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?

Ahem, why has no-one on this thread yet mentioned the sob stories on these websites.

The oscar-worthy sob stories?

Amazing how many chronically depressed, one-legged, partially deaf, recently bereaved people who can't drive and are struggling to come to terms with their gender identity while also trying to support a family of seven children, a crisp-addicted husband and 36 special needs naked mole rats on just £76 a week come crawling out of the woodwork when you're offering something for free isn't it?

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.

This made me lol.

My old neighbour was a hoarder but of good stuff, not crap etc

She sold all her decluttering as a job lot, then I think the person who collected it all sold it all on themselves. Like a mini house clearance.

On the Isle of Man, they have amenities sites run by their government. People take items there that they they no longer need/want, and anyone can take it away and reuse it, for free. Brilliant recycling idea. My friends got a lovely 3 piece suite for nothing! I got a strimmer, just needed a new cutting cord and it was like new!
Much less faff than FB marketplace 😂

That sounds like a great group!

I got permabanned from my local FB group for trying to give away more than 2 items in a single week (in my defence, it was multiple items but I only made one post, I assumed the limit was to stop a single member from flooding the group, rather than putting limits on generosity!)

I’m going to give @Wheretheskyisblue ‘s suggestion a try later this week.

I really don’t like to take things to the tip / put in the bin that are perfectly fine for another persons house so will charity shop some items and advertise others on local FB sites for free.

I had a lady want a huge reduction on a child car seat “because I’m only using it twice a week” - she got extremely narky when I refused.

I’ve been asked to keep the item as they’ve only just gone on holiday for a fortnight.

I’ve had a lady point to the mirror on my lounge wall and say she wants “that one” when that wasn’t the one advertised and that she said she wanted.

In the end I have up dealing with such cheeky fuckery and thought “ah ha! I’ll tell the person they can collect it from my porch - that means no interaction with them” until I got a message from one lady (and I quote) “Hi, I’m outside your house to collect the shelf but I can’t see your Porsche, only a Toyota”. I replied “try the PORCH”.

I was talking to a FBer selling a garden device.
Me - when can I pick up?
FBer - tonight please
Me - OK but I've no cash. I can do a bank transfer before I pick up?
FBer - no, cash please.
Me - I don't have any cash at the moment. If you want me to pick up tonight I will need to pay be bank transfer.
FBer - no, cash only. I've been screwed over too many times by bank transfers.
Me - (sigh) so when can I pick up?
FBer - tonight.

It didn't happen.

It's such a shame that selling/giving stuff away is a PITA because there are people who are really grateful for stuff. I know there's been times when I was first setting up a house, was rather skint and a table or something from Freecycle was brilliant.

But people are such chancers now. I tried to give away a Christmas tree stand and the number of people who'd either haggle (it was £5!) or just not bother turning up/turn up later when I wasn't there, was unreal. I did eventually get rid of it but nowadays the minority of things worth selling go on Vinted, and anything that doesn't have much value goes to the charity shop/recycling place at the tip. Anything else goes to the actual tip.

Well, except how do you turn down a planet that is knackered by selfish fuckers?

Get a skip. I've one on my drive and it's pilfered every day so I can fit loads more in and I don't need to do the charity shop rounds.

I hired a skip for our loft clearcut, expensive but honestly I just wanted it gone, skip hire people recycle anyway, and if you leave something useful or desirable in plain sight in a skip someone will come along take it anyway- job done.
I am now thinking of doing the same for garage/ workshop however we have countless half used tins of paint ( including some from previous houses!) that we can't put in a skip so need to book a slot for the dump.

Well, except how do you turn down a planet that is knackered by selfish fuckers?

So annoying. Thankfully we're in a busy-ish area with lots of foot traffic so I leave things in boxes on the front wall saying 'help yourself'. Always goes within the day.

I've definitely found it better to sell things really cheaply than give them away, when things are free people attach no value to them.

I’ve got so fed up over this I just don’t bother anymore, if charity shop won’t take it, it goes to the skip site. Some people even have the cheek to ask if you will deliver it as they don’t drive, cheeky fuckers, it’s free…what more do you want !

I’d like to join in:

I tried to give away a free shed. We had a skip and builders so, no skin off my nose if nobody fancied it. But it seemed like a good shed. Put it on Freecycle. Made it very VERY clear that you would need to dismantle the shed and take it away yourself. I also made it very clear that it was a 2 man job and, as an 8mo pregnant woman, I would not be assisting. I told them to bring tools.

One single man turned up. Asked me to help him. Rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath when I said I wouldn’t. Said it was too heavy to move on his own. Ripped it to bits. Declared he didn’t have the right tools. Sifted through my husband’s tools (working away) and declared them to also be a load of old shite. Abandoned the half dismantled shed … in the middle of my driveway and fucked off.

As he had effectively blocked my car in… with a fucking SHED, I had to go out after the kids were in bed, in the rain and the dark, and finish dismantling it myself. 8 months pregnant. And then haul it all into the skip. Alone. I had no choice, because I had the school run / work at 8am.

I found my husband’s tools sufficient and (as it turns out) I could move it on my own. But this useless shit of a man couldn’t do any of it effectively. And left my driveway looking like a hurricane had blown through it.

I reported him, but they did nothing. 6 weeks later, the same bloke answered my advert for a free toaster. I said “I’ll save you the journey and just smash it up on my driveway now for you”

He did not see the funny side.

That’s a great story. It just shows you there are still people out there who are genuine, honest and willing to play fair.

You have inspired me to do something similar.

I also took stuff into work. I work for a huge organisation so many colleagues .... it soon went!

“I’ll save you the journey and just smash it up on my driveway now for you”

This actually made me laugh.

I was selling a very chunky wooden table once. Stated in the ad that they’d need a van to collect it. The couple turned up on time. They had a van. They had the cash. It was flawless. I still think I might have dreamt the whole thing!

Selling small stuff is just soul destroying. I put the stuff on my drive with a big sign saying ‘Free’ and it is usually gone within a couple of hours.

Exactly. I've long since given up offering anything on those sorts of sites. In my experience, you only get either chancers who offer stupid amounts, or people looking to re-sell, who only offer tiny fractions of what it's worth/what you want.

Honestly, these days I just take whatever it is to the tip/recycling centre.

I also can’t be arsed to arrange collections, so I always put stuff on for free and then just leave it outside. Saves a trip to the dump!

How long do they need to think about it though? Why waste their own time like that, why not ask for a photo first?

Also, I'm a firm believer in doing things with a good grace or not doing them at all (and I frequently choose the latter). But if you are going to take something from someone, or accept an invitation, or whatever the hell it is, you either say great, thanks very much, or no thank you. Not ehhhh well ok then, I suppose...

I recently sold a brand new guitar stand on FB as it was suitable for DP's hundreds of guitars. They guy came to collect at more or less the agreed time, and then asked if he could come inside to see if we had any guitars he wanted!!

Had this issue too when we were moving. BHF came and collected all the large furniture pieces which we were grateful for. Listed all other items FOR FREE on various sites. I was thinking because I listed them for free it would be much easier but it wasn't! People were still going back and forth with me about silly things so in the end we just left stuff outside and people just took them. Anything left behind went to the recycling centre. Job's done.