Argh! I think I've had it with Freecycle! - Page 2

[USAmma]

I too found it to be a hassle. I'm going to probably have a free garage sale soon and advertise it on craig's list. If it's on the driveway between certain hours on a certain day, it's free. First come first serve. The rest I will cart off to Goodwill.

[aweynsayl]

Yep. IMO--Not Worth It. This is a great list of reminders of why I DONATE things. Find a good org that gets stuff to people who really need it. We just took a box of DSs baby things to consignment-- $25. DH called me from the store, and was like-- dude. I'm just gonna take it to the Org we donate to. "I;d feel better knowing someone who really needs it got it."

[Fruitful4Him]

We freecycle. We have been really blessed but although I do freecycle when I can, I have got to the point where I will donate to the local women's or family shelter because of no-shows, etc.

[Thalia]

My system

After a lot of trial and error, I have come up with the following system:

I post about the thing I'm offering and roughly where I am located, and let people know that first priority goes to the person who can pick it up first. I then wait one day, and then e-mail all the people who have responded and tell them exactly when and where I am leaving it out, and that the first person to get there can have it. I don't respond to people who have been no shows in the past, or people who want me to call them to work out a time.

So far this system has worked really well. Maybe it gets people's competive juices flowing. I mainly use it for stuff that is in high demand. If I don't think anyone is going to respond, I give it to the Salvation Army. Clothes go to our church's "Clothes Closet" ministry.

One other thing I do is to e-mail people who have been great about pickups in the past if I think I have something they would be interested in.

[melissel]

Thanks everyone, good advice! Last night I freecycled our Exersaucer, and it went perfectly, so I'm just going to consider it a run of bad luck. However, I did decide that I'm going to take as much as I can to Goodwill, since it's for charity anyway.

So my faith in Freecycle is redeemed, for now anyway. Now, if I could ever manage to catch ONE SINGLE THING that I actually want to receive...

[Ruthla]

I don't let somebody take it if they promised to pick it up and then didn't show (unless they had a damn good reason.) You don't show up? I offer it to the next person on the list or repost the offer.

[pilesoflaundry]

It's awful here too. Lots of no shows and way too many wanted posts.

[loni1090]

I have had good experiences on freecycle.
I had a Christmas tree I wanted to get rid of. I posted it and got it out of the house in 3 hours.

I think the reason for the good experiences is that most of us just leave it on our porches so they can come when they can.

[boobyjuicex3]

Originally Posted by Gray's Mommy

I think it depends on your area...I have only had good experiences with our local freecycle. I also post a date that the item must be picked up by & if they don't I donate to the thrift store. My theory is that if they can't be bothered to pick up something when they say they are going to, I can't be bothered to hold on to it forever

I totally agree. We have great moderators, i really think that helps! I have been able to pick up some nice things.

[Kimmie213]

I've gone from eBay, to craigslist to freecycle, to goodwill.
Honestly Goodwill is the easiest for me. I can drop the stuff off when I want AND we get a tax write off.

[rsps]

Originally Posted by indieand

My all-time freecycle record is getting rid of a washing machine in *two hours* on moving day when it broke. I posted, and POOF, gone. That was awesome!

I got rid of a broken computer in less than twenty minutes!!

Generally I only freecycle things that I feel wouldn't work for a charity (big bag of scrap fabric) or things too difficult to get there (old security screen door).

The only no show I've had was for a box of blocks -- so they went to goodwill.

And I got a brand new bread machine from posting a wanted ad!!

[medeanj]

I think we would get rid of more stuff if DH would allow people to come pick up the stuff on our porch. I have to resort meeting at a central location and it is really a hassle. And he wonders why I do not post very often.

Regarding the no-shows. It might help by mentioning in your offer post that serious enquiries only and there is no second chance if you do not pick up the first time, NO EXCEPTIONS.

[melissel]

Originally Posted by medeanj

I think we would get rid of more stuff if DH would allow people to come pick up the stuff on our porch. I have to resort meeting at a central location and it is really a hassle. And he wonders why I do not post very often.

