Local Freecycle users annoy me

[suitedaces]

All they seem to do in my area is beg for stuff, "wanted" outnumbers "offer" by at least 3 to 1. They don't get the concept of it at all. Here are a choice few.

WANTED: need a mens bike (belfast)
WANTED: WANTED: Treadmill / running machine - belfast (East belfast)
WANTED: small dish washer (belfast)
WANTED: Washing Machine (Lisburn)
WANTED: Waterbed (water bed) King/Queen size (Banbridge)
WANTED: 6 Seater Table & Chairs (Belfast)
WANTED: looking for a good pc (belfast)
WANTED: Wanted: boys bicycle for 7-10yr old ( east belfast)
WANTED: wanted suite of furniture (lisburn)
WANTED: Garden Shed (East Belfast)
WANTED: Wanted: Surfboard (Belfast)

](*,)](*,)

/rant

[pwnst*r]

i suggest not looking at community ad sites/papers then.

[Keyper7]

Unfortunately, selfishness is part of human nature.

For the majority of people, Freecycle is "OMG FREE STUFF LOL!!!111! WAIT WHADDYA MEAN GIVE STUFF FOR FREE? I"M NOT RICH LOL!!!1!!"

For the majority of people, Free Software is "OMG FREE STUFF LOL!!!111! WAIT WHADDYA MEAN REPORT BUGS AND CONTRIBUTE? I JUST WANT USE THE COMPUTER LOL!!!1!!"

Sad but true.

[The Funkbomb]

Unfortunately, selfishness is part of human nature.

For the majority of people, Freecycle is "OMG FREE STUFF LOL!!!111! WAIT WHADDYA MEAN GIVE STUFF FOR FREE? I"M NOT RICH LOL!!!1!!"

For the majority of people, Free Software is "OMG FREE STUFF LOL!!!111! WAIT WHADDYA MEAN REPORT BUGS AND CONTRIBUTE? I JUST WANT USE THE COMPUTER LOL!!!1!!"

Sad but true.

I agree with this whole heartedly. I belong to a forum (but no longer visit) where people often give away stuff they don't need any longer or are just trying to be nice. It is done through random number generators. The thread starter plugs in the numbers of 2 to whatever the last post count was and lets it fly.

You should see how quickly those threads fill up. In a matter of hours, you can have hundreds of replies with people just looking to grab free stuff. Most of them have never contributed in any way. In fact, as an experiment, I bumped a thread from 5 years ago where the object had already been given away and I had about 4 pages in under half an hour until a mod locked it up. People didn't even care what was being given away. They couldn't even be bothered to even read the first post. They just wanted that free stuff.

I made a post about this behavior, even giving statistics of how responses to free stuff greatly outnumbered the posts in other threads. I was laughed at and insulted. The one time someone was giving away something I could truly use, I responded. It was either someone takes it or it goes to the landfill. My previous post was bumped and I was called a hypocrite.

It's absolutely sickening to see how focused on free stuff people have become. I have a few prized possessions in my life. I'm also not the happiest person you've ever met but I don't think having more stuff would change that.

[suitedaces]

i suggest not looking at community ad sites/papers then.

Oh to be as wise as you.

[pwnst*r]

Oh to be as wise as you.

apparently you keep looking at the "gimme free stuff" section, so yes, in this regard i am.

[suitedaces]

I'm not looking in any "request" section, I joined to give away a monitor that wouldn't be worth putting on ebay, and subsequently am supposed to recieve emails of similar offers. Instead i get emails from people abusing the system, as detailed above.

[hoppipolla]

Look on the bright side. At least you don't have Freegans! xD

[benj1]

I'm not looking in any "request" section, I joined to give away a monitor that wouldn't be worth putting on ebay, and subsequently am supposed to recieve emails of similar offers. Instead i get emails from people abusing the system, as detailed above.

do they not have any sites that use a points system, so if you give something away you get a point and if you get something you lose a point ?

