
I took close up photos of the tiny bit of damage and put it on FB

Woman turns up, immediately homes in on the slight bit of damage and goes beserk! I had my phone there so could show her the pictures, and I'd explained it! She wasn't having any of it and just wanted to pick a fight.
I just told her to forget it and leave please! She then decides she wants them but will have them for free.
I told her NO, please leave, you're not having them even if you give me the £20.

I won't be shouted at in my own home!