to be cross with people on Free Cycle?

kittylester our local Upcycling centre didn't want dark wood furniture even though it is a good make and some of the furniture they do sell there looked far more tatty.
No-one wants it, apparently.
However, one of the local charity shops was glad to take it.

My experience suggests your friend was right - people willing to buy are more reliable than those responding to free items.

I hadn't thought about it till I saw your post. I wonder why that is

gillybob That was a lovely poignant post. I prefer to give things away but, like others have said, it’s not always easy. I’ve donated many large items of my own and my mum’s to the British Heart Foundation. They are always grateful and I received a lovely letter recently from them to say that my old dining table sold for £40 (was going to pay for the Council to take it away). They employ a large percentage of disabled people who accompany the driver and it’s heartwarming to see that they enjoy their job so much.

When the grandchildren went to school I found I had lots of stuff I needed to get rid off. A lovely Moses basket, virtually unused, high chairs, low chairs, low tables, car seats, etc.

I put it outside in our drive and some on the pavement with a sign to ‘help yourself’. Now it’s a quiet avenue with little footfall but it all went. One woman even knocked on the door to say she would like the four little chairs but couldn’t carry them all, so could I save them for her while she went to get her car. She was back within a few minutes.

I’ve put quite a few bits and bobs on Freecycle over the years and have rarely been let down. We live in a very poor town and on the whole people are extreme grateful for anything they can get for free.

I have been moved to tears on a few occasions and in particular once earlier this year when an elderly gentlemen came to collect a very large and unopened tub of fence paint . He stood at my front door almost begging me to accept “a little something for it” and I kept telling him absolutely not, that is not in the spirit of Freecycle (the clue is in the name) and he just shook his head saying he didn’t realise that he really got it for free.

He then asked me if I could lift it into his car for him and when I did he turned with a grin and said “I don’t suppose you could paint my fence as well could you ?” I was so tempted to say yes I would and very much regretted not doing so .

Another time I gave a record player away and a young man came for it (I always say the first to ask gets first chance) and he said he wanted it as his father had died and he had found a pile of old LP records in his loft but had no means of listening to them . He said that he would like to hear the music his father had loved when he was young and again I felt quite tearful .

I’m amused by people on Freegle etc. who claim to be ‘desperate’ not for a fridge but for a silver fridge.
However most of my experience on such sites has been positive.

We usually take stuff to our local Headway shop as they were so good to DS1 but they are not open currently.

We have a vast pile of stuff in the dining room that we would like to get rid of but I think it will have to wait.

We have a furniture upcycling place which we do use but this stuff is not their type of thing.

We had some success with Freecycle in our last home, very useful before a major downsize, most people came into time and were respectful.

I gave up here, lots of people wanting us to jump through their hoops. Then I got to thinking about value and how some people only value what they pay for. I’m not a Facebook user so tried advertising on Gumtree, easier than eBay I thought offering things for just a few pounds and making clear offers were not acceptable. Most things disappeared within a couple of days. Nowt so queer as folk as my parents would have reminded me.

To answer your question kitty, of course it’s OK to be cross. .

When we got rid of stuff on Freecycle years ago one lot who came turned out to have a 2nd hand furniture shop in a nearby town.
Some other people came for some electronic equipment of DH's and were so grateful he came back with a lovely pot plant for me.

However, I would recommend investigating to see if you have an Upcycling place near you as they do such good work and help the disabled and vulnerable too by giving them jobs.

I only used Freecycle once and soon got rid of the bed I had but was inundated with so many messages it was a nuisance.
I've posted things free on Facebook and people usually want you to take things to them and I have to tell them I don't have a car. People also offer much less than prices posted and expect me (an older woman on my own) to lift and carry larger items on my own.
It is a problem getting rid of things.

Fairly recently a woman got in touch because she wanted my garden furniture but her car had broken down. She rang me about 7 pm on a Sunday evening wondering if I would deliver.

