To think a skip is easier than the general fucking public

[bussteward]

I’m on a major declutter and obviously can give bags of things to charities – but the ones near me are small and can’t accept limitless donations or certain items, eg opened bags of nappies, boring baby things like mountains of vests, or “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” type stuff. Fine.

But JFC trying to give stuff away via Olio/Freecycle/Marketplace etc is a full-time job dealing with the hard of thinking. No matter how clear the ad stating the pick-up times available – and Olio even has a rule you’re supposed to mention a time in your first message – you get conversations that go:

Available?
Yes, until 1pm today or I can be around any time tomorrow if you let me know when so I don’t have to wait in all day.
OK, this afternoon.
As the ad states, I can’t do after 1pm today. Please let me know a time that suits you tomorrow.
Tomorrow afternoon.
OK, I’m not going to wait in all afternoon: so let’s say 3pm.
::tumbleweed silence::

It’s like pulling teeth.

Then there was the woman who did specify a time, forgot to come, rearranged, messaged once she was an hour late to say her car had broken down, never confirmed a new time then turned up randomly three weeks later when the item had long gone trying to give me a box of cat food. I do not have a cat.

Every pick up time comes and goes without a ring on the doorbell, then the message comes: just waiting for my partner to come home with the car then I’ll set off. OK?! But you said 9am and it’s now 9.30 and you’ve not set off, so that’s an entirely different time and I have plans.

Obviously I am not going to throw everything in a skip or set fire to it all but it would be easier. Can’t put it all out the front with a sign saying “free” because it’s constantly pouring down. Can’t specify “no fucking idiots, what’s wrong with you people” on the ad. I don’t have an AIBU because I’m NOT unreasonable: it is the people who are unreasonable, aren’t they?

Yep. I've had people be abusive and tell me I'm a bad person when I haven't been able to accommodate them. I hate waste, but it's such hard work giving stuff away. Charity shops near me can't always accept donations soot so not like I can juat take it all there!

This is a scam.

"Even vinted has become a nightmare. People offering £1 less just for the sake of it. I could understand £5 or more. Although I don’t think the cost of postage helps on there."

Indeed.

I have some lovely items on Vinted at the moment priced at £2 each - good brands as well but priced to sell quickly and easily.

People just like to offer £1 or 1.50, just to make a point I think. It's reflective of society I think; everyone's a hustler or a chancer and not happy until they've got one over someone else or can brag about a deal or a scam.

Having tried to sell a car through Facebook marketplace I lost the will to live at one point. So many chancers, scammers and tyre kickers. Just fuck off. We went to an auction site eventually.

@bussteward
We have found exactly the same trying to give away all dd baby crap. Also 'where is collection?' Then you tell them and they tell you they don't drive. Are they expecting you to live next door?!
Your first post made me laugh so much during a properly shite day at work 😂

We live in a town that has a BS (Bristol) postcode despite being outside the city. I always put "buyer MUST collect, am in Small Market Town". I still get people who don't read the ad properly and after several exchanges about collection times decide that it's too far.

I've sold and given loads of stuff away on facebook marketplace with great success, I find it so much more convenient than the tip as they come to collect and everyone has always been so grateful to take away all kinds of (even broken) stuff.

My tips are I never give out the address until we've agreed upon a convenient time for collection (I give a vague area before) and I don't hold anything for longer than the end of the day as if they don't come that day in my experience people forget or change their mind.

You need to get people to think about agree to a specific time (not just "this afternoon/evening") or they haven't really made the connection in their mind that it's an appointment they should keep if they want the thing, people are weird.

Just thought of another one - I was giving away a desk and someone asked if I could deliver. I said no sorry, it won't fit in my car, to which they replied "well if it won't fit in your car how do you expect it to fit in mine?" 😂

The idea of throwing things away has got such a bad name these days but there really is no reason to make any effort to find a new home for things. Generally I don't worry about it, if something ends up in the landfill so be it - everything breaks down eventually, in the meantime I am creating stuff for future archaeologists to find. Unfortunately "free stuff" usually attracts the worst type of people, the sort who think everything should be free to them because they're so important. You're not doing them a favour giving them your unwanted items, they're doing you a massive favour by letting you, therefore you should return the favour by bending over backwards to accomodate them.

