On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:16:14 +0100, "tim....."
wrote:


"matthelliwell" wrote in message
...
On 25 Aug, 17:45, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
Not sure how you tell a 'Freecycler' is a worthy recipient or just on the
make, though?

Who cares? I just want to avoid dumping the stuff, partly because I
hate going to the dump and partly to avoid adding the the volume of
stuff dumped. If they then go and flog it on ebay, good luck to them.
If I was that bothered about it, I would've sold it myself.

It bothers me

I got around this by ignoring anybody who said "I'll take the lot" and
making sure that each person only gets one item (or set)

I'd rather someone took the lot rather than arranging separate visits
from several people (who don't turn up). Particularly if there are
some items I cannot get rid of. (I got some perfectly functional
interiors doors which I have advertised three times on freecycle and
no-one wants them.)
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
[Reply-to address valid until it is spammed.]

On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:46:31 +0100, Andrew May wrote:

Jules wrote:
On Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:08:39 +0100, Mike Barnes wrote:
I've used Freecycle for about 20 items. I get the impression that eBay
is much more likely to get the goods to where they'll really be
appreciated, especially as most of my stuff is fairly specialised
electronic equipment, often priced in the hundreds of pounds.

There is the issue that the person / organisation that most appreciates
them is not necessarily the one with the deepest pockets, though - which
is where ebay doesn't work so well, but Freecycle does (assuming you don't
default to giving the item to the first responder)


But the problem then becomes one of deciding which of the half dozen or
so respondents is the most deserving.

Yes, there is that. If it's a charity or whatnot then that seems easy; for
individuals I'd try and get things to those who knew what they were
talking about (but I found with the Cambridge list that it was almost like
a community in its own right - striking up conversations with other
freecyclers was quite common).

Of course for crap like clothes or shoes or other "don't care" items I'd
just sling 'em to whoever got there first. But for more complicated goods
I'd do my best to try to let them go to someone who sounded like they'd
get some use / enjoyment out of it, rather than just stuffing it on ebay.

The problem is that the Yahoo! search facility seems to be flaky so I
cannot be sure that I am getting a true picture.

On that note, the local list to where I am now is horrible - people
genuinely treat it as a web-based thing rather than a mailing list... I
really can't be arsed to load up a browser and navigate the site to see
what "item #1747" is or look at some bad photo that someone's left on
there. Urgh. Never tried the search mechanism...

The local list's all free dogs and free cats and people asking for bars of
pure gold - f*cking annoying! Nobody ever seems to want anything sensible
or attempts to give away anything remotely useful.

cheers

Jules

Jules wrote:

The local list's all free dogs and free cats and people asking for bars of
pure gold - f*cking annoying! Nobody ever seems to want anything sensible
or attempts to give away anything remotely useful.


Although I am often surprised at what gets taken and what does not. I
had half a dozen people wanting quite small offcuts of walnut and about
the same wanting the bricks that I removed from the disused septic tank
discussed here earlier in the year. But two packs of brand new sanding
disks that I had bought in error and a bunch of electrical stuff got no
takers. This is in Cambridge.

Andrew

On Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:04:47 +0100, Andrew May wrote:

Jules wrote:

The local list's all free dogs and free cats and people asking for bars of
pure gold - f*cking annoying! Nobody ever seems to want anything sensible
or attempts to give away anything remotely useful.


Although I am often surprised at what gets taken and what does not. I
had half a dozen people wanting quite small offcuts of walnut and about
the same wanting the bricks that I removed from the disused septic tank
discussed here earlier in the year. But two packs of brand new sanding
disks that I had bought in error and a bunch of electrical stuff got no
takers. This is in Cambridge.

That does seem suprising - although I'm a compulsive hoarder when it
comes to DIY spares, so I don't think I ever tried getting rid of
materials / consumables like that when I was on the Cambridge list :-)

I think they'd get snapped up pronto where I am now (lots of folk around
here do their own DIY, and maybe that's less true of Cambridge + area)

cheers

Jules

Andrew May wrote:
Jules wrote:

is where ebay doesn't work so well, but Freecycle does (assuming
you don't default to giving the item to the first responder)

But the problem then becomes one of deciding which of the half dozen
or so respondents is the most deserving.