I decided I did not possess a car! She came the next day to view the furniture but rang me about 3 times because she and the taxi driver could not find my house. She arrived eventually- wondered if I owned the Merc outside and could it take the furniture to her home! I did not own the Merc and said I did not have a car, hoping she would not see a car parked where my house number was showing.

I had washed the furniture but she decided it was not clean enough to go in a taxi so she left and I decided to keep the furniture- it was not worth the hassle.

I am a daily user of freecycle as I am clearing for a house move. One nice lady now drops round with rhubarb.

Freecycle experiences can be comical if you can see the funny side.my daughter was giving away a practically new quality child’s car seat. Various enquiries about colour because that apparently mattered! A lady wanted it but three different times didn’t show up or ring and say not coming . So my daughter took it to the tip to be told by said lady when she rang to make yet another collection date ‘why put it on Freecycle if you were gong to take it to the tip’!!

On my local Freecycle people are specifying what brand of tv or washing machine they would like and then asking for the donor to deliver.

If members let others down more than three times without good reason, they should be barred.

My DD2 has an up cycling centre nearby and that seems to work well.

I've never had a bad experience with Freecycle - in fact, exactly the opposite! First time I used it was when emptying my late SIL's house and thought somebody could use her cooker and fridge. A young couple who were about to be married replied and came with a lovely bunch of flowers for me and when they saw things we were trying to clear out asked if they could have them - mostly utility bedroom furniture from around late 40s/early 50s. We were delighted and so were they. Another time I was given 2 dozen free range eggs fresh from a croft.

Report them to the moderators.

Some people are definitely off another planet. Zog

We have an upcycling centre near here. We can take suitable items there or they will collect.
They employ vulnerable and disabled people to renovate furniture, electrical items etc then sell them at a very reasonable price.

People are mad Georgesgran.

We were selling off GS's travel cot. It was very low price (because it was taking up space). A women in a town near me persuaded me to deliver it for an extra £5 for the petrol.

I had a nightmare finding her house, in the middle of a convoluted and winding estate BUT sent her a message saying I was on my way, but having trouble finding her house. Got there. No one in.

An hour later, I got a message, 'You were supposed to come tomorrow.' I checked our online message exchange. Nope. Today. She had the nerve to ask if I'd go back the next day! As if.

So not only did I not get rid of the travel cot but I also wasted my fuel for nothing.

My DD1 had the same experience (GagaJo). She put a black bin full of baby boys clothes on her estate website - heard nothing. Then she took them out of the bag, divided them into categories, photographed some with the tags intact as unused and sold the lot!

Offered a DVD player ,simply because we didn't use it.The guy who wanted it changed his mind "its not the new model " Another girl who was moving into her first flat wanted a settee ,I offered a dark blue leather ,hardly sat on...she "would have taken it IF it had been a sofology model " but not the make I had .

Elegran the cheek of some people ...
but you made me laugh with your idea of tying the trailer to a rope round your waist and running up the motorway to Perth ... ?

I listed a small luggage/debris trailer for £50 on Gumtree as I no longer had Dh and his car to trail it with. One man offered me £15 for it. No thank you. Another wanted me to take it up to Perth to deliver it to him. Difficult with no car, though I suppose I could have tied a tow rope round my waist and run up the motorway with it.

Numerous people have replied to various things I have sold with, "If you can't sell it I'll take it off your hands." presumably for nothing.

I have had several good experiences with Freecycle. One very kindly man dismantled and took away an Ikea computer desk for a friend disabled in Afghan conflict. He rang me later to let me know how pleased his friend was. I got my DGD a sewing machine which stood her in good stead for A-level textiles.

I was downsizing a couple of years ago and a woman contacted me on a local site desperate for all the lovely furniture I was giving away free. She was a no show four times. She had an excuse each time but that's all it was- excuses. Eventually I gave it through a local church.