Anyone use it? Comments?

Steve

In article , "Steve B" wrote:
Anyone use it? Comments?

I've used it some... It's a good way to get rid of unneeded but still usable
building materials. For example, when we redid our kitchen a few years ago, I
used some of the old cabinets for storage in the basement and garage, and
freecycled the rest. Better to give them to someone who can use them than to
pay to take them to the landfill.

There are an awful lot of posts *asking* for things, though. I'm surprised at
what people will have the brass to ask for: air conditioners, cars, computers,
wide-screen TVs...

Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Steve B" wrote:
Anyone use it? Comments?

I've used it some... It's a good way to get rid of unneeded but still usable
building materials. For example, when we redid our kitchen a few years ago, I
used some of the old cabinets for storage in the basement and garage, and
freecycled the rest. Better to give them to someone who can use them than to
pay to take them to the landfill.

There are an awful lot of posts *asking* for things, though. I'm surprised at
what people will have the brass to ask for: air conditioners, cars, computers,
wide-screen TVs...

Agreed. S/N ratio is rather low. Good for getting
rid of stuff with some value left, lots of flakes
when trying to get rid of things of marginal value.

On 2009-12-28, Steve B wrote:
Anyone use it? Comments?


Every local Freecycle list is a fiefdom of the local moderator,
subject to his or her whims. So some are better and some are worse
than others.

There is a lot of enterprising people posting WANTED ads and begging
for stuff like "I operate a school for retarded children teaching them
to become bankers and I need a 50 inch flat screen TV", or some other
similar inanities.

I personally use Freecycle as a way to dump unsellable stuff to
enterprising people, and have never found anything of value being
offered. I programmed the WANTED ads to go straight to the bit
bucket.

i

Steve B wrote:
Anyone use it? Comments?

Steve

http://www.freecycle.org/

I've disposed of a television, furniture, kitchen goods, hand tools,
packing material, 600 used bricks, and a bag of refractory cement.

I found that folks who were vying for my unwanted junk would insist
on telling me a story to explain why they were the most deserving
person. I quickly included a request in my postings to keep responses
short, just mention which item you want and your phone number.
It really sped things up! People who kept up with the stories found
themselves at the bottom of my selection list.

I've picked up a television and a setback thermostat.

It was great in the early days when the moderators kept their
hands off and posted my merchandise quickly.

Now, I find that moderators delay my postings and sometimes
create arbitrary rules. The latest moderator canceled ~ 5 of my offers,
declaring that I had to limit myself to *one item a day*. All of my
offers complied with group guidelines.

Moderators delay cancellation posts, too. I had emails from many
people requesting the used brick, days after I eMailed that the bricks
had been taken.

As Jim Halpert once observed to Dwight Shrute:
"God, this is so sad, this is the smallest amount of power I've ever
seen go to someone's head."


--Winston


--

Congratulations Robert Piccinini and Steven A. Burd, WalMart Publicists of the Year!

Winston wrote:

Moderators delay cancellation posts, too. I had emails from many
people requesting the used brick, days after I eMailed that the bricks
had been taken.

As Jim Halpert once observed to Dwight Shrute:
"God, this is so sad, this is the smallest amount of power I've ever
seen go to someone's head."

Yeah. I've long suspected our moderators are
skimming the best off before posting the offers
to the group.

On Dec 28, 3:39*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
Anyone use it? *Comments?

Steve

Freecycle rocks.

My best score on freecycle was a 36" HP inkjet plotter. It took me 15
minutes to fix it. I also got two (!) accordions.

I had a large, old window air conditioner that came with my house. I
wanted it gone. I listed it on freecycle and it was 'claimed' in 20
minutes and gone from here in an hour.

When we were closing up my mom's apartment, the family took what they
wanted and I just listed the rest of the major stuff on freecycle. It
wasn't exactly like a swarm of locusts, but the place was picked
pretty clean in a day.

Our local group now has something approaching 20,000 members, so stuff
goes quickly. It's a great way to keep stuff out of the landfill.

Jim Stewart wrote:
Winston wrote:

Moderators delay cancellation posts, too. I had emails from many
people requesting the used brick, days after I eMailed that the bricks
had been taken.

As Jim Halpert once observed to Dwight Shrute:
"God, this is so sad, this is the smallest amount of power I've ever
seen go to someone's head."

Yeah. I've long suspected our moderators are
skimming the best off before posting the offers
to the group.

I found the difference between a good moderator and a bad moderator
to be very striking. Years ago, my posts appeared very quickly.
Most deals closed in ~15 minutes. I envisioned the recent moderator
placing calls to all her buddies (and awaiting replies) before my
stuff was ever offered to the folks who were supposed to have
'first right of refusal'. Some items took days to complete.

Grrr.