I tend to go for the one who comes across as a functioning human being
in their email, as opposed to the illiterate and retarded that seem to
make up a fair proportion. Not because the latter are inherently less
deserving of free stuff, but because the former are more likely to
actually turn up when they said, with a suitable means of taking their
acquisition away with them.

Mind you, the current batch on offer is all bathroom stuff that won't
come to any harm in the rain, so can sit on my drive until it gets
collected or goes to the tip.

Pete

On Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:54:23 +0100, Pete Verdon
d wrote:

Andrew May wrote:
Jules wrote:

is where ebay doesn't work so well, but Freecycle does (assuming
you don't default to giving the item to the first responder)

But the problem then becomes one of deciding which of the half dozen
or so respondents is the most deserving.

I tend to go for the one who comes across as a functioning human being
in their email, as opposed to the illiterate and retarded that seem to
make up a fair proportion. Not because the latter are inherently less
deserving of free stuff, but because the former are more likely to
actually turn up when they said, with a suitable means of taking their
acquisition away with them.

It's not just me then. I often get replies like "PLZ KAN I HAV THE
STUF M8". It's email not ****ing SMS!

Mind you, the current batch on offer is all bathroom stuff that won't
come to any harm in the rain, so can sit on my drive until it gets
collected or goes to the tip.

I wish freecycle would complete the move away from yahoo. I really
don't like their privacy policy. You have to opt out of all their
sites individually and there's 120 of them :-(
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
[Reply-to address valid until it is spammed.]

Mark wrote:

I wish freecycle would complete the move away from yahoo. I really
don't like their privacy policy. You have to opt out of all their
sites individually and there's 120 of them :-(

Is Freecycle moving away from Yahoo? What are the plans? I have often
thought that a decent web-based where it was possible to look up who had
requested/taken (or not collected) items in the past would be useful.

Andrew

On Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:49:36 +0100, Andrew May
wrote:

Mark wrote:

I wish freecycle would complete the move away from yahoo. I really
don't like their privacy policy. You have to opt out of all their
sites individually and there's 120 of them :-(

Is Freecycle moving away from Yahoo? What are the plans? I have often
thought that a decent web-based where it was possible to look up who had
requested/taken (or not collected) items in the past would be useful.

The moderator of my local group told me this. I don't know of any
timescales.

I agree that the current system is very cumbersome.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
[Reply-to address valid until it is spammed.]

On Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:19:40 +0100, Mark
wrote:

On Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:49:36 +0100, Andrew May
wrote:

Mark wrote:

I wish freecycle would complete the move away from yahoo. I really
don't like their privacy policy. You have to opt out of all their
sites individually and there's 120 of them :-(

Is Freecycle moving away from Yahoo? What are the plans? I have often
thought that a decent web-based where it was possible to look up who had
requested/taken (or not collected) items in the past would be useful.

The moderator of my local group told me this. I don't know of any
timescales.

I agree that the current system is very cumbersome.

See this http://www.freecycle.org/faq/manual/faq&topic=newsite for
details.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
[Reply-to address valid until it is spammed.]

On Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:44:36 +0100, Mark wrote:
Is Freecycle moving away from Yahoo? What are the plans? I have often
thought that a decent web-based where it was possible to look up who had
requested/taken (or not collected) items in the past would be useful.

The moderator of my local group told me this. I don't know of any
timescales.

I agree that the current system is very cumbersome.

See this http://www.freecycle.org/faq/manual/faq&topic=newsite for
details.

Huzzah for pages full of capitalised, underlined text. If the people
maintaining that site are the people responsible for implementing the new
lists then I think Yahoo may actually be better! :-(

Did it really only start in 2003? Feels like I've been using Freecycle for
donkeys' years now...