Roody

Google freecycle and the name of your city.

Share freecycle experiences and questions here, especially if you have gotten a free bike on freecycle, or if you have given one away.

eofelis 

I recently found a freecycle yahoogroup in this little city.

I gave away on old computer for parts to some folks who were happy to take it. I also got some other nice items from some people.

We offered an old Trek 7000 frame on it, but no takers yet

Roody

It is surprising that most cities, large and small, have freecycle "chapters." I realized that about 1 % of the population of my metro area belongs. That's pretty amazing! Freecycle isn't as fun as Craigslist, but it really covers a lot more territory.

2wheeledsoul

Cool! This info is the bomb! Now I have a new resource to tap into to keep my fredtech beauty running.
Thanx for posting this, Roody.

goldener

I gave away 30 clementine crates I had stashed in my basement.

Guest

I was part of the Chicago freecycle, but about 4 times a year, the jerks over at Fox Chicago would do a news report and conveniently omit the part about people needing to GIVE too... or they'd just de-emphasize it. Then after the news report, I'd get my email flooded with greedy bastards and their gimmie gimmie emails... it's not a resource for free stuff- it's a way to ensure that things are properly recycled to other people instead of throwing stuff away. We're a throwaway society, and we have a lot of waste- instead of throwing stuff away, just donate it to someone who needs it. And like karma, you'll find what you're looking for too.

I had to drop Chicago freecycle, and I don't think I will get involved with them again, simply because of the vast amount of greedy people- they kind of ruined it for me. I've always given away on there and never taken. Oh well.

Koffee

buzzman

Thanks for the link. Looks great. I got some stuff to unload.

budster

Yes, this is awesome. Looking forward to getting rid of some (useful) clutter. Thanks.

2wheeledsoul

That's no joke. Ppl dumpster bikes that have a lot of use left in them. I've found good frames in salvage yards. I've seen plenty of weathed and slightly battered garage refugees in goodwill stores, that with a little fixing up would ride like new.
They call it trashed, but to a resourceful do it yourselfer handtool happy hobbit like me, they're tossing out pure gold.

goldener

Actually, I think freecycle works because you hav both people who want to give stuff away, and others who want to get stuff.

Someone may post a wanted ad for an obscure item that you may have hidden in your basement, thinking of getting rid of, and the wanted ad is the catalyst to make things happen.

The 30 clementine crates I gave away from my basement were there for years, and I finally purged my self of them by happening on [by chance!] and wanted freecycle ad for clementine crates.

It goes both ways.

cerewa

I've gotten two things, a bike and a computer, on freecycle. Neither was a terribly bad item, but it turned out that neither of them suited my purposes. Now I have to take the trouble to get them off my hands, but with craiglist.org and freecycle out there, it'll be a cinch.

mmerner

same thing up here in Wisconsin. I was on it for about 2 weeks then it hit the media. Got flooded with so many "WANT:" and "NEEDED:" , had to quit.

gwd

We've been doing something like this for years in our building. We call it the "goods exchange". Anything useable gets put in this one area, where anyone who has a use for it can grab it. From time to time it gets purged with a bulk trash pickup and trips to charities. Lately, as the city gentrifies, new residents complain that the goods exchange is too "ghetto" and reduces the value of their newly acquired apartment.

Guest

It is absolutely silly to claim something reduces the value of their apartment- EVERY item you bring in reduces the value of your apartment unless you buy artwork or something that specifically increases in value... save rehab work. Snobs...

Koffee

Guest

Of course it goes both ways. That's the point and the beauty of freecycle. But when you get thousands (I'm not exaggerating) of NEEDS and only 30- 50 GIVING, then it defeats the purpose of freecycle. But try explaining to thousands of people who got a slanted misrepresentation and think it's the free stuff website.

You're talking about something totally different- you're actually defining the purpose, and I'm talking about how the service ends up going wrong.

Koffee

Roody

I answered an offer for a cordless phone in freecycle. The donor said she won it as a door prize but didn't need it.

I told the lady I would be riding the bike out to her suburb to pick it up, but she insisted on dropping it off to me. (Either kindness or paranoia?! )

It was pretty funny when she drove into my "iffy" neighborhood in a brand new Jaguar! But I used the phone for a while, then gave it to somebody else when I bought one with an answering machine.

Marylandnewbie

We've used freecycle a few times to get rid of toys and things my son outgrows. It is great to see people get something they really need that was just cluttering up our space. It feels much less wasteful to find used items a good home. We've never done anything with bikes on freecycle, but have both bought and sold bikes through Craigslist. That was also a lot of fun and very successful.

shishi

Same here.