--Winston

--

Congratulations Robert Piccinini and Steven A. Burd, WalMart Publicists of the Year!

Steve B wrote:

Anyone use it? Comments?

I've gotten a few nice items through the local freecycle. Nice SS
kitchen sink, Sony DVD player, and others. My favorite was several jars
of marbles. There are some -old- suckers in the collection!

I've also gotten rid of a lot of stuff. Big drawback is no-shows that
can't be bothered to call and let me know. I'm sure an emergency or two
could well have come up on occasion, but the problem is so endemic that
as far as I'm concerned it's just lack of courtesy. I let people know up
front if they don't show and don't reschedule within 24 hours, it goes
to the next person if I have more than one responder.


Jon

Doug Miller wrote:

There are an awful lot of posts *asking* for things, though. I'm surprised at
what people will have the brass to ask for: air conditioners, cars, computers,
wide-screen TVs...

Yup, some folks have no shortage of brass. The local freecycle list
owner just posted that a few members risk expulsion for the constant
requests for stuff. That was followed by at least a dozen requests for
stuff over the next few days...

Jon

Winston wrote:

Now, I find that moderators delay my postings and sometimes
create arbitrary rules. The latest moderator canceled ~ 5 of my offers,
declaring that I had to limit myself to *one item a day*. All of my
offers complied with group guidelines.

I've noticed the delays too and put it down to all posts being moderated.

There is an 'official' Grass Valley Freecycle. Someone started a Nevada
County Freecycle list on Yahoo, but it wasn't 'sanctioned' by Freecycle.
After some nasty legal threats, the ownder changed the name. I boycotted
Freecycle lists for nearly a year over that, but when I want to get rid
of stuff, it's by far the more responsive list...


Jon

Jon Anderson wrote:
Winston wrote:

Now, I find that moderators delay my postings and sometimes
create arbitrary rules. The latest moderator canceled ~ 5 of my offers,
declaring that I had to limit myself to *one item a day*. All of my
offers complied with group guidelines.

I've noticed the delays too and put it down to all posts being moderated.

Yesbut. When you move from 'Restricted' to 'Open' membership, your posts
are not supposed to be moderated in that way. They are to go on to auto-
send. Says so in the Moderator Manual:
http://www.freecycle.org/faq/manual/mod_membership

There is an 'official' Grass Valley Freecycle. Someone started a Nevada
County Freecycle list on Yahoo, but it wasn't 'sanctioned' by Freecycle.
After some nasty legal threats, the ownder changed the name.

Heh. Makes Freecycle sound like the Hell's Angels.

--Winston


--

Congratulations Robert Piccinini and Steven A. Burd, WalMart Publicists of the Year!

"Steve B" wrote:

Anyone use it? Comments?

Steve


Never tried it. I put my stuff that I don't want out at the end of the driveway with a
sign 'free'. If it is still there the evening before trash collection, I put it in the
bin.

Wes
--
"Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

"Steve B" wrote in message
...
Anyone use it? Comments?

Steve


My daughter and her friend like if for baby stuff.

On Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:39:32 -0800, the infamous "Steve B"
scrawled the following:

Anyone use it? Comments?

The idea is an excellent one, and I firmly believe in it.

I use a similar org: RogueValleyRecyclers on Yahoo. I've given and
gotten lots of goodies from there. Good people.

Our particular group bailed from Freecycle when they started (or
threatened to start) selling our email addresses to the spammers.
(Hmm, I just checked and Freecycle has changed their ways, promising
not to sell your email address any more. A Good Thing(tm).

--
It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.
-- Garrison Keillor

Steve B wrote:
Anyone use it? Comments?

Steve



I joined the three closest ones to my home town. Any trip
to the areas covered would be at least an hour, then more time
finding the correct address.

I soon got tired of finding stuff I was interested in but the
ad said "must be gone by 4 pm" or "pickup today or the garbage
man gets it".

Hey, I work from 8 to 5. How can I get there before sundown
when you throw your hissy-fit and trash the item?

Multiple emails with multiple posters did not change their demands.

I dropped all three groups and haven't used Freecycle since.


technomaNge
--

I did sign on a Yahoo! email list. There was some OK stuff
offered, and I got rid of a few useful items. My problem was
that the the list owners and moderators didn't even follow
their own list rules. I've heard rumors of the mods scarfing
up the good stuff, and then sell it off, on Ebay. It's a
beautiful concept, keeping stuff out of the landfill. But,
the realities of human nature screw it up bigtime.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Steve B" wrote in message
...
Anyone use it? Comments?

Steve

The policy on some recycle lists. If you don't see them on
the curb for trash pickup, you can't ask for one. In my part
of the world, window AC are askable. I see those often
enough.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...