[xpod]

All they seem to do in my area is beg for stuff, "wanted" outnumbers "offer" by at least 3 to 1. They don't get the concept of it at all. Here are a choice few.

WANTED: need a mens bike (belfast)
WANTED: WANTED: Treadmill / running machine - belfast (East belfast)
WANTED: small dish washer (belfast)
WANTED: Washing Machine (Lisburn)
WANTED: Waterbed (water bed) King/Queen size (Banbridge)
WANTED: 6 Seater Table & Chairs (Belfast)
WANTED: looking for a good pc (belfast)
WANTED: Wanted: boys bicycle for 7-10yr old ( east belfast)
WANTED: wanted suite of furniture (lisburn)
WANTED: Garden Shed (East Belfast)
WANTED: Wanted: Surfboard (Belfast)

](*,)](*,)

/rant

Ach....it could be worse, you could be in Scotland.Their groups are probably 10 to 1 up there never mind 3 to 1.
We`re a canny lot apparently:D

[suitedaces]

Once in a while someone spams with 4 or 5 identical emails in the space of half an hour too.

[suitedaces]

It's only going to get worse now:

National Journalist tells everyone to beg for stuff on freecycle ( http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/columnists/martin_lewis/585468/Easy-freesy-Martin-Lewis-Britains-money-saving-expert-Get-stuff-free.html)

I may as well leave it.

[Frak]

It's only going to get worse now:

National Journalist tells everyone to beg for stuff on freecycle ( http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/columnists/martin_lewis/585468/Easy-freesy-Martin-Lewis-Britains-money-saving-expert-Get-stuff-free.html)

I may as well leave it.
That site looks like one gigantic get-rich-quick scheme.

[ugm6hr]

I have been active on 3 different freecycle (some now UK freegle) groups, only to give stuff away though.

IT / computer stuff offered is very popular, and there a handful of genuine people who collect parts and build computers to give away.

The PS1 I gave away was very popular; I do wonder whether it is fairer to sell things worth over £5-10...

You may find it difficult to give away CRT monitors; no one is interested, except perhaps with a computer attached.

But don't give up on it, it is a great sentiment if it works well. Additionally, you can search through users previous posts to see what they have offered in the past if you want to reduce the chance of having the **** taken.

[suitedaces]

This just in my inbox:

WANTED: playstation3/xbox360 (north belfast)

(and it's not for spares, it's a working one they want)

[Frak]

This just in my inbox:

WANTED: playstation3/xbox360 (north belfast)

(and it's not for spares, it's a working one they want)
And do they gripe when they get it saying it's not good enough? Just curious.

[gnomeuser]

Unfortunately, selfishness is part of human nature.

So is altruism though, it's built into our genes. Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene e.g. deals with this subject and why it makes sense from an evolutionary point of view that things work this way.

I think freecycling can work, I also think that people might first want to pick up someone elses unused stuff to see that it works then when they have something unused they will be more apt to put it back into the system.

[BuffaloX]

Sounds more like bad software design.

Lots of people throw stuff away, because they don't know it could have value for other people, or because they think it's too much bother to find someone who want it.

[Cam42]

This just in my inbox:

WANTED: playstation3/xbox360 (north belfast)

(and it's not for spares, it's a working one they want)
This is sad. Really.
I've seen one where the poster wanted a Car. a working car, newer than 5 years old.
Crazy.

[RabbitWho]

What a strange idea. Recession breeds oddness. I want an old computer to play with. Preferably a laptop, I don't care how old or how broken. Gimmie!

But wait.. you're supposed to give someone your address or call to their home? Weird weird weird. No thank you!

[tgalati4]

Reminds me of Homer and Marge Simpson walking by a huge pile of coat hangers. "Oh Homer, what are we going to do with a pile of coat hangers? "But wait Marge, they're FREE!"

