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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To sell something I got from a freecycler months ago?

37 replies

FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:10

...or should I freecycle it in turn? It is a very good pair of curtains which I was lucky enough to get (I offer quite a bit but have only ever 'won' two things, one was a swap and the other was these)

I thought they would be perfect for us but it turns out they don't fit the windows we wanted them for.

They were given away by a very generous and very well off woman whose house was full to the brim with antique furniture, art etc.

I was very thankful but they have been sitting on the cupboard for a few months now and I am not sure what to do with them. I could freecycle them or I could sell them and what with a new baby things are pretty tight - would it be dishonest/ something like that?

Is there a kind of Karmic rule that things obtained free ought to be given away free, too?

I usually lose on things I sell on, say on ebay, and seem to have the 'never make a profit' gene, in fact if I make a profit I tend to subconsciously sabotage it somehow.

So would it be wrong to actually make a few pounds this time? I didn't intentionally get them to sell, iyswim.

Thanks for reading and your thoughts

OP posts:
FLIER · 09/10/2007 18:12

IMO you shouldn't sell them.
Either freecycle them or give to charity, or email the person back that you got them from and explain that they didn't fit, and would she mind if you re-freecycled them?

BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 09/10/2007 18:12

Freecycle.

As you sow, so shall ye reap.

or in other words.....karma.

Seriously it is up to your conscience, but my conscience would not allow me to sell them.

SpookyDooooo · 09/10/2007 18:15

Sorry but i would not even think about selling them i would offer them back on freecycle.

Original poster
FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:16

Oh dear

Oh dear oh dear! I have the morals of a gnat, obviously, to consider it!

OP posts:
ADragonIs4LifeNotJustHalloween · 09/10/2007 18:17

Agree - you should freecycle them.

TALLULAHSPELL · 09/10/2007 18:18

I would be seriously p**d off if something i'd offered for free was accepted then sold. It is dishonest IMHO & against the very nature of FREEcycle.

Hulababy · 09/10/2007 18:19

Think you should freecycle or give to charity, or try to swap for something esle - possible on somewhere like MN, or put on freecle and then put in a wanted post for yourself.

Original poster
FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:19

Mind you, I suppose what I was thinking was that the stuff I've given away, pushchairs, breadmakers, all sorts, I wouldn't really care whether people sold them or not - I didn't want them myself. But I would care if they had taken them on the pretext that they were worth selling, not for their own use. If they used them and then sold them on, or never used them because they didn't fit, weren't right etc. and sold them on, I really wouldn't care as it was innocent and they had rid me of the items when I needed the space.
Does anyone see what I mean?

OP posts:
hertsnessex · 09/10/2007 18:19

id probably freecycle them, BUT, if money is tight etc and it would help you, then i wouldnt loose any sleep over it.

NotAnOtter · 09/10/2007 18:20

yabu

Pixiefish · 09/10/2007 18:21

Unless you tell the woman what you are doing then you shouldn't sell them. That's not what Freecycle is about

Original poster
FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:23

Oh I feel really evil now! Right. You have all decided for me. I couldn't live with myself.
Thankyou

OP posts:
FLIER · 09/10/2007 18:23

frightattendant I do know what you mean, but how would you feel if you freecycled something and then saw it up for sale a monthe or so later, when you genuinely thought that someone was in need of it?
It doesn't matter whether the person was well off or not. I know I would be majorly p*d off if I saw this happening.
but, at the end of the day, its up to you and your conscience.

Original poster
FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:23

Does anyone want some curtains? Free?

OP posts:
GreenSepticStumpsleeves · 09/10/2007 18:24

I agree with hertsnessex. Ideally it would be better to freecycle them, or offer them back to the original owner. But if we needed the money badly enough - well, I might sell them, if it was months later.

The point of freecycle is to keep perfectly serviceable goods out of landfill. The morality/etiquette of charitable donation is a side issue IMO.

Original poster
FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:26

Flier, that's what I said, I wouldn't mind. Honestly. I have given away a lot of stuff on freecycle and some of it might not have been right for the takers - but if they were in need and thought they would use the stuff at the time, no, I would not care at all if they sold it after a while, or once they realised it was no use to them. Honestly I'd be glad if they could make some cash out of it, because I just wanted it gone. iyswim.

Or am I just really odd?

OP posts:
Original poster
FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:28

I gave away a breadmaker and the man came to get it in a posh suit and expensive car. That annoyed mek, he obviously didn't need to be given one. But people who are like me, well it's fine. As long as it isn't pre-meditated.

OP posts:
hazygirl · 09/10/2007 18:32

r u flightattendant

Original poster
FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:34

Hi hazy! Well guessed Is the pram
Ok?

OP posts:
Pruners · 09/10/2007 18:47

Message withdrawn

Issy · 09/10/2007 18:48

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request

Original poster
FrightAttendant · 09/10/2007 18:59

Pruners they're huge, I think they would cost a bomb to send...I think I am going to sell them and then donate to charity. Does that sound reasonable?

OP posts:
Pruners · 09/10/2007 19:06

Message withdrawn

Minum · 09/10/2007 19:35

At the end of the day, surely what we are all trying to do is make sure things arent wasted, people who need stuff can get it, and nothing goes to landfill unless absolutely useless. How we achieve it is just detail ie freecyle/ebay/school fete etc. Dont feel bad, just get rid of them to someone who wants them, by selling or giving away.

BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 09/10/2007 20:31

DO NOT SELL THEM unless you donate to charity. Your conscience will be at you forever.

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