Charity shop or Freecycle?

I've been messed about many times on Freegle, people not turning up etc. So it's charity shops or our council recycling centre where an organisation for the homeless sell larger usable items. Another possibility is ebay, offer at a low price and donate the proceeds to your chosen charity. Works best for collect only items or you have to pay postage.

I put items that charity shops won’t take on Freecycle such as furniture without fire retardant tags and some electrical goods.
I don’t really care what happens to the goods.. I don’t want them and I think it’s a shame to send functional items to the dump .
Plus .. I don’t have to pay for their uplift ?

I have used Freecycle in the past to donate items which were gratefully received. However, I found myself getting really irritated with sone of the wanted ads and stopped using it. One woman had just moved to a three storey house and was in 'dire' need of flat screen TVs (this was the time when they were fairly new and people were disposing of the big back TVs) for four bedrooms and the lounge and wanted the whole house carpeted asking for a local company to do it free of charge! There were also those people asking for specific brands and colours of clothing and stating must be in good condition. The site stated that people should not put general requests for anything to set up a home but there were so many of these. The saying beggars can't be choosers came to mind!

Remember coming across a huge Emmaus brocante in France a few years ago, thoroughly enjoyed wandering round and bought among other things, a very nice casserole dish for 3 euros.
Was pleased to see that Emmaus is in the UK too.

Another suggestion is Emmaus:
www.emmaus.org.uk/your_local_emmaus
We used Emmaus when we were in France - it's a charity for the homeless and they come and collect things you want rid of.
I'm not sure what sort of things they want, search online.

I too have been messed around with no-shows from Freegle respondents although I still would consider it for larger items that charity shops won't take. Also, the house clearance people have caught on to this as well. I put a large plant on Freegle and the person who picked it up went to great lengths to tell me where she was going to put it in her home and then I saw it on Ebay and it went for £60!! It's the charity shop for me if I can - at least I know they will put the money to good use.

I used Freecycle a lot when I was downsizing and got sick of it. Firstly the number of no shows then the few people whose names appeared for everything I put up there. And those who got ratty when I told them the item had gone. I also found it difficult to pick who it went to and ended up judging everyone by how polite their emails were. Amazing the number of people who sent a brusque email “I’ll come for it at 4” - bog off!
I ended up hating Freecycle.

I use Gumtree rather than Freecycle now. They have a free section and it does tend to be local.
But what a lot of stuff we've acquired over the years! Meaning to get rid of things I've seen things which I just had to have.
An Edwardian chair which I've begun to re upholster.
A harmonium in need of TLC
Pm me if you want them!
I don't really mind who benefits from my chuckouts though I'd like to know that some of the better things were appreciated.
But we can't always have everything we'd like.
What a faff it is posting things you've sold on ebay!.

Now that's a great idea!
I wish I had a shop near me.

I’m registered with my local Age UK shop. They give me updates on what they’ve raised with my donated goods.

I am quite happy for the charities I give to to advertise the stuff where they like and make money, that is why I send my stuff to them; and if they put their prices up and charge 99 pence for a cup when they were charging a lesser price for three - good luck to them.

My friend works in a charity shop as a volunteer. She's in her 70s and walks miles to get there in all winds and weather. She can buy anything she wants at the ticket price and also donates any of her own unwanted items to the shop. Can't understand why some people see a problem with this as the shop gets the money and volunteers work for free.

I volunteer in a charity shop 2days a week. And yes, all volunteers have first choice of donations that come in.
We pay exactly the same as anyone coming in.
It's all about getting money in the till. I'm a consumer just the same as joe bloggs.
We are fortunate that we get our electrical goods tested for free.
As for the what we call crap. Our bin is emptied twice a week at the cost of £120.
On the subject of us putting stuff on ebay, what would people suggest we do short of taking everyone's phone number just in case we find something valuable. Can't be done.

MissAdventure you made ne laugh. And yes it's too much hassle sometimes.

I sold two 7ft leather sofas, and wrote out a huge long description about how big and heavy they were, stressing that it would take at least two to move them.
I reiterated throughout the description.
One man turned up, with an estate car.
"Its ok" he said, "i'll take the smaller one first".
I pointed out that they were both the same size, as stated in the description!

The rotovator was brand-new. A prize I won. It was in the days when there were lots of competitions to enter, and I was good at writing slogans. I had re-vamped my garden just weeks before, so it was surplus to requirements!

Dealing with people is hard work sometimes, so as much as I like to make a shilling, I often just take stuff to a charity shop.

I remember selling a garden rotovator on eBay, clearly marked ‘collection only’, in capital letters. It was bought by a man who lives in Hampshire, (I live in Lancashire) who paid for it then asked, “When will you be dispatching it?”
Some people don’t even read the large print, never mind the small!
He had to arrange for a courier to collect it, at his own expense.

I've just sold grandsons Xbox on eBay with the listing stating 'buyer collects'.
Then spent a week answering all the people who wanted me to post it, including the one who said "But I NEED IT! POST IT TO ME!"

I agree with GabriellaG about ebay. I've used it in the past for certain things but its so complicated now that I haven't the energy. I think I'll do a car boot sale in Spring. Facebook marketplace is good. You can just post locally to be collected. Same with Gumtree.

I have just listed my treadmill on Ebay, as my arthritis has put a stop to my 10,000 steps a day. I put a low starting price, to be sure that it sells. Within 5 minutes of it going online someone messaged me, offering £5 less than the basic price. Cheeky begger! I will let it run for a week, and see what the price goes up to.
I use Freegle occasionally, both giving and receiving. It can be a pain or a delight. In spite of putting 'no time-wasters' I had two 'no-shows' before a lady finally, and gratefully, picked up my old dining table. When I decided to pebble my front garden, to cut down on work, I Freegled a lot of the plants and met many nice people in the process.
I was about to bin a 1ft x 6ft strip of left-over vinyl flooring when I decided, just for a laugh, to Freegle it. To my surprise someone pounced on it. They were renovating a narrow-boat and "It will be perfect for lining the galley shelves!"
I also give things to charity shops. There are four a short distance from my house, but I usually donate to a lady I know. Her young grandchild died of meningitis, and she raises money for Meningitis Now.
I rarely bin anything, apart from the usual household things. If it's not good enough to give away I recycle it, or take it to the local tip, where it will be put to good use in some way or other.

I volunteer in a charity shop, we can BUY the goods on sale, no way would we just take our pick of any of the goods and not pay for them. And yes, I suppose the charity has to hope that the shop workers are honest, but that goes for any shop that sells goods. I have found many clothes with pockets that still have money in them (one even had an open signed cheque in it!) all the money I find goes straight in the collection box next to the till. Not everyone is on the make!!

I agree with you Aep, we were very angry to go to an auction sale and see something we had given someone for sale there.

Our rule now is offer on Freegle only things that cannot be sold at auction ourselves or given to a Charity Shop, as I said in a previous mail, empty plastic buckets, which garden materials came in, odd tins of paint, things that are highly unlikely to be saleable and I sift through the applicants and exclude the fastest responders.

My friend posted a practically new sofa on gumtree for free. She had several time wasters and one person even asked her if SHE would pay for delivery. It’s in sane. People want stuff for nothing. So greedy

Sorry, not Kid but I’d.