To not want my freecycle offerings to end up at the car boot sale!

[lechatnoir]

I've put a load of baby clothes & bedding on freecycle and have been inundated with requests of which I reckon 80% are people looking to sell them on ebay or at a car boot.
DH thinks it's irrelevant who takes it or what they do with it but I'd rather take it all to a charity shop then line someone else's pocket. AIBU?
Lechatnoir

Yes and no. I personally like seeing it go to someone who is going to use it themselves, but at the end of the day the pupose of freecycle is to stop things ending up in the rubbish, which carbooters do.

Freecycle is intended to keep things that are still usable out of landfill. You should primarily put things on there that would otherwise be thrown away. If you can give things to a charity shop then you should do that as a first choice.

Yabu.

If you want the clothes picked up from your own house at a convenient time to suit you, then fair play to people who want to take the bother of having a carboot stall or putting a listing up.

It is up to you what you do with it. You either pack it up and take it to a charity shop, or you list it on ebay, or you spend a day doing a carboot, or you list it on freecycle and as it is no longer yours, you dont get a say in what happens next.

I'd take it to the charity shop. I freecycle a lot of stuff, especially things the charity shops won't take, but it's quite a lot of hassle organising who's going to get it, & when they're going to pick it up (usually when I'm in the middle of my supper & Ashes to Ashes)

YANBU - seems people are out for what they can get these days!

I'm still sore that I sold various good quality items for next to nothing to a new Mum at an NCT sale only to find out that she then sold them on ebay for twice as much. I will just take them to charity next time - might make me feel less bitter!!

YABU. If you are giving something away then it is no longer yours to worry about. You could car boot them yourself of course? 'The giver be grateful' is an old saying I heard and whoever takes away your stuff is doing you a favour.

The thing is if you can't be bothered to Ebay stuff yourself then you charity shop it, freecycle it or car boot it. You can't then grumble about what happens to it next.

I tend to give stuff to women's refuge, mother and baby hostels, toddler groups, playgroups, nurseries or ask my HV if she knows anyone that might be in need. Did this once and gave stuff to a young pregnant mum that had been chucked out by her parents and could barely afford the basics.

YANBU. It's nice to think that things you give away on freecycle are actually going to people who need them rather than chancers who spin a yarn to get stuff.

But, saying that, if you have things like appliances or old mattresses that are a real PITA to get rid of and someone comes to your house at your convenience to collect, then I suppose if they want to go to the hassle of ebaying, then good luck to them.

I personally would give to charity or friends/family rather than freecycle but I have used freecycle frequently in the past to both give and receive and believe wholeheartedly in it.

In the end, I don't really get your dilemma. If you'd rather give something to charity than freecycle, what's stopping you???!!!!??

If someone is going to take the time to keep an eye on Freecyle, go and collect bags of old clothes, possibly wash and iron them and then take them to a boot fair... I think they are probably pretty desperate to earn a small amount of money. So I wouldn't begrudge them their efforts. I think it's just another way of helping people who are obviously more in need than you are (or you'd be going through all that palaver for a few quid).

I do understand and agree with the OPs opinion, even if it's regarded as irrational by some.
The freecycle ethos is about keeping things out of landfill but there is also an unwritten code of practice that you take things you need rather than whatever you think you can make a few quid on elsewhere. We get regular messages from our moderator on how to spot people who are profiteering.
I started freecycling when I had a couple of lamps that charity shops wouldn't take and have given away a fair few items over the last couple of years much to the disgust of dh
I'd like to think that none of it has been sold for personal gain.

YABU - the point is that your unwanted belongings get re-used. Who cares if it is directly or via car boot selling on.

I had to give myself a good talking to once. I freecycled some toddler sleeping bags which were in excellent nick. The lady who collected them said she was going to cut them up and restitch them for dog bedding. I was inwardly horrified - but then, realised that as long as they were used then so be it!

YOu could always try adding 'No car-booters, please' on your postings. A lot of posts on our local Freecycle group actually advertise stuff as suitable for car-booting, and a few also specify that they'd rather the stuff wasn't sold on. Fair either way, I reckon. You need a certain degree of trust for a freecycle group to run, otherwise everyone gets suspicious and starts doubting everyone else's integrity. And yes, it goes against the 'code' of freecycle.