[soni1770]

suitedaces (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=776789)

you are going love this guy ken,
check it out


http://belfast.gumtree.com/belfast/23/47453623.html

[suitedaces]

WANTED: Brown Leather Sofa 3-2 Maybe 2-2 ( Belfast)

They then go on to say: Wanted Brown Leather 3-2 Sofa, would maybe consider 2-2, in good condition.

How very noble of them.

Unless they ban wanted things completely, this is going to be the ruination of freecycle.

[suitedaces]

And just spotted this in my spam:

WANTED: wanted tv 32 or larger (belfast north )

i wanted tv 32 or larger

[3rdalbum]

Wanted: Brand new LED TV, must be 46 inches or over, will not accept second-hand or unknown brands.

(no I didn't see that one, but it sounds funny)

[sudoer541]

why dont you give your monitor to Goodwill, The salvation army or even value village?

[3rdalbum]

why dont you give your monitor to Goodwill, The salvation army or even value village?

Even they don't take them unless they are LCDs. If you're in Austin, Texas there's a guy who would be able to use them: http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/

[cariboo]

I have a friend that has a 36" crt that he can't even give away, it seems nobody that wants it is willing to go and pick it up, they want it delivered.

[Ji Ruo]

When the councils here do their hard rubbish collection twice a year, there's no shortage of CRT monitors and TVs... everyone's gone LCD now and wants to throw away the old stuff.

[Bölvaður]

I got 100 disk collection of Ubuntu 7.04, all are identical 700mb writable cds without any markings. All but one has yet to be used. First one to post will be allowed to pick them up.

[speedwell68]

Our local freecycle is full of ads like...

Wanted: iPod must be 8GB Touch or better.

[Sporkman]

All they seem to do in my area is beg for stuff, "wanted" outnumbers "offer" by at least 3 to 1. They don't get the concept of it at all. Here are a choice few.

WANTED: need a mens bike (belfast)
WANTED: WANTED: Treadmill / running machine - belfast (East belfast)
WANTED: small dish washer (belfast)
WANTED: Washing Machine (Lisburn)
WANTED: Waterbed (water bed) King/Queen size (Banbridge)
WANTED: 6 Seater Table & Chairs (Belfast)
WANTED: looking for a good pc (belfast)
WANTED: Wanted: boys bicycle for 7-10yr old ( east belfast)
WANTED: wanted suite of furniture (lisburn)
WANTED: Garden Shed (East Belfast)
WANTED: Wanted: Surfboard (Belfast)

](*,)](*,)

/rant

Offers probably get cleared out quicker than wanteds.

You do get something in return for making offers: somebody comes & hauls away your unwanted junk for free.

Also: the offer to wanted ratio tends to be better in more affluent metropolitan areas.

[Sporkman]

Also: the "concept" isn't to be an equitable giver & taker, it is to match people with junk that would otherwise end up in landfills. Sort of like "recycling", but it's "freecycling".

[sudoer541]

Our local freecycle is full of ads like...

Wanted: iPod must be 8GB Touch or better.


simply ~LOL+++~
ppl are greedy!!! lol+++


wanted!!!
a new 64GB iPad retail boxed!!!!

[markp1989]

simply ~LOL+++~
ppl are greedy!!! lol+++

a while ago i was checking out freecycle for brent (next borough to me) and it as 100% wanted for the first page.

WANTED: PS2/PS3/xbox 360 games and designer cloths


i have never used freecycle before, i ocaisionaly read the offers to see if there is anything on there , tbh, most things i get rid of just get stuck on ebay, and being the hauader i am , that doesnt happen often

[Kai69]

Go to a council tip in the uk look at all the unused bikes that have been thrown out or tvs most of this stuff still works but where years ago you could give one of the workers there a £5 now you get told sorry you cant take it .

[sudoer541]

btw what kind of electronics do the following sotres have?

Goodwill
The salvation army
Value village

Are the electronics clean?
Do they work?
How old are they?
price range?
do they have any laptops or desktops?
what other electronics do they have????

