to sell an item I got from freecycle on eBay?

[BalloonTwister]

I answered an advert for a large tin chest a few months ago, which I was duly given, and have been using it for storage ever since, however things are very tight since Christmas and I've seen and identical one on eBay with 5 hours left to run and the bidding is up to nearly £100. What would you do?

The whole point of Freecycle is to keep things out of landfill. If you now decided to dump the chest then that would be 'wrong'. It's yours to do with as you please.

Sell it.
I am going to freecycle hundreds of real nappies just because I cant be bothered to eBay them.
You have used it, it is not as though you had it to sell in the first place.

I would sell it. You got it with the best intentions and have used it for a few months. It's a different situation to those who take things with the immediate plan of making a profit off them.

And if you need the money, you need the money.

I often see stuff thats been advertised on freecycle at a local auction house . I get a tiny bit miffed at that , but if you have used it and now no longer need it then you are free to do as you please .

From your thread title I was all ready to say YABU. but now I'm not sure.

How did you find the other one on ebay?

Yes, but I'm reasonably sure the nice old couple that gave it to me to use as a storage box for toys and other baby bits didn't have a clue it was worth anything, so I feel like I'd be ripping them off a bit if I do. Dh thinks I'm being ridiculous but it doesn't feel quite right somehow.

A friend of mine really like my chest (It looks like a pirate chest) and looked on ebay to see if she could get a similar one. I half wish she hadn't told me tbh!

Sell it

The rules are that it's not given for receivers to profit, but if you have used it and got it in good faith, then I think it's fair to sell it.
After all people donate to charity shops for things to be sold.

YANBU

I ebay some stuff but I freecycle stuff that either has little value or is cost prohibitive to send.

If someone else can be bothered to ebay it then that's fine by me.

We've just put a lot of stuff on Ebay, Freecycle and in the bin. We made reasonably informed decisions about which to place where, so we didn't think the stuff we listed on Freecycle had a sale value. If someone else thinks otherwise, good luck to them (and if they manage to sell my back copies of New Scientist, I congratulate them).

We can be bothered to list stuff on Ebay (more effort photographing, answering questions, posting etc). People use Freecycle because they can't be bothered. Their choice.

I take the view with Freecycle that I'm not going to get into judging who is the 'most worthy' recipient, as they are doing me a favour as much as me them. In fact I react better to a simple 'yes please' than an 'I need it because'. So you shouldn't assume that the giver chose you because of your particular need. I do wonder about why some people want some things (e.g. suspect that some are landlords picking up free furnishings, which is supporting their commercial operation) but it's largely up to the giver to regulate that by sharing things out.

Right then, I'll sell it. Thanks for the sound advice ladies, I'm off to watch the last hour of the auction very closely to see how much it goes for!

I know you've made your decision already, but I will say I've used Freecycle a lot and it doesn't sit right with me to make a profit from something you were given. If you really want to get rid of it, I would either Freecycle it again, or sell it and give the money to charity.

I'd give half the money back to people who gave it to you if you're genuinely feeling guilt.

Ah, see thats what I mean Tidy. I don't really want to get rid of it, but we really could do with the money. On the other hand, it doesn't feel quite right to me either. Jaysus. Maybe I'll let the thread run its course and see what the general concensus is.....

Why not sell it and take half the money round to the people who put it on freecycle? Fom the sound of it you'll still be £50 up, and richer in the karma-bank.

i'd sell it too. If you need the money you need the money. The freecyclers wanted rid of it end of story. It is your now to do with what you like.

I did think that, but am reasonably sure they said were moving. I could go and knock on the door to see if they left a forwarding address though. Actually if I can track them down thats a great idea. I deleted their emails months ago though..wish I hadn't now!

Sell it, freecycle is there purely to stop items going to landfill not as a charity to give stuff you don't want to people in hardship. Once you've given something to someone via freecycle its theirs to do whatever they like with including selling it.

p.s. I have given stuff via freecycle and I would not expect anyone to give me money they made selling it.

A friend of mine marvelled at our patience and effort in putting things on Ebay, saying that she and DH always went with the easiest option - Freecycle - as they value time over money. They will be getting rid of things with a re-sale value and certainly wouldn't care what happened to it.

I really think that if people want to realise the value of the thing they'd sell it and, if they wanted any profit to go to a worthy cause they'd give it to a charity shop. They might not have known there was a value but research is part of the time-consuming element of selling.

Freecycle isn't a charity and you never know how in need or otherwise any recipient is. It's nice to feel something is being put to good use but you never know.

I think it would be fine to sell it - love the good karma idea! OTOH I offered some baby clothes on freecycle that had been passed on to us and was a bit put out to see the person we gave them to offering baby clothes for sale on fb. I really like the idea of baby stuff being passed on to the next person who needs it rather than someone using it to make money. Don't know why that's different?

I could not sell it to be honest - I really don't like it when people do that sort of thing when they have been given it in good faith

I would sell it if i needed the money for food or something important for our DC. We have no money and are having a really tough time at the moment and i still give things away on freecycle or the local facebook give away page. I would hate to see someone then sell it on ebay.

Kilt - I've freecycled bags and bags of DD's baby clothes, along with her bath, moses basket etc etc, but they weren't antiques worth a fair few quid! The people that gave it to me were probably in their 70's, and really lovely. I have decided that if I do sell it I would definitely have to find them and give them half. If it was my Nan I'd be thrilled if someone turned up and gave her money for something she'd given away without realising it was valuable. I don't think I can just sell it and pocket the cash.