But the fundamental aim of it is to keep usable stuff out of landfill, and if you're really bothered that someone might be making money out of your cast-offs, I'd take them to the charity shop. I tend to do this if I think a charity could make decent money from them.

I have struggled with some of my freecycle giving, too, so in that respect YANBU. Mainly things like people in expensive cars collecting items, like nice swingsets, that I would have like to go to a family who would have struggled to afford it.

However, I do feel that if something is appropriate for a charity shop then that is where it should go. I just use freecycle for large items or things that I know a charity shop won't take.

Ultimate though, and I have got a bit better at this, you need to be free of the item/s and if they can have a few more outings before ending up in landfill all the better.

Well I don't thnk YABU. I think it's a bloody cheek to get something for nothing and then make a profit on it. I usually give things to charity shops as I know that's where any profit will go.

What really bugs me though are those people who advertise on another local mums site asking for stuff - all the flaming time! 'Hi I need a brand new Bugaboo please, for free, and you would have to deliver'.

Maybe not quite as extreme as that but some of them are really cheeky!

I am with OP's DH on this. I put stuff on Freecycle to get rid of it. I really don't care is teh person who collects makes money from it - good luck to them. I can't be bothered to sell at car boots or on eBay - if they can, then they have earned it really.

I'm with Katisha

The people who are collecting this stuff and selling it on are enterprising. The country needs more of them FFS! They are the modern day rag and bone men

I've given bits of furniture away for nothing and in cases seen it back on the same website but in the classifieds section. If people have time to deal with the queries then fine. I'm just not going to deal with 10 time wasters to get £25 for an Ikea chest of drawers.

People wanting to deal in second hand items is a good thing. There's too much nearly new stuff gets chucked because people like me are lazy.

tough shit! if you want money do a car boot yourself. cant blame people for being innovative about making money!

as an alternative rcycle or give to a charity shop with high turnover?

If you choose to get rid of it/sell it/give it to charity then it's out of your house and nothing for you to worry about. YABU to expect people to adhere to your moral code once the items are out of your posession, but I do understand your point too!

Agree with TheBride really. I am shocked by what ends up in landfill at my local tip. People are quite happy to chuck away pushchairs, carseats, perfectly good furniture, nice suitcases etc. I am a bit of a recycling nut and have rescued loads of stuff from there. My Dad rescued an old lawntractor that someone had chucked about 2 years back and mended it and i have just sold it for him on ebay for about £250. Is that unethical? Well, he spent a bit of time and money doing it up but really this is a win-win situation - the lawntractor lives for a good few more years rather than rusting away in the ground and my Dad gets £250! The situation could be likened to freecycle - if someone gives away a bag of tatty, unwashed, ironed, unsorted baby clothes that otherwise might end up in the bin because a lot of charity shops don't take this sort of thing and someone goes through it, cleans its, sorts it, photographs it and lists on ebay... well good luck to them, really.

I agree with OP, I refuse to give stuff to people if they are just going to make money from it, I give stuff to charity shops and they can make money out of it, also if I am getting rid of a load of stuff I refuse to give it to people who say "I'll take the lot!" I know they are selling it then, so I split it up between loads of different people. So YANBU

I often offer things on Mumsnet first in the For Free section. I've had a few big things collected recently by Mnetters and smaller things I offer to post and the receiver pays the postage. I did offer it to a local charity first but they don't take baby furniture.

Freecycle works best for slightly obscure things that charity shops don't want. I gave away an embarassingly huge collection of glass Gu pots for instance.

Just an idea- if you dont want to do Freecycle. A group of us do our own Frecycle every now and then at our playgroup where we take clothes (adult and childrens), toiletries etc that we don't want. We put them all on a table and people help themselves. It makes playgroup more interesting and stops things being thrown away.

Tryharder- exactly. I don't think it's likely to be city bankers topping up their £1m bonuses who get into this sort of thing -more likely to be people who really need some cash who are prepared to go to the hassle of ebaying/car booting for relatively small amounts.