[t0p]

And just spotted this in my spam:

WANTED: wanted tv 32 or larger (belfast north )

i wanted tv 32 or larger

Hehe you've really got a bee in your bonnet about this, haven't you?

The phenomenon you describe is not just local to you. People everywhere are more wont to take rather than give. It's human nature. Whingeing about it will not change the way people are.

Reminds me of a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago. A colleague and I were walking through the city centre one night, and a guy with a dog and rucksack, huddled in a shop doorway, asked us for "spare change". I gave him the loose change in my pocket, a couple of pounds. My colleague said I "must be mad" to give the money, the guy was going to spend it on drink or drugs. I said I didn't care about that; the guy obviously needed to beg or he wouldn't have been sitting in a doorway in the freezing cold weather - what he needed the money for was irrelevant. My colleague just couldn't understand my actions, he told me that "giving to beggars just encourages them" etc. I couldn't understand his attitude, but I didn't say anything.

The Christians say it's better to give than to receive. I don't agree with much of what they're about, but I agree with that sentiment. Might I suggest: if you don't like beggars, stop reading their emails. You might not want to give them a leather sofa or 48-inch plasma TV or whatever else they're asking for; but someone else might want to help them out.

[markp1989]

btw what kind of electronics do the following sotres have?

Goodwill
The salvation army
Value village

Are the electronics clean?
Do they work?
How old are they?
price range?
do they have any laptops or desktops?
what other electronics do they have????

where i live, charity shops etc wont sell electronics because they would have to pay to get them tested before they can. often if they get them they will just dispose of them :(

[sudoer541]

where i live, charity shops etc wont sell electronics because they would have to pay to get them tested before they can. often if they get them they will just dispose of them :(

I see, Well I am going to visit as many thrift store as possible.
Ill start next month.

[markp1989]

I see, Well I am going to visit as many thrift store as possible.
Ill start next month.

i have herd if you go by the back of charity shops, they do throw alot of good stuff out that there not aloud to sell (furnature without the fire regs sticker on it, they most likely are complient but the label cut off for looks, so cannot be sold etc) , you just have to get there before some one else does :P

[pwnst*r]

That borders on scrounging. Surely if you have home internet access you can afford to leave the stuff at Salvation Army, etc for people that need help.

[suitedaces]

Hehe you've really got a bee in your bonnet about this, haven't you?

The phenomenon you describe is not just local to you. People everywhere are more wont to take rather than give. It's human nature. Whingeing about it will not change the way people are.

Reminds me of a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago. A colleague and I were walking through the city centre one night, and a guy with a dog and rucksack, huddled in a shop doorway, asked us for "spare change". I gave him the loose change in my pocket, a couple of pounds. My colleague said I "must be mad" to give the money, the guy was going to spend it on drink or drugs. I said I didn't care about that; the guy obviously needed to beg or he wouldn't have been sitting in a doorway in the freezing cold weather - what he needed the money for was irrelevant. My colleague just couldn't understand my actions, he told me that "giving to beggars just encourages them" etc. I couldn't understand his attitude, but I didn't say anything.

The Christians say it's better to give than to receive. I don't agree with much of what they're about, but I agree with that sentiment. Might I suggest: if you don't like beggars, stop reading their emails. You might not want to give them a leather sofa or 48-inch plasma TV or whatever else they're asking for; but someone else might want to help them out.

Was an accidental bump! Dug this thread up to paste some of the wanteds into a post for another forum, then accidentally wrote that reply in here rather than the other one. :redface:

[john_spiral]

Freecycle is a blessing for getting rid of old computers.

Here in the UK I quite frequently come across old machines that have been tossed out for no apparent reason. My approach is simple, install Ubuntu and advertise them on freecycle. My advert asks why it's good to recycle computers.

I ignore the autotrons and give the computer to people who respond with something intelligent.

Job done, environment cleaner, free & open software promoted.

