Freecycle Freeloaders again...

[WendyWeber]

2 great ads on mine today:

Wouldn't we all, dear? And if you can afford to tax, fuel and run one, surely you can afford to buy it?

And from the same person:

I think the cheeky requests are quite entertaining.

I must get round to putting some things on freecycle and making a little more space in our house for storing the junk I'd like to hang on to!

I belong to a few freecycles ( because of where i live im often in another county for work). One of them has wanted wednesdays, all wanted posts are rejected unless they come in on a thursday and then you can only post one a week!

when i suggested this to my local group i was threatened with being banned for interfering with the way it works!

sod that, i take things down the dump or leave them outside our scout hall now.ive had some lovely stained glas windows from the dump and the kids found masses in next door's skip!!

( ive just realised quite how rough i sound)

"One of them has wanted wednesdays, all wanted posts are rejected unless they come in on a thursday and then you can only post one a week!"

im such an idoit, they come in on wednesday for wanted wednesday!!!

I use Freecycle regularly, offering and asking for items. I also know people who post asking for items, but dont offer, simply because they have nothing. Freecycle is a great system as it helps get rid of items properly but also helps people who do need items and dont have the cash to buy them. I agree some people are obviously trying to abuse the system but if people dont offer them the items, whats the biggie?

Incidently, I recently offered a couple of books, and asked for a freezer. I wonder if people scour my Freecycle to post about how tight I am?

(AND I got a very battered but working small chest freezer which was much needed and the books were greatfully received by someone).

I think a lot of people get the wrong end of the stick about freecycle: it's not a charity exercise, it's about keeping stuff out of landfill. The people who take stuff away are doing a favour to those who offer it (as well as vice-versa) - the giver would only have to take a trip to the dump otherwise.

We're going to see a Freecycle sofa later on today: if I don't like it I won't take it (although I'll be polite about it). The guy who's offering it understands this - in fact he suggested that we have a look first before deciding whether we want it or not.

I agree that some of the 'Wanted' posts are cheeky, but it's only 0s and 1s on a computer screen, in the end - it's not like people are turning up on your doorstep.

I know a bloke who is seriously affluent (4 kids at independent school) and he posted a Wanted at Christmas for a Sky box "because his MIL was coming to stay" - that was wrong on so many levels!

I don't think a piano is an outrageous thing to ask for. They are a pita to get rid of, heavy, difficult to move etc We had one we didn't want years ago before I'd heard of Freecycle when we found a friend who was prepared to take it off our hands we were delighted, they were def doing us a favour.

I don't mind anyone asking for anything - but I do think the very specific wanteds can be a bit cheeky. Last week we had large widescreen TV, a Quinny Buzz, and dark hardwood antique bedside cabinet.

I am really fed up of people that email asking for my offereds, and when I ask them when they like to collect just never respond or turn up.

Two pianos being offered on Harlow freecycle today, so it's not unheard of. I've also seen offered Ipod Shuffle and tickets for Grease, so things of some value do get offered quite often. Someone did once put a wanted ad for a DVD player as theirs had broken which reminded me I had one in a cupboard doing nothing and handed it over. I like the silly wanted ads, it just makes me laugh and think in your dreams.

It was the combination of the car and the piano that wound me up!

But moving a piano is tricky and expensive, and then when in the new place it has to be tuned, and if it's a crap one (which a freecycle one probably will be) it will fall out of tune every 5 minutes, and surely if your kids are going to learn they will have to have lessons; so "I want a piano" leads to almost as much in running costs as "I want a car" (although less danger of breaking down on the motorway )

Someone on ours was asking for an "uninterrupted power supply" the other day which I found quite funny.

Don't agree that a piano on Freecycle will be rubbish - my friend got one which is fine. It had belonged to an old man who had died and his daughter didn't play herself...

But sometimes it is hard to be objective - I've just got rid of a child's sandpit. The person who collected it said when they collected it that it was going to be used for something other than a child's sandpit - I did feel that if I'd known that I might have given it to someone else who really wanted it for their child - but then if the person who collected it hadn't said anything I'd have been none the wiser and not cared what they were going to do with it iyswim...

Agree with grapefruit that things given away on freecycle are not necessarily crap - far from it. We bagged a single bed and a sofa this weekend - both lovely, thanks very much!

Our Freecycle seems to work pretty well - we had ishoos with one woman who kept asking for baby stuff (not odd things but everything you could need for a baby!) who was then outed as a scammer!

I received a little fridge over the weekend as our spare one ahd packed up, and over the last year or so have offered loads of stuff. If I ask for something though it's very general - eg working fridge wanted any size please. Some people get rather specific. It does make me laugh though when people practically list the Argos catalogue!

I said "probably"...

I saw one recently asking for a playstation 3. There was a lengthy story about her son who had been unemployed was doing an electronics course and needed to take apart and put a playstation 3 back together.

I have the urge to put on there "WANTED: Someone To Love Me"..

Someone recently advertised on ours saying her little girl was ill in hospital and she wanted to do up her room for when she gets home.
I offered her an unopened tin of cream paint, an unopened set of ikea bubbles bedding and a red rug.
She emailed back asking for photos, so I sent her links, then she said 'oh it's not my taste'.
She has posted the same ad at least four times since.

You'd think she'd want to be at her daughter's bedside really wouldn't you.. not decorating her room! Unless she was planning to get someone else to do it..

You should have emailed back "..but is it your daughter's?!" (taste)

Cheeky cow.

She could have said no thankyou more politely!

We also get a lot of 'Wanted (insert fairly new and specific model name) mobile phone, then a story about their son who got mugged on the way home from school and needs it until they can afford a replacement.

Our freecycle used to be great but it seems just now there are a loads more wanted ads for big items than there are offered ads.
Today we have

WANTED:
Washing Machine
Dehumidifier
Freezer
Working Lexmark printer

OFFERED:
Pieces of old carpet (perfect cupboard size)
Beaded door curtain
Old sleeping bags (make great dog blankets)
White rubber bath mat.

So quite a big difference in the type of things offered and the type of ads wanted. And I can honestly say I have not been selectively picking they were the first ones in my list.

Shiny, I thought much the same.

The very worst I've had was when I offered two bags of baby boys clothes. The lady collected them, and seemed very nice. Then two days later I came home to find a bin liner with half of the neatly folded clothes had given her on my doorstep.
They were crumpled up and stank of smoke. And the cheeky cow returned them in a bin liner, and kept the canvas bags I had given them to her in.

Rudeness and grabbiness is annoying in any part of life, and online people feel they can be ruder than in real life. However, as a family without a car, I am grateful to anyone who will come and take away large items I can't get to the tip or to the charity shop. It's the people who email going. 'Yesi wan it. For my dyng gran.' and then don't show up that wind me up. But on the whole I've found the many people I've given things to friendly, courteous and pleasant.

When I lived in London it used to be quite normal for people to leave unwanted items (furniture, books, etc) outside their homes on the street, and things would always disappear in a matter of hours - it was great. I was quite amused (and sort of pleased) to discover our old desk and TV stand in the living room of the family downstairs a few months after we'd put it out. I would have been a bit embarrassed to offer them, but it was obviously useful to them. If I did the same round here the neighbours would probably lynch me.