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do you use freecycle.com?

topic posted Thu, January 19, 2006 - 1:59 AM by  offline:: Andrew ::
it is a yahoo group that you can post stuff you want to give away or for stuff you are needing.....it is split up into regions all across the country....

some rules apply to the postings...like items must be free and stuff of that nature...

freecycle.com

one negative is that it can fill your email inbox with a bunch of postings...all depends how you set your mailings and how active your freecycle area is...
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:: Andrew ::
online :: Andrew ::
Chicago
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  • tran...
    transfag1
    offline 58

    Re: do you use freecycle.com?

    Sun, January 7, 2007 - 8:29 PM
    Sometimes it's very kewl, but other times (often) people post large items they're trying to get rid of, but won't give you any other information about the item, i.e. the age, condition of the item, size, or any other info . This doesn't work very well if the item is, say, a storage building --- is it 6x8 feet vs 12x16 feet? Makes a big difference if you're trying to find someone with a truck to move it. If the posting says "sections of fence", is there a total of ten feet of fencing, or a hundred feet? Often people will post that they need the item moved NOW, like "must be moved by tomorrow or it goes to the dump".

    If getting the item requires you to drive a distance and/or hire a truck/help, you need to know specifics, often to know whether it's worth the effort. My Freecycle pet peeve is people who post one sentence fragment (" storage building, metal", "free swing set", "sections of metal and wood fence", "door") but refuse to give anyone the info that might help them get rid of the item faster. These kinda folks will sometimes take the time to write repeated messages saying "here's the address, come look at it for yourself" yet won't just type three extra words to describe the item. Um, yeah, I'm gonna drive two hours only to find the "fence sections" are six feet of rotten boards.

    Another weird thing about Freecycle is all the why-bother posts like "offer: 25 cent Enfamil coupon". There are thousands of these! They really can clog up your inbox. Other than those annoyances, freecycle is awesome.
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    • WANTED: Nintendo Wii

      Thu, February 8, 2007 - 1:37 PM
      Anybody have one they don't need anymore? I'd really like to have one, only can't buy it just now. Thought I'd ask, thanks!
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      • S. A...
        S. Archer
        offline 46

        Re: WANTED: Nintendo Wii

        Fri, July 13, 2007 - 1:42 PM
        Ha! yeah.

        I was on it for a while, but it was too much extraneous wish-listing and so forth. I bet it does work better in other places though.

        I prefer giving things away on the free section of Craigslist.

        Or just setting it out by the curb with a sign.

        I remember living on a busier street where we could set out the weirdest kind of stuff and then just sip coffee and wait; before long somebody would stop and grab it.
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        • tran...
          transfag1
          offline 58

          Re: WANTED: Nintendo Wii

          Wed, January 2, 2008 - 9:49 PM
          The only way Freecycle would work for me is if I lived around the corner from the people posting the items, and I quit my job to drive around with a laptop on the front seat of the car, checking my email inbox every ten minutes. The posted items are gone within minutes (I'm an hour+ away from most everything posted). Often, the "Taken" notice for an item shows up in my box before the "Offered" post gets there! People on Freecycle are still doing the "must be gone this afternoon" bit. Often they demand that the item be gone within a couple of hours of posting the notice...if getting rid of the item is such an urgent, by-deadline issue, I still don't see why it doesn't occur to these people more than 8 hours beforehand.
          The constant "wanted"s get on my nerves too...."wanted, running late model car", "wanted, George Foreman grill", "wanted, working stove, no junk".
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  • keiter
    keiter
    online 55

    Re: do you use freecycle.com?

    Fri, February 9, 2007 - 8:56 AM
    in our area we have a few people that use it to aquire items for resale they seem to get most of the goodstuff but i do think it's a greatidea i use itto get rid of stuff and i have also recived some great things most of my furniture a pool table i love it
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    • Re: do you use freecycle.com?

      Mon, February 12, 2007 - 5:50 AM
      It's a great idea in theory, but it gets swamped by outrageous wanteds, super-small items (coupons, above), and then there's the resellers. That's generally a violation of the freecycle ethic, but how could you enforce it?

      ah, well.
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  • bats
    bats
    offline 17

    Re: do you use freecycle.com?

    Mon, February 12, 2007 - 4:23 PM
    it's good in theory, but i see far more WANTED posts than people offering items. also, the few items i've seen that are up for grabs are in towns that are an hour drive from me & they said things like "monday morning 9-10 pick up only. first come first serve" which i find to be pretty useless.
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    • tran...
      transfag1
      offline 58

      Re: do you use freecycle.com?

      Thu, March 29, 2007 - 10:53 PM
      Yeah, that "must be picked up today" thing is weird--- and I see it all the time. It's hard to understand why, if you're already a member of Freecycle, and you are so bothered by your ugly couch, swing set, 16 cardboard boxes, non-running 78 Chevy, WHATEVER, sitting there for the last eight years---- why is it that NOW, suddenly, today, it "must be gone by tomorrow morning"?? Why didn't these people post a week or a month ago, saying "must be gone in the next two weeks or it goes to the dump"?

      I could've had thousands of dollars worth of free, kewl, useable stuff if I had nothing else to do besides drive a hundred-mile radius and pick up items every day. Oh, and I'd have to have a laptop and wireless highspeed internet, to check in --- from the car---- every five minutes for incoming posts, on my route. That's the only way I know to actually get any of these free items. Are there people (re-sellers) who really work it this way? If you can't drop everything and *immediately* reply to emails and go grab these items, they're gone in five minutes.
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      • bats
        bats
        offline 17

        Re: do you use freecycle.com?

        Fri, March 30, 2007 - 3:49 AM
        also i find it annoying when people post "box of books. assorted. please take all". but don't say what *kind* of books & won't answer when i ask. i try to be more friendly & precise. when i've posted things i've listed exactly what they were, brand, color, how old etc. & if someone says they want it then we talk on the phone & arrange a time for pick up. and i always give preference to people in my immediate local area. i think it's an excellent site for recycling but yeah, some of the people who use it can be kind of obnoxious. the moderator of the group for my area recently had to post the rules again & preface it by saying "freecycle is not your personal shopping list" because people were posting wanteds that were like "(specific expensive item) made in 1995 by (specific brand name) in green only, fully intact, no missing parts etc.."
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        • tran...
          transfag1
          offline 58

          Re: do you use freecycle.com?

          Thu, May 3, 2007 - 7:52 PM
          Oh God, the "wanted" ads on Freecycle! They're increasing in my area too. "Wanted: Working PC, newer than 2005, not MAC", "WANTED: girls Halloween costume, witch or princess, size 8, in good shape, need by Tuesday". Good lord, do you want it delivered to your home too? One of our local groups does a "no-want Wednesday", when you are not supposed to submit "wanted" ads...but people ignore the rule and do it anyway.

          My current pet peeves are 1) "must take it today, we want it gone!", with no notice.
          2) They post, I respond, I never hear back. Why bother to even be a member or read the messages?

          I think it's the re-sellers who scoop things up fast, and the posters just get so swamped by replies that they don't want to answer emails or post a "taken" message.
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  • Elise
    Elise
    offline 64

    Re: do you use freecycle.com?

    Thu, June 21, 2007 - 10:43 PM
    I love it. It works great in my area (not metropolitan). I have taken free plants and just offered up the old Soloflex and had seven offers in the first couple of hours. I met a medicine maker to start getting my herbs made into salves. It's great. The digest version of the list would work better for you all that live in a metro area.
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