[JoeWheeler]

I've been lurking around my local freecycle for the past week/week and a half waiting for someone to post a phone up after dropping my old one in the toilet . I have made wanteds in the past but generally theirs just no point(unless your looking for specific components). If the kind of people that look on freecycle are going to give something like a mobile away they will just do it as and when they don't need it

[Jackelope]

Too bad the OP is having a bad time with freecycle. It's great where I am. Lots of people giving stuff and not too many wanted posts.

Edit:

Why don't we start a freecycle-like group for ubuntu users? It'd be a good way to get rid of some old equipment and we know there wouldn't be too many jerks on it =)

[Paqman]

Reminds me of a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago. A colleague and I were walking through the city centre one night, and a guy with a dog and rucksack, huddled in a shop doorway, asked us for "spare change". I gave him the loose change in my pocket, a couple of pounds. My colleague said I "must be mad" to give the money, the guy was going to spend it on drink or drugs. I said I didn't care about that; the guy obviously needed to beg or he wouldn't have been sitting in a doorway in the freezing cold weather - what he needed the money for was irrelevant. My colleague just couldn't understand my actions, he told me that "giving to beggars just encourages them" etc. I couldn't understand his attitude, but I didn't say anything.


I think your friend's point was that if drink and drugs had reduced him to the point where he was begging on the street, then giving him more drink or drugs was hardly an act of compassion.

[garryknight]

Too bad the OP is having a bad time with freecycle. It's great where I am. Lots of people giving stuff and not too many wanted posts.


Where I am there are usually more offers than wanteds, or at least the same amount. Maybe it's a regional thing. Maybe it's just that in some areas people give up posting wanteds after they get several weeks with no response whatsoever.



Why don't we start a freecycle-like group for ubuntu users? It'd be a good way to get rid of some old equipment and we know there wouldn't be too many jerks on it =)

Now that's a good idea. Moderator! (There's never one around when you want one, then 3 come all at once...)

[markp1989]

Too bad the OP is having a bad time with freecycle. It's great where I am. Lots of people giving stuff and not too many wanted posts.

Edit:

Why don't we start a freecycle-like group for ubuntu users? It'd be a good way to get rid of some old equipment and we know there wouldn't be too many jerks on it =)

+1 that is a decent idea!!!

[ugm6hr]

Now that's a good idea. Moderator! (There's never one around when you want one, then 3 come all at once...)

The Community Market is used for this purpose.... The difficulty is that freecycle only works locally - there aren't many people prepared to offer stuff for free, and pay the postage.

If you have stuff - feel free to use it.

[garryknight]

Ok, thanks.

[haydoni]

A recent one in Durham:

WANTED: Cat's bunkbed.

!!!

[t0p]

Another bumptity-bump to add another couple of cents' woth:

I've embarked on an independent study into networking; this entails getting a bunch of computers to link together and run services on. I can use pretty low-end machines for this, so, inspired by these (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1314028) threads (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1408112), I joined my local Freecycle group. (Being a poverty-stricken student makes is very difficult to so this kind of stuff.

I've gathered that some members of this forum don't like having to scroll through "WANTED" notices. But the fact is, you *don't* have to scroll through such notices. If you have Freecycle notices sent to you via email, you can filter the email subjects for terms freecycle + WANTED have these emails sent to /dev/null or whereever. Though to be honest, I'm not at all impressed by people who join Freecycle but don't want to read the WANTED posts. Give and take, dudes. Give and take.

Suitdaces feels that those who just want to take and not give "don't get the concept at all". But I think it's suitdaces who doesn't get the concept. Freecycle exists so unwanted stuff goes to someone who could use it, rather than put it into landfill. Therefore the WANTers play a role in the process just as important as the OFFERers. What good would Freecycle be if no one wanted the stuff on offer?

[jwbrase]

Reminds me of a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago. A colleague and I were walking through the city centre one night, and a guy with a dog and rucksack, huddled in a shop doorway, asked us for "spare change". I gave him the loose change in my pocket, a couple of pounds. My colleague said I "must be mad" to give the money, the guy was going to spend it on drink or drugs. I said