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:

What the heck does it matter! I've seen what people throw out by way of TVs wardrobes etc. so what is the problem of someone asking - that's the whole point of freecycle.

The emphasis is on the recycle bit rather than "Free". I don't have any objections to others asking for extravagant items as long as they'll accept them in any condition and stop them from going to the landfill. It's up to other Freecyclers whether they would want to then offer the items to them. My 2 pence worth.

One of my groups sent this round recently - sums it up v well I thought:

It works both ways. I posted for a lightweight single buggy a few months back - wasn't bothered about brand, just needed something lighter to cart my toddler around as I'm 8 months preg.

I arranged to collect the buggy - she said it was old and I wasn't fussed - but when I got there it was filthy, absolutely disgusting. I'm not averse to a bit of cleaning, but it really was beyond redemption! I went home and put it straight in the bin.

I won't be using freecycle again!!

I'm feeling a bit down with freecycle at the moment...

I made the mistake of asking for boys age 3/4 clothes more than once in a month which is apparently against the rules - but is not written in them. I received a message informing me of my mistake and so I stopped posting wanteds (I have since posted several offers btw).

I have received all manner of sarcasm from the co-mod by email when I asked why I am now on moderation, as it was a genuine mistake - I have decided she is a power crazed bitch .

Right, whine over, sorry about that!

Oh loads of pianos get offered on our freecycle. I mean what else would you do with an unwanted piano?

I get mildly narked at the fussy buggers.

I recently freecycled all my old vinyl & tapes (it was a wrench but dh challenged me to find a song I could play faster by running up to the attic, digging it out of a box & sticking it on the turntable, than he could find it on t'interweb).

DOZENS of replies, but lots of them were of the 'when can I come round & have a look through?' variety - I had made it clear in the post that I was looking for someone to take them as a job lot & sort the wheat from chaff in their own time!

They eventually went to a nice bloke who subsequently emailed me to say his ds (12) had turned into a fanatical Cure & Bauhaus fan .

I love freecycle. Mine is Westminster in London and it seems to work really well. We get the occasional silly wanted, but for the most part it is all reasonable. We have used it loads for offering things as we are moving and clearing out. Everything has been collected and appreciated. We have found homes for things from baby things to clothes to bike helmets to storage trolleys, etc. The only things we tend to have trouble with is large furniture because it is hard to collect - especially in central london where many people do not have cars. That said, some of it has been collected. We had one guy and his friend carry a bookcase between them two blocks down the road to their flat!

What annoys me is when I post a message offereing something good (the other day it was an unused boxed bluetooth headset) and get tonnes of responses. Some are polite, but many take the form of assuming they will be able to have it and asking when they can collect or even telling me when they will come. I just ignore these.

I offerred someone a TV. I told him what area, as in the estate, I live on and he then sent about 5 weird e-mails demanding to know my address without even bothering to fix a time to collect it.
I wasn't comfortable with him knowing where I live after that so I told him a family member wanted it.
I'm still stuck with it and daresn't put it on there now as he'll know it's me.

i hate the posters who demand that YOU ring them on their mobile about the item.

um, yeah, i'm so going to waste my credit on you, you pillock.

Ican't even log onto mine much to my chagrin.A shame as i have some ace stuff going free to a good home.

wish i lived near moondog.

bet her gear is cool!

I have....antique standard lamps,old trunk, 30s style school desk, lovely tables,old heavy cookware,groovy lampshades,brand new carseat.....
Just can't log on!!!

So where do you stay moondog and when can I collect?

fuck, i'm desperate for some old, heavy cookware.

i want to make soap, for some reason.

and i'm starting to dye lots of stuff.

World peace and a water butt is SO bristol!

isn't it though? old hippies congregate in brizzle!

Had to laugh at my local freecycle ads today,think it summed up the inequity there-offered springs for trampline
wanted DS lite.

These people would be a hit on Multi Coloured Swap Shop as that didnt often seem a fair swop either!

This made me laugh today - i thought i'd share...

Wanted - Christening gift
I'm looking for a christening gift for my friend's daughter. Those
silver plated money boxes etc? Perhaps you got two of the same thing
for your baby's christening? Must be brand new condition. Thanks in
advance.

You must live in Durham Innat because I've just seen that message yesterday!

I offered 2 stairgates on Tuesday. One of the reples came from a woman who said that sheneeded them because she had just registered as a childminder and was going to be inspected by Ofsted on Friday. I thought she could have planned a bit better!

She then put a 'wanted' message up asking for stairgates, travel cot, car seats and a load of other stuff. I was at a CM asking for 2nd hand carseats; I don't expect Ofsted would look kindly on that.

We've had a recent spate of ridiculous "Wanted" ads on our local Freecycle recently, but I think the mods have jumped on it in the last few days. A couple of years back it got so out of hand, our moderator posted the following to the list:

"WANTED: Moon on a Stick

Hello.

Can people PLEASE try and keep the WANTED posts for ridiculously expensive things down to a minimal level. It simply annoys people on this list (we get a LOT of complaints) and could cause this list to lose a lot of its most valued members and therefore posts.

Think before you post and stop being ridiculous.

Thanks,
[Name], your friendly Administrator."

This had the desired effect for a few weeks, but the p*ss-takers soon sprang up again, prompting the following post from the admin:

"WANTED: TWO Moons on a gold stick, plus dishwasher

A DISHWASHER?

WHAT?

You're skint, so you're advertising for a dishwasher? Do you even understand how much water and electricity these things consume? Forget the environmental impact and all that crap.... do you not think that money has to PAY for that somehow? And if you're skint, how are you going to pay for that?

Sometimes the lack of forethought and logic here is incredible.

Also, can people please stop asking for the moon on a stick as it's pissing people off.

Thanks
Your friendly mod team x"

I wish we still had that mod...

Can I just jump on the thread and say that anyone wanting to get rid of cars try your local college. Any place that runs mechanics courses would be grateful for something for the students to work on.

Not read the whole thread, but just joined freecyle as I hate throwing good things away and as a result have a bit of a clutter problem! But when I look there are more 'wanted' than 'offered' posts and some posters seem to be attempting to furnish a 4 bed luxury house! It puts me off posting offers because it feels like some people are just taking the p*.

I like the concept but some people just take advantage.