to think theres a secret priority group on our freecycle...

[Natt82]

... and thats why I never seem to get anything thats advertised???

Dont get me wrong, I send out Offers as well as reply to those offering things, so its not like I want something for nothing, but i'm getting seriously miffed at our freecycle group.

I was up on the PC until nearly midnight last night and no mails came through. At 8am when I logged on, I had a whole heap of freecycle emails. One was for a buggy board which we are desperate for, so I replied instantly. Just got a message saying - sorry it had already gone.

This happens all the time - in fact a lot of times I actually get the OFFERED & the TAKEN email at the same bloomin time! Surely everyone is meant to get the emails at the same time - and if they do, how on earth can things be taken before they're offered to everyone?

AIBU in expecting to have some chance of getting something, or am I wasting my time on freecycle nowadays?

Oh, and I'm not on daily digest - I'm meant to get the emails come through as and when, which means when they are approved.

Could you have a problem with your internet? I am on freecycle and had to change over to the daily digest because I was absolutely inundated with the b... e-mails! What sort of response did you get when you offered things? I haven't ever wanted to take things but everytime we have offered anything we have have LOADS of replies and it is hard to choose who to give things to. Having said that there are a load of time wasters who never collect - but that is another story. Hope you have some luck soon. You could always try e-mailing your moderator.

What sort of emails do you send in response to offers? I have offered A LOT of very good quality stuff on freecycle and got sick and tired of getting one line emails that just said things like "I'll take this" - so I prioritise who I give stuff to by how polite they sound in their emails, or by how quickly they can pick the stuff up.

My thinking is that, if you're getting something for nothing, the least you can do is be polite, courteous and prompt when it comes to collecting. Not saying you're not those things, btw, just that people don't necessarily prioritise who they donate to purely on a "speed of response" basis.

If I get lots of emails and one is from a 'regular offerer and taker', I am biased in favour of them because they are 'proven'. Other people may not turn up, may be just takers or might be selling on.

A regular poster is clearly an active participant iyswim. sorry

That's very true Verity. I also hate it when people ask for very specific brands/makes or things it looks like they are going to sell on e-bay. Apparently some people have their e-mail set to automatically accept and offer to take anything . You can get round this by asking everyone to say in their reply when they can collect.

Is that true? That would certainly explain why, whenever I offer ANYTHING, I always get a reply within seconds from the same rude, creepy bloke "I'll have it". That's all it ever says. Makes me fume!

Mind you, that same creepy bloke often emails later in the day asking "Why didn't you give it to me?", which, obviously, I ignore.

I thought he was stalking me a bit, but if he's got the auto response thing going on, that would explain why he seems to be constantly on line... I've never seen him offer anything, either.

I am always really polite when I reply to the Offered ads - like this morning I wrote something along the lines of "Hi, we would really love the buggy board if its still available for xxx reason. We would be able to collect dar dar dar, thank you very much"

am I writing the wrong kind of thing?

When I offer stuff I am normally inundated with people asking for it (I've offered things like beds, pushchairs, clothes, highchairs) so I tend to wait until I've had about 24 hours of replies before choosing one - maybe the majority on our group just give to the first reply?

I get the emails sporadically in the day - the moderator approves every message so sometimes I just get one or two through, sometimes a batch of 9-10, depending on when shes on the internet I suppose. But I'm definately not on daily digest, but dont understand how something can be offered & taken at the same time - surely someone must be getting the mails before me to reply already?!

TBH I tend to just give it to the first person to reply. Unless they are very rude or abrupt. If they are I wait a bit and see who else replies...

Does your group have a fair offer policy? I always make a point of waiting for 24 hours before deciding who to give it to. There are lots of freecyclers who seem to think it's a first come first served basis. I've had occassions when the same freecycler keeps sending me e-mails about details for collection when I haven't even promised that they could have it!

It irritates me when I'm interested in an item but further down the inbox, a TAKEN message has been posted within minutes from the OFFERED one.

ours works the same as yours natt. the rule seems to be first response should get. (i personally wait as get loads of I'll take this emails).

but what I've noticed recently is that one of the mods releases the offer from me and then immediatedly responds with "if this is still available, I;d like it". I do wonder if the mod is getting most of things in our area.

Unless I need rid quickly I will wait 24 hours and then give it to the best 'story' so to me it really matters what you write - why you would want / use what I am offering. The 'I'll take it' emails just get deleted!

Hope you get better luck soon