Tales from the Crypt ( ohhhh I mean FreeCycle )

[Kaora]

You got me curious and I joined my local FC group; took a nice wander over the recent messages. 

I can say that, in my small town, we have far more offers than wants.  It's kind of nice, in a warm, fuzzy feeling way. 

[Tosha Go]

I just had a fun one - I had some clothes I wanted to get rid of so I posted them on Freecycle.  Someone expressed interest in them.  I said ok, they reply telling me they are out of town right now and wont be back for 2 weeks.  I said ok, and stuck them in a closet for the time.  They send an email the day they are back asking for directions and stated I could leave them outside.  I did.  3 days pass and they are still on my porch.  I email and ask, are you picking these up?  They reply, I've been sick...Nice of you to let me know...One of those nights there was a decent snowfall and now everything is covered in snow.  I'm sorry you got sick, but would have killed you to send me a message?

I am also going to applaud our FC mods.  There aren't many sob stories, there's a few, "hey I just moved here and need this" type posts but they aren't trying to make you feel bad.  Kijiji has become flooded with sob stories as of late.  I can't look through baby ads without finding a, "I'm due in a few months and I need EVERYTHING because I'm on welfare!"

[SoCalVal]

You got me curious and I joined my local FC group; took a nice wander over the recent messages. 

I can say that, in my small town, we have far more offers than wants.  It's kind of nice, in a warm, fuzzy feeling way. 

It's hit or miss.  In my area, we have several FC groups.  The most restrictive one (has the most rules) I think has the worst posts and attitudinal members.  The other groups I find are fairly middle of the road.  For the most part, my experience with FC has been good (just got a plastic grocery bag full of persimmons today for my fiance).  My very first experience with FC was a good one (I desperately needed cake decorating supplies because Wilton doesn't tell you when you sign up for the class that you have to buy a lot more than the student kit...you learn that during the first class session...and I just didn't have the funds available as I was going to be broke until the next payday a couple of weeks away).  Anyway, the women who responded to me, for the most part, were kind and generous (one person offered to sell me her mother's supplies from her estate, which I believe is FC no-no, but it just didn't occur to me to report her).

[RegionMom]

Selling is a no-no on Freecyle.

There have been times when a post would be, "Wanted: odd item I cannot find because it is off season, any one have one I could buy/borrow/have?"

I think those are ok.

A few weeks ago someone wanted an unusual item I had just seen two of at a local GoodWill. I told her where I had seen it, and she called them and got one.  And she thanked me for letting her know!

But, no selling to a member. 
That breaks the spirit of FreeCycle.

Go to Craig's List or other sites for that.