to wonder if people on Freecycle are selling the goods on?

[tornadoalley]

I bought some Cloud 9 straighteners, so decided to put my Babyliss Ceramic straighteners (perfect condition) on the village freecycle page. I live in quite a well off village and our Freecycle has some lovely things. I was messaged within 5 minutes and the person was so pleased the straighteners were free. 5 minutes she messaged again asking if i had the original box and instructions. They're straighteners. the side switch has 3 settings and you plug it in. why would you need instructions?

She's collecting them tomorrow and I just wondered if I'm a miserable suspicious bitch? AIBU and she just wants the box to store them in?

She could be gifting them? But I would also guess at selling them!
I keep all my boxes for things like this and if someone want the hassle of selling something that I can’t be arsed to sell then it’s not something I would be worried about

The whole point of freecycle is to stop things going to landfill, so even of she is selling them it is serving it's purpose. You could sell them yourself if you wanted to!

@TheTrollFairy
I would be annoyed with this though. I give things because other people might need them but can't afford things. It feels like giving to charity only for the chugger to pocket your fiver and buy themselves a pizza!

Maybe I have a lady bountiful complex

It annoys me too when people sell things I give them. I don't know why because as a pp said I could always sell them myself!

Freecycle isn't designed for 'helping the needy' though, it was created to stop stuff just being chucked. To that end anyone taking stuff for free and selling on isn't being cheeky

They do this all the time. You have to give things away knowing that any possible outcome could come to the goods after they leave your hands. It’s not new to FB selling sites or freecycle. People do this at the dump, at car boots etc. It’s the way of life. Once it’s left your hands, it’s someone else’s to do as they wish with.

Posted too soon

So isn't like your charity chugger comparison.

Maybe she needs the money more than the next person needs the hair straighteners 🤷🏻‍♀️

I get that. I want my freecycles to go to someone who really needs them. If they were my straighteners I'd rather gift them to women's refuge or something, for women who had to escape with nothing. People starting again from zero.

Why not pop them on schpock or gumtree for a fiver? With the box of course..

Yes I always think freecycle is about getting shot of stuff quickly and knowing it will be reused. If she tries to sell it on, it’s still being reused.

I give things away on Freecycle all the time and wouldn't have a problem. I think you misunderstand the point - it's not a charitable act where you give away your cast offs to the less fortunate like a Dickensian benefactor, it's to reduce waste. It shouldn't matter to you what happens to it unless the person puts it in the bin!

OP you can always donate them to a woman's refuge or a charity of the same type.

Actually message her back that you've decided to donate them to your local womens refuge.

Probably, but why does it matter to you? I think the point of freecycle is for you to give something away rather than throw it away. If you only want it to go to a good cause you should donate it to charity rather than freecycle it. The added hassle is the price you pay for knowing it’s helping someone out - you can’t guarantee that on freecycle.

@Immigrantsong

OP you can always donate them to a woman's refuge or a charity of the same type.

I've never found out how to do that. Charities seem to only accept money. And of course their locations are a closely guarded secret. Any idea? I've got a ton of things that a woman in a refuge would (hopefully) find useful.

I have an idea charities don't take electrical goods, but I should have considered a women's shelter and I'll certainly look at that in future.

I can't withdraw the gift now, it looks like i don't trust her LOL

Interesting to know it a pretty common thing to do, and I guess if someone does buy them, they will genuinely use them, and they will be recycled, so its win win, especially if the taker is a hard up entrepeneur .

I've got stuff to the women's shelter before by contacting the local health visitor team. Someone came and collected the stuff.

@IndecentFeminist Brilliant, thank you

I only Freecycle stuff that the charity shop won't really want and someone always takes it, things that need new cables, or with a missing button, or office equipment. I have plenty to give to the charity but if someone wants something to repair and use or sell on that is fine. I have met some very grateful and pleasant people that clearly needed my old kitchen stuff/bedding/cardigan etc. and usually there is a thank you e.mail from the ones that pick it up from outside the house.

It did say somewhere on the site that stuff is not meant to be taken for selling unless the giver is offering it for that reason.

I always thought re-selling freecycle stuff was against the ethos of it. You're supposed to only take the stuff you want and will use.

She might be desperate for the cash. She might be in a financially abusive relationship. She might need school shoes for the kids. Let’s face it, how much is she going to get for a set of second hand straighteners, well past their best? £3? A fiver? Why would you go to all that effort to resell something like that if you didn’t really need the cash?

To be honest I don't really understand why people go to the trouble of advertising something on Freecycle when for the same amount of work you could put it for sale on Facebook. Unless of course they don't need the money. If that is the case for you and the person you give it to does need the money then what's the problem?

I do need the money so I pretty much try to sell anything we are getting rid of on FB or at a car boot sale.

(Sorry - not past their best!)

I had this a few years ago - always the same woman. I wouldn't have minded, but she came out with more and more outrageous lies as to why she needed the items, week after week, they got more and more implausible.
And she got really pissy when I put something up and gave it to someone else.

I also worked with someone who must have been a bit of a hoarder, and was obsessed with collecting stuff from freebay ads.