something for nothing (freecycle.org)

Member Name: darren55

Product:	freecycle.org
Date:	03/11/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Something for nothing more than collecting it

Disadvantages: Be carful about your details

Freecycle is a network site where people put items that they wish to get rid off for nothing. Its a non-profit site and before you can sell you have to bid for one item on the list. The site is useful for those who are looking for something specific.

The reasons we used it - We had a kind sized walnut bed frame which we'd had under another bed in bits, we didn't have a mattress but the frame was in good condition. We had to decorate our spare bedroom so the king sized bed had to go, so we thought lets recycle, we phoned The Samaritans but they picked up during work hours during the week (what good is that?), we suggested they could pop around and collect it at a weekend but they soon started adding conditions and it soon became way too complicated. So we decided to put the bed on the local sheffield freecycle site, I use the site to look for science fiction or fantasy novels and have had an odd box from people downsizing in the past.

So we put the bed on the site, it stayed there for a week and we had around 15 replies, we were contacted by one of the sellers who lived within walking distance and we arranged for them to come around and collect the bed. So we got rid of our problem and someone got a more than useful bed frame for nothing, and just after we got rid of it Samaritans contacted us and said they could collect it on a saturday after all - too late I said.

We were contacted a few days later by the moderator and asked a couple of questions over if we were happy with the transactions.

We were, the buyer (if we can use that term) gave us details about himself before we supplied our address and phoned up the night before collecting. Everything went smooth and there are plenty of guides in which if anything unpleasant happens then there are traceable details on all participants.

So enter it with normal caution, if in doubt never give out your details but if your happy then use the site with abandon. As a tip if your going to collect something ring ahead, say whose coming and always do in pairs.

Summary: A useful site for recycling those awkward items