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Freecycling

June 27th, 2007 at 03:51 pm

Last weekend I posted a few items to give away on Freecyle. They are items that did not sell at my garage sale, that I held back from the donations pile, and that I was unsuccessful selling on Craigslist (and they are too inexpensive or bulky to list on Ebay).

I love the idea of Freecycle, but I have to say that it is quite a bit of work. For some reason, people respond to postings really promptly saying they want something, but then either don't reply to arrange a pickup or take their sweet time coming to get things.

I will probably accumulate some more things that I will Freecycle just prior to my move, but I will post everything on just one day when I am going to be home all day, and I will stipulate that things must be picked up within the day. Anything that doesn't get picked up, will be donated to charity.

For anyone interested in Freecycle who is not familiar with it, here is the web site: www.freecycle.org

Posted in Relocating to a lower cost part of the USA | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Freecycling”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 06:31 pm 1182969114
    1182969114

    Our Freecycle group is said to be one of the most active in the world. Smile I have recently had reason to be looking for things on Freecycle. (After having given away things in previous years.) While I think that the person giving things away is the one most to be catered to, I have been disappointed in the numbers who have not answered my email requests at all. Not even a single word reply such as, "Sorry," "Taken," or even a blunt, "No." Theat leaves me not knowing whether to ask the next person who posts a similar item the same day. I would not want to ask the second person for their twin mattress if the first person was going to tell me "yes" later in the day. So I wait out the whole day, passing on other possibilities....only to never get an answer at all. Thus I have spent 10 weeks looking for a twin mattress on Freecycle when these are offered qute commonly on my local group.

    The no-shows are a frustration as a giver, but the no replies are, well, I think they are bad manners. Just hit reply, type in "No" and hit send. Easy. (Oh, maybe I should have used my own blog for this gripe. More bad manners?)

  2. fern Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 08:13 pm 1182975226
    1182975226

    I agree with you wholeheartedly. To me, this is the biggest drawback of freecycle..people race to be first to claim whatever it is your'e giving away, then you end up exchanging 2 or 3 rounds of emails trying to arrange for a pickup, and they they either don't show up or back out of it.

    What a waste of time!

    With an average dozen or so people responding on any one given item, you really don't have the time to respond to each and every one of them, just the one you are ready to offer it to. As a courtesy, you should then post it as "Promised" or "Taken on the site so others will know.

  3. monkeymama Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 10:29 pm 1182983362
    1182983362

    I think it has gone downhill. BEfore someone would come in a few hours, no biggie. Then within the year I had a couple of issues with no-shows, etc. The last time I posted something no one even replied. What a bummer. I noticed the activity in the group was way down.

    It was GREAT in it's hayday - I wish I had cleared more clutter then. Wink
    One thing I always do is keep the first 3-5 e-mails so if #1 doesn't workout I have a backup. I usually never had a problem. IF someone didn't show up the same day, someone else would the next day. But yeah there would be days I would post crap and it would be gone in an hour and now I can't get anyone to take some furniture and hangers (all VERY useful!).

  4. contrary1 Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 06:14 am 1183011260
    1183011260

    I belong to the greatest Freecycle group...and have met some terrific people. Only one person in the years I've been involved would have to go on my Don't Contact list. She responded for some outdoor light fixtures I had. They worked, had sensors, matched, heck I even included the light bulbs... When she got there, instead of taking them, she said no, they weren't what she had in mind.

    Our group has a rule......if you speak for something, you must go get it and take it all. Works so well. What you don't want/need, you pass along somehow, to others.

    I'm so grateful for our freecycle group; they assist in clearing out unnecessary items and they are a gift when listing a 'want'. How great it is to receive something on ones wish list and not have to spend money for it!

  5. Nic Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 11:56 am 1183031813
    1183031813

    I love Freecycle but noticed my old group in Honolulu were more responsive and polite than the group where I live now, Utah.
    Example: We posted some plexiglass and aluminum frames were up for grabs...we received a VERY EAGER reply, and the fool doesn't show up. No e-mail,no phone call,nothing. Scratch him from my list.
    Drill/driver was also posted and a person replies only to ask if I can deliver it. NO! My ad VERY CLEARLY stated YOU must p/u.
    But, it does help me to identify those I'll clearly NOT respond to in the future.

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