I used Freecycle but I only consider people who are polite with good spelling and grammar in their messages. I know this is horribly snobby but I've found it a pretty good formula.

Me too! My rule is that I will only give things away to people that know the words ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

And in a recently added twist, those words must be used in a proper sentence, NOT tagged onto the end of a demand such as ‘I need a new school jumper from a smoke free home by tomorrow. Please and thank you’.

We're hoping to move to a house soon, but this is one thing I love about living in a block of flats. We put stuff of crap in the lobby with a 'free' sign and it's usually gone by the time I check on it later that day.

I do 'Swedish Death Cleaning', and follow fb groups on the same. But I'm not donating, except to proper organisations who make an appointment, turn up and remove the stuff as planned. To me, part of 'letting go' of stuff is letting go of the responsibility for what happens to it after I've thanked it for its service and stuck it in a bin bag.

I feel your pain. My particular favourites are those who ask for it to be delivered (despite the post stating it’s forcollection) and then specifying exactly when they wanted it delivering. I’m literally giving it away as it is. Weapons grade CFery.

This is so ignorant, I hope you haven't got children that will inherit the rubbish dump, sorry earth you've left them.

When I’ve done this, I’ve put the stuff out on the front for them to collect. It saves the hassle of having strangers turning up at my door or the interaction you’ve described to arrange a mutually convenient time.

Let’s not forget when you advertise an item as COLLECTION ONLY:

”can you deliver?”

🤦🏻‍♀️

We got a skip when we moved house during lockdown and found the loft full of the previous owners stuff. Literally nowhere else to get rid of it, all shops and tip were shut.

A few days later I saw several things on fb marketplace that had been in the skip - turns out the company sorts through and recycles / sells anything worth the bother. Nothing was worth more than a couple of quid, and I didn't mind at all, but might be worth ringing a skip company and asking if they do the same?

Some tips:

1. Always put your rough location (not full address but eg first part of postcode) in the ad- that way people realise straight off if it’s too far.

2. Leave things you are giving away outside, if you have a covered area or it’s not raining.

If you leave them tucked out of sight and not too far ahead of pick up time they are unlikely to be nicked IME. This way you’re not stuck staying in and can be more flexible about collection times

3. be clear if things are very large or heavy

4. BHF or a few other charities will take furniture - good if you have several large items to clear

It might be worth checking out the facilities at your tip- ours has the usual recycling stuff but it also has an area for stuff which is too good to go in the skip. They then sell it on for small amounts.

I had a fully working filing cabinet that went straight in that area. We were at the tip last week dropping off garden waste and picked up a compost bin for a couple of quid.

But yes, I agree with you 100% re: timewasters. I now arrange to leave it in a bin bag in my porch and if they don't come I pass to the next person.

Yes thank you I knew they were scammers, and this is why I sent them these details:

I find olio fine, but I’ll only give to people who are 5 star rating and aren’t too far away. Weeds out the time wasters and those who cba to check my postcode given in the listing and commit to collect before saying I’m too far away!

And I just remembered another one - I was giving away some 6ft fence panels. Some daft woman said she wanted them all then turned up in a tiny clown car and attempted to stack them in the boot, leaving chunks of fence all over the front of my house as she did so. Ffs 🤦‍♀️

Recently, I advertised four dog bowls for free.

A man came to pick them up - on time! He asked why I was giving them away, concerned my dog had died.

I told him I'd bought all new, angled and raised ones for my aging dog's bad neck.

One was on the floor next to me. I showed him.

He was impressed with them. So, naturally, he asked me if he could take those instead.

Erm, what now!?

And yes, people are crap. I was clearing DGMs house after she died, so very upsetting already, and had people fucking about to the point where I had a house still full of furniture I wanted to give away the day before the sale went through. All sorts of, I'm leaving now / the cars broken down / I'll come tomorrow / can you deliver / I've only got a moped will the wardrobe fit on it? Never again.

A couple of weeks ago I broke my rule of only offering Freecycle things to people who can pick up on the same day. Agreed to hold them for two flaky wasters and lo and behold I still have the items.

I wish this wasn't so true 😅

I once had someone ask me to deliver an IKEA tv stand i was giving away. It was a hr drive and they lived in a city that had an IKEA, they offered petrol money and got annoyed when I pointed out that would cost more than going to IKEA ans getting a new one, not to mention a whole day of my life 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️