Have you heard of Freecycle ? It’s kind of like the free section on Craigslist , but the groups are formed in different regions. In my case, the offerings are emailed to you– I’m not sure that’s how it works in all groups.
What I like is that everyone in your group, theoretically, is in the same region as you so there are less no-shows. I’ve belonged to my group for a few months, but I watched for a while to see how things worked. I’ve begun offering things up, and so far so good. No no-shows! YAY! I hated to go to the work of getting things ready for a Craigslister and then having her bag on me.
I’ve been on the receiving end of a transaction, and I was able to pick up a functional, clean exercise bike. The lady who offered it up was great, and worked with me when we were socked in with snow.
I give Freecyle two thumbs up.
Filed under: freedom, living life, self-sufficiency
I agree freecycle is brilliant and I bet the more popular it gets the more e-bay gets worried!
Thank you for stopping by! I’ve visited your blog before. It’s very interesting.
I got annoyed with the local Freecycle group when they wanted me to fill out information about myself before I could finalize my membership. They weren’t satisfied knowing only my city – they wanted my zip code, too, and I don’t think that’s any of their business.
I appreciate they want to make sure folks aren’t signing up for multiple Freecycle groups which may not be particularly local to them, but my saying I was in city X should have been satisfactory unless someone complained that I wasn’t really in city X despite my offering notices.
Jerked my chain, and I never finished confirming my membership.
Gospazha–
That’s a bummer that your region’s group was so snoopy. I didn’t have to answer any questions, I just signed up for the email loop.
They wanted my zip code, too, so I lied. I don’t actually live in Tucson- I’m just THERE more than I am in my own town. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to give stuff away to folks who are close to where I work. I’ve never been a no-show, but I did have one ballsy chick no-show on me and then send me a rude e-mail explaining how very busy she is afterward instead of an apology. But other than that I’ve had good experiences.