When did it become so hard to give things away ?

[BethJ62]

Having a clear out including lots of baby stuff that DGC have outgrown and DD doesn’t want . Moses basket , clothes , toys.
As money is tight for many people I decided to give it away using a local Facebook site .
Simple ? No.
Despite me asking people to collect , every person who has shown interest has asked me to deliver . A couple of people have become a bit stroppy when I said collect only . Reminder - this is good quality free stuff.
Yesterday I waited in all day for someone who didn’t appear . Today someone who said she was desperate said she would be here at 10. I told her we are going out at 12 so she has to be here before then . 10 minutes ago she messaged and said she would be here at 2 !!! I reminded her the arrangement and she said she thinks I could be a bit more understanding!
Has anyone else experienced similar ? I don’t think I am unreasonable but maybe I am ??

Fwiw, I buy quite a lot of desirable brands (Frugi, Polarn O Pyret etc) in sales or nearly-new on Vinted and Ebay. Still costs more than a cheap brand but it often lasts much longer (both because of higher quality and the clever design meaning it fits for longer), and can be sold on for virtually the same as what you bought it for.

I found this happening a lot too, I don’t drive so I can’t help then but have even had people saying get a bus or a taxi and drop off. Now I bag stuff up, wait for a clear day and put notes on “please take if you want for your (usually child and I put age) it gets taken, there’s a few families with kids in our area who are younger than my boys and in the summer especially I’ve seen them out playing and recognise some of the clothes they’re wearing so I know they’ve gone to some family who were making proper use of them

I advertise for all fee £2 or £3 then when person comes o tell them it's free. It just gets rid of time wasters.

I live in a village which maybe helps. I also don't use my real name on Facebook and remove the post afterwards. I don't put it on marketplace, I put it on our private village Facebook group you're messaging people to collect stuff then you are giving them your address anyway.
Plus if you really want to know someone's address it's not that hard.

I know but I've a 10 month old wearing age 2-3 years, so believe me we've gone through things so fast it wasn't worth it. Oldest was similar but not quite so big! I also just don't see the point in fancy stuff at this age, and am not about to spend my seriously limited time shopping item by item online and paying postage for each bit. Multipacks are my saviour! And gparents who love buying decent normal brands (JL, M&S etc)

So many messages ! Thanks for all the suggestions about other sites but I think this experience has put me off !
To address a few comments . We have lots of charity shops in the area but I have noticed that their prices are going up and I know that some people might struggle with even £5/10 . I really thought I was doing a kind thing !
I know that not everyone has a car however no one said they couldn’t collect , they just didn’t want to !
Anyway , the items were collected while we were out . My neighbour saw 2 women loading the stuff into a car just after 3 .
Not quite the end of the story ….I have since had a text saying one if the toys needs batteries and I should have checked before “ dumping “ it .
As someone said earlier , no good deed goes unpunished.

I'm on the fence with it purely because I can't collect or deliver as I can't drive for health reasons. So I know how frustrating it is when you're asked to deliver, but also know how frustrating it is to miss out on quite a bit (generally things I genuinely need as well as I'm still furnishing my home) because I can't collect or have someone collect for me.

That's fair enough, but a lot of people ask if you deliver when the listing clearly says "collection only".

Also, fair enough for people who actually live in the centre of town or locally to the seller, where it's likely people will be passing and "could" drop off smaller items, but we've had it where people have expected us to drive for miles to drop something off for a fiver (literally miles, as in an hour away where the petrol alone would cost more than they were paying, not to mention half a day lost of our time!).

My listing clearly stated collection only . I really don’t think that’s unreasonable.

Switch to the olio app, you get a better standard of recycler!

Olio all the way. You get banned if you mess people about

Sally Army are my go to for donations of baby stuff/clothes. Had tons when we moved. I went to the Sally Army shop to see if they wanted them as they didn't seem to have much in the shop..Yes please they said. We tend to give them directly to families that need them rather than sell them.

My god this is awful! Did she have your exact address??

FB marketplace is a nightmare. I don't touch it with a ten foot pole after trying to sell an almost new washing machine for £40. 5 people didn't show up and 1 person offered me a fiver. Cheeky fucker! Told him to do one and gave it to Emmaus for free. (Rather give stuff away to good causes for free than be taken for a mug by some twat who was clearly going to resell on EBay the moment he got it home.)

People on Freecycle seem far better than people on Facebook.
If it is something lots of people want I either go for the second person who asks or the one with a bit of a story.
The first person, may be the fastest, but is often more likely to mess me around so I tend to avoid the first person.

Same, had over a 100 messages about the free TV I was giving away. Took several attempts before it was collected.

Would be easier to take it all to my local dump, which is clean and well organised, but I hate throwing stuff away.

Do you have a local baby bank? They would be happy to have it but not sure if they collect.

I think this is area dependant as it’s difficult to donate to the baby banks in our area, they seem to get too much stuff. Especially clothes.

Thanks for further suggestions however I updated to say the stuff had been collected and I have since had a complaint that one of the toys needs a battery !
I was telling some friends about it today and one reminded me about her experience with free stuff . She is a keen reader and usually donates books afterwards to charity shops . During lockdown they were closed so she got a box , placed loads of books inside with a sign saying help yourself and left it on her garden wall .
A woman appeared at her door clutching about 6 books , not to say thank you but to ask if she had any Ian Rankin . When told no , she was very disappointed and asked her to check again !

@candlesinthesnow ours is desperate for donations. I live in a big northern city, lots of wealth and also lots of poverty. I am also a Social Worker and we cannot get any section 17 money approved without looking to charities etc first as the council budget has been decimated.

So interesting! I’m in the south and it’s the opposite, it’s very hard to donate smaller things like toys and clothes. Buggies, stair gates etc are a bit easier, but only in perfect condition and still with instructions.

They seem to prefer monetary donations overall which is understandable as I guess that is more efficient. Last time I tried to donate clothes I didn’t get anywhere with baby banks (or charity shops) so I ended up selling them on Vinted instead and donating the profits!

Just to counter balance this I sold a bunch of my daughter's American Girl Dolls and accessories for 250 quid to a lady off FB yesterday- met her, she was on time, she turned up in her porsche at my local library, older lady cash in hand, I was so sure she would be a no show when she texted, I am the grandma in the porshe, I thought yeah right.Such a good experience via FB marketplace. I agree charge a low price, people respect a deal more than a freebie somehow.

Yes. My friend had a load of baby stuff which she put on marketplace in covid times and said she'd like it to go for free to a family who was struggling etc (it was all very very nice expensive stuff). A woman messaged with all of this "oh I would love this, my life has been so tough, I don't know where to turn now I'm pregnant etc etc". Her and a man turned up in a hire van and took the lot and within 24 hours it was all on Facebook marketplace again but being sold for many many ££££. She's since kept an eye on them and their business is collecting free stuff from places and then selling it on!

Just Google women’s refuge and your area. You’ll probably get an email contact, a PO Box address, and possibly a phone number. There might not be a phone number though, and there definitely won’t be a street address due to confidentiality/safety.

The one I contacted was really happy to come collect the stuff but might not be the case everywhere - and I had a lot of stuff!

Baby banks are best to donate good quality baby stuff, especially the bigger items. Olio is good too.