There are an awful lot of posts *asking* for things, though.
I'm surprised at
what people will have the brass to ask for: air
conditioners, cars, computers,
wide-screen TVs...

That sounds like good advice, for sure. I have my email set
to mark promised and taken as read. I go through and delete
those off, every now and again.

I've picked up a couple items on the recycle lists which
were useful to me.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Ignoramus4115"
wrote in message
...

I programmed the WANTED ads to go straight to the bit
bucket.

i

And selling, on Ebay?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Jim Stewart" wrote in message
...

Yeah. I've long suspected our moderators are
skimming the best off before posting the offers
to the group.

I had a lot of trouble with one of the mods on the Freecycle
list near me. The folks at the "dot org" were far less than
helpful. That list later changed name, and got out from
under the Freecycle banner. It's a little bit improved, but
not much.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Larry Jaques" wrote in
message ...
On Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:39:32 -0800, the infamous "Steve B"
scrawled the following:

Anyone use it? Comments?

The idea is an excellent one, and I firmly believe in it.

I use a similar org: RogueValleyRecyclers on Yahoo. I've
given and
gotten lots of goodies from there. Good people.

Our particular group bailed from Freecycle when they started
(or
threatened to start) selling our email addresses to the
spammers.
(Hmm, I just checked and Freecycle has changed their ways,
promising
not to sell your email address any more. A Good Thing(tm).

--
It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.
-- Garrison Keillor

On Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:41:06 -0800, Jon Anderson
wrote:

Doug Miller wrote:

There are an awful lot of posts *asking* for things, though. I'm surprised at
what people will have the brass to ask for: air conditioners, cars, computers,
wide-screen TVs...

Yup, some folks have no shortage of brass. The local freecycle list
owner just posted that a few members risk expulsion for the constant
requests for stuff. That was followed by at least a dozen requests for
stuff over the next few days...

Jon


On the other hand..I offered up about 600 lbs of obsolete computer
equipment. Some of it was running, much of it was pulled boards , power
supplies, monitors etc etc. As my ad stated...take it ALL. I didnt want
someone to pick it over and leave a heap of stuff behind.

Guy came over..tried to pick it over..tried to leave a lot of it behind.
I lived 45 miles from him...G and when he loaded up just what he
wanted...Id closed the gate..told him to either take it all...or none of
it..as the ad stated. He ****ed and moaned..and in very poor grace
loaded up the rest of the stuff. Then I showed him another 600 lbs of
stuff, all running, in good shape and in excellent and desireable
condtion that he just ****ed himself out of.

He stood there..jaw open..and I told him he could leave. He started to
blither about the rest of the stuff..and I told him he had ruined his
chance when he tried to run circles around me...

He wrote a nasty about me in the followups...chuckle..I simply mentioned
what he had done..and offered the rest up for public "take one and take
it all". Bout 2 weeks later a young guy and his wife called, I gave em
instructtions,,,,told em to be sure to bring at least a pickup
truck..they came..were astonished, and tickled to death all the while
they were loading their pickup.

I told em about the other guy..they told me he runs the swap meets like
they do..over charges for everything and is a prick. to do business
with.

I told em that if they ever ran across such and such..drop me an email
and they agreed.

5 months later..I get an email....they had found such and such..and did
I still need one? I replied..and they delivered it...90 miles round
trip. I offered em gas etc etc..they wouldnt take it. Seems they made
a fair amount of cash on the stuff Id given them at the swap meets.

G

Gunner

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the
means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not
making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of
it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different
countries, that the more public provisions were made for the
poor the less they provided for themselves, and of course became
poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the
more they did for themselves, and became richer." -- Benjamin
Franklin, /The Encouragement of Idleness/, 1766

Most groups, they are begging for offers. I am surprised
they limited your offers.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Winston" wrote in message
...

http://www.freecycle.org/

I've disposed of a television, furniture, kitchen goods,
hand tools,
packing material, 600 used bricks, and a bag of refractory
cement.

I found that folks who were vying for my unwanted junk would
insist
on telling me a story to explain why they were the most
deserving
person. I quickly included a request in my postings to keep
responses
short, just mention which item you want and your phone
number.
It really sped things up! People who kept up with the
stories found
themselves at the bottom of my selection list.

I've picked up a television and a setback thermostat.

It was great in the early days when the moderators kept
their
hands off and posted my merchandise quickly.

Now, I find that moderators delay my postings and sometimes
create arbitrary rules. The latest moderator canceled ~ 5
of my offers,
declaring that I had to limit myself to *one item a day*.
All of my
offers complied with group guidelines.

Moderators delay cancellation posts, too. I had emails from
many
people requesting the used brick, days after I eMailed that
the bricks
had been taken.

