To wonder if this is the most greedy Freecycle post ever

[Coconuthusk]

I went on to offer an item today. Saw the following post (minus the text speak/spelling errors):

Wanted: TV (so far so good)
Must be in excellent condition (OK). I only want a decent make eg Samsung (Hmmm). Must have 4 sockets (not sure what this means) and be 42" minimum although bigger would be better (isn't it always). I want black but would accept silver (very generous I'm sure). Send pictures and your telephone number for consideration and I will contact you if I will take it. I need it by the weekend so if I can't have it by then don't email me (wow!). I can collect but would prefer delivery (as if anyone would even respond to this!).

I remember one post on our local one that made me laugh in sheer disbelief.

‘ Wanted , tv, washing machine , dishwasher, tumble dryer , Sky box . No crap . To be delivered . ‘

I often wonder how many replies they got .

Lol here is one I just read now on one of my local freecycles in London

"Hi Folks, This is a long shot. Is anyone driving to Hull who could deliver a lampshade for me please? I am struggling on this score! Many thanks"

Wouldnt you just post it?

Cheeky fucker.

The cars thing I do get because you could have a banger with no resale value, and you might have to wait in/go to effort/get it somewhere to get £50 scrap. Some people would prefer to forego the few quid in scrap in return for someone taking it off their hands today. So that could be an arrangement of mutual convenience.

This telly request, less so.

Not quite freecycle, but came across this recently - apparently the adverts been reposted a load of times, but he still hasn’t found anywhere. Can’t imagine why.....

I had put an old pram on Freecycle and had written that I could not deliver. Still had an email conversation with someone who was appalled that I couldn't/wouldn't deliver it almost 400 miles away.

Unfortunately it does attract some blatant CFs with more front than the Taj Mahal.

I used to love Freecycle. I got a full bathroom suite for nothing - but I didn’t expect delivery!

The best ones I remember were:

Wanted: car for son who’s just passed, good condition, at least six months MOT left, no older than five years. Must be a hatchback.

Wanted: the PS4 has just come out but I only have a PS3. Therefore looking for a PS4. Will consider swapping.

I mean - the cheek of em!

I'm staggered on a daily basis by the cheeky fuckery on our local free cycle page. People constantly asking for stuff that must be this or must be that, and you must deliver it! The original ethos behind freecycling was that people would give stuff to others as well as receive, but that attitude seems to have disappeared and been taken over by people just wanting to take something for nothing.

I think we need the emails mumminmum!

I'm offering baby stuff which charity shops won't take here otherwise, yes charity shop or similar are my first choice.

I know there are a few car-booters on there which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, if it gets it out of my house without going to land fill and they can be bothered with the effort of selling it, then fair enough but on the other hand, it just isn't right is it?

Never needed to use Freecycle. We still have a rag and bone man.

I use the free pages on freecycle, mixed bag really. I am a member of a smaller one which is lovely and proving very useful as we De-clutter prior to moving. The larger ones usually have power trip admins.

Cf from me is. 'Wanted Fridge freezer in new or as-new condition. Must be in silver. I am disabled so must be delivered to my 1st floor flat' It is Argos you want there then.

My village has a local buy nothing page. Only residents can join the group and it works so much better than frecycle.

Too many CFs around

My favourite went like this:

• Desperate single mum looking for pram for baby girl. Please help! On breadline, can't afford to pay anything.
• You can have mine, very good condition, in beige. Can deliver as well
• I don't want beige. Can't you read, I said it's for a girl!

Wow!! And I thought some of the replies I got when giving stuff away were cheeky. So many people just message you and say, "I collect tomorrow."

I know for something like a TV there will be lots of messages so you don't want to spend ages on it - but come ON!?

KitKat - you should have posted her an aspirin.

We have a "buy nothing" site here. Someone asked for a pram/ pushchair as theirs was broken, 7 month old baby girl so only girls prams wanted! Like a 7 month old would notice or care.
There's been some cf's on there, no please, thank you or kiss my arse when asking to be considered for items generously gifted. Quite often the admin on the site pulls people up on their manners, quite right too.

I offered an ironing board. Bloke asked for it, agreed time. On the day he said coud I 'drop it off' as he doesnt drive and realised it would be difficult across 3 bus journeys as he lives 15 miles away. I told him politely to piss off.

We know people who asked for an outdoor hot tub and amazingly someone donated, delivered and fitted it for them for free.

Many years ago my local one got repeated requests from an old, retired pensioner who's only joy in life was repairing watches. It appeared weekly and dozens regularly gave him watches.
Searching eBay locally one day I was amazed to find him selling watches by the boat load and for quite a pretty penny. Most he didn't even bother repairing, he just flipped for profit.

I managed to cross reference what people had offered to what he's sold and when I'd gotten enough evidence I posted to the group explaining what he was doing. The result? Well, I was suspended for a week and he carried on, though he wasn't getting many offers after that.

I once gave away a decent TV for free and saw it advertised for £50 the next day!!! It sold as well!!!

Cheeky sod!

I think I might resurrect by Freecycle account so I can marvel at local cheeky fuckery.

Out of sheer nosiness I had a look at our local free cycle page. Someone wants a static caravan but it must be in good condition. Do people really expect this stuff for free??

I stopped using Freecycle for these sorts of reasons. Just horrible, grabby people spoiling it for everyone. When I first joined, back in 2004, it was nice: I gave away some cold frames, I was given a load of veg in return; I gave away some baby stuff, was given some home-made jam. Oh well. If I were still on it, and someone posted crap of the kind here, I don't think I could resist making some snide comment! I suppose I'd be moderated though.

On getting rid of ancient cars - I had a very old Fiat which I couldn't persuade anyone to take for scrap, and it sat on my drive for months. Eventually a guy knocked on my and asked for it, saying he was going to use it for stock-car racing, would be taking all the windows out, etc. I made sure we did all the paperwork (frankly he looked like he was three hours out of prison) and off he went. A couple of weeks later I had the police on my doorstep, telling me the car had been involved in a very serious crime and abandoned. Thank god I had sent my stuff off to DVLA!

I've seen some shockers, can't remember most of them now (I came off of all of them as it was mostly people offering broken things or people asking for outrageous things!)

The best I saw was somebody wanting to furnish a first time flat, they were asking for any furniture going, fair enough, but then specified that it couldn't come from argos/ikea/etc, couldn't be MDF, had to be in great condition or like new and there were some other amusing requirements as well that I don't remember. I've also seen the specifying makes on wanted ads too.