Regarding the no-shows. It might help by mentioning in your offer post that serious enquiries only and there is no second chance if you do not pick up the first time, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Oh, that would never, never work for me! The whole point is so that I can get rid of stuff without having to leave the house

I think my problem is I'm too much of a softie. I know how many times things come up for me, so I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. I guess I've really only one actual never-show. The others all just needed an extra day, and with two little ones at home, plus my work schedule, I am overly sympathetic.

Now, the woman with the phone calls, that was a different story. I should have known better, I went against my instincts on that one. She's the woman who responded about a bunch of baby stuff I listed this past summer, and instead of responding to my query about when she would pick up, she just sent her daughter over with all her kids. So here I am, in my pajamas, unshowered, working, while my mom is upstairs with the girls. The stuff isn't even all together yet, and they come knocking on the door. Then the littlest one asks to use the bathroom, and all of a sudden they ALL need to use the bathroom, then they want to start wandering around my house. After they left, I found pee all over my toilet and floor. So yeah, I should have known better on that one!

[Eli's_mommy]

I'm done with freecycle and Craig's list free stuff. I've found hardly anything... and, when I did find something, the woman was so rude I could hardly stand it! It took everything in my being to still polite to her. When I told her I was going to be a bit late because it SNOWED here, she said- "you're not doing anything for me, so just forget it!" : :


WTF?

[melikahiwa]

I have had pretty good luck with Freecycle too.
I get a lot of of things and give a lot as well.
Only problem I had was one guy saying how badly he wanted plants for his wife in their new place and I put out like 5 and he took 1. The largest one, which he had promised to trade me a pot for since it was a huge pot and he had actually offered to replant it and leave the pot but we worked out a trade.

i don't get out of the house much so I love it. Plus DD's entire wardrobe is from Freecycle. I don't know what I would have done without it!

[Quaniliaz]

I have had pretty good luck with freecycle. Definately had my fair share of no shows. The first woman came and picked up a chair and she was so so thankful it made me thrilled to freecycle.

Then when I moved I posted that we had a huge stack of boxes. The first person was a no show. The second person said he couldn't come for two weeks, and could I keep them for him. I said sure, but I lived in a triplex apartment - I didn't have room, but I could keep them on the porch- I wasn't sure if they would stay there all two weeks. The morning he was planning on coming they were there, but someone must have snagged them because I got an extremely rude and angry email from him saying how much of a pain it was for him to come and only find a couple boxes. If his biggest problem in life is that he had to drive a couple of miles and be deprived of cardboard boxes... Whatever.

My last find was a washer and dryer!! woohoo!!!

Also I went to pick up a huge bunch of toys from someone because she said there were a bunch of legos. She mentioned where she got them from and it turns out they were from a friend of mine - our kids play together every week. I think we could have skipped the middle man.... :LOL

[bendmom]

I posted our changing table for $20 this summer on craigslist. I had repainted it and it was pretty nice for $20. One guy kept emailing me and finally wanted me to call and set up a time for his wife to come by and look at it, even though I had posted pics and close up pics. She finally came after phone tag and didn't get it: I reposted it and got a reponse from a woman who lived the next town over about 40 min drive. She came and wrote a check, and then it wouldn't fit in her car. So she said she was going to leave it and get her friend's truck. When she came back a bit later it was gone. I thought she had picked it up, but she had left it sitting on the sidewalk, and someone had taken it! I asked my neighbor across the street if she had seen anything, and it was the kids down the street who took it. Since we thought it was stolen I gave the lady her money back and she went home. Then I got the table back and contacted the lady and she came back a couple of days later. Such a pain! I didn't get why she would leave something she paid for on the frickin side walk!

[MomToKandE]

I've had mostly good luck with freecycle. I've had a few no-shows but I always had a backup person so in the end everything got out. The only really unplesant experience was once when I told someone this is my address, tell me when you'd like to come and I'll put the stuff out for you. They didn't reply. Then I contacted them again to ask when they'd like to come they got all huffy saying they'd come and there was nothing on the porch. Duh! That's because I said "tell me when you're coming and I'll put it out" not "it's out, come anytime between now and never".