As Jim Halpert once observed to Dwight Shrute:
"God, this is so sad, this is the smallest amount of power
I've ever
seen go to someone's head."


--Winston


--

Congratulations Robert Piccinini and Steven A. Burd, WalMart
Publicists of the Year!

Doug Miller wrote:

In article , "Steve B" wrote:
Anyone use it? Comments?

I've used it some... It's a good way to get rid of unneeded but still usable
building materials. For example, when we redid our kitchen a few years ago, I
used some of the old cabinets for storage in the basement and garage, and
freecycled the rest. Better to give them to someone who can use them than to
pay to take them to the landfill.

There are an awful lot of posts *asking* for things, though. I'm surprised at
what people will have the brass to ask for: air conditioners, cars, computers,
wide-screen TVs...


There were several requests for RVs. From their decription, they
were asking for a $45,000 motor home.


--
Greed is the root of all eBay.

Winston wrote:
Jim Stewart wrote:
Winston wrote:

Moderators delay cancellation posts, too. I had emails from many
people requesting the used brick, days after I eMailed that the
bricks had been taken.

As Jim Halpert once observed to Dwight Shrute:
"God, this is so sad, this is the smallest amount of power I've ever
seen go to someone's head."

Yeah. I've long suspected our moderators are
skimming the best off before posting the offers
to the group.

I found the difference between a good moderator and a bad moderator
to be very striking. Years ago, my posts appeared very quickly.
Most deals closed in ~15 minutes. I envisioned the recent moderator
placing calls to all her buddies (and awaiting replies) before my
stuff was ever offered to the folks who were supposed to have
'first right of refusal'. Some items took days to complete.

When I used to give stuff away on FS list, I would wait a day before I
picked who was going to get the item, and it wasn't always the first person
who responded.

Eventuall, the owners of the list ended up starting their own list or
somesuch activity, and I didn't bother with either of them anymore; too much
drama.

Jon

Jon Danniken wrote:

(...)

When I used to give stuff away on FS list, I would wait a day before I
picked who was going to get the item, and it wasn't always the first person
who responded.

The first person to respond is rarely the best person to get the item.
There are exceptions.

My offer for hundreds of used bricks had 9 responders inside of 3 hours.
The first guy to respond was clearly monitoring the group on his iPhone.
He quickly showed up with a pickup and took them all in two loads.

That is one *prepared* individual, though I noticed the springs on
his pickup were under a lot of compression when he left

Eventuall, the owners of the list ended up starting their own list or
somesuch activity, and I didn't bother with either of them anymore; too much
drama.

It's a lot faster and less trouble to simply put the stuff on the curb with
a "Free" sign on it.

--Winston


--

Congratulations Robert Piccinini and Steven A. Burd, WalMart Publicists of the Year!

"Winston" wrote

It's a lot faster and less trouble to simply put the stuff on the curb
with
a "Free" sign on it.

--Winston

I don't have a curb.

Steve

Steve B wrote:

"Winston" wrote

It's a lot faster and less trouble to simply put the stuff on the curb
with
a "Free" sign on it.

--Winston

I don't have a curb.


Me either, and I live in the last house in the subdivision on a dead
end street so anyone driving by isn't too bright. If they miss my drive
they run into some huge oak trees.


--
Greed is the root of all eBay.

Ask for one on Freecycle.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Steve B" wrote in message
...


I don't have a curb.

Steve

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
m...

Steve B wrote:

"Winston" wrote

It's a lot faster and less trouble to simply put the stuff on the curb
with
a "Free" sign on it.

--Winston

I don't have a curb.


Me either, and I live in the last house in the subdivision on a dead
end street so anyone driving by isn't too bright. If they miss my drive
they run into some huge oak trees.


--
Greed is the root of all eBay.

My nearest curb is 1/4 mile away. And I have to take my two trash canisters
there every Wednesday. Rain or shine. Or snow. Or sleet. Or mud. So, I
have an atv and a yard sale small trailer. Still a PITA. They have a large
item pickup dumpster (as in ONE) four times a year in our small town, but if
you don't get there by the end of day two, it's full. Still, I like living
in this small town, population, about 1100 except during deer season.

Steve

Steve B wrote:

My nearest curb is 1/4 mile away. And I have to take my two trash canisters
there every Wednesday. Rain or shine. Or snow. Or sleet. Or mud. So, I
have an atv and a yard sale small trailer. Still a PITA. They have a large
item pickup dumpster (as in ONE) four times a year in our small town, but if
you don't get there by the end of day two, it's full. Still, I like living
in this small town, population, about 1100 except during deer season.


The landfill is about five miles away. During cold weather I make
about one trip a month to haul my trash & the recycleables. Scrap
lumber and metal each wait till there is a full pickup truck load.


--
Greed is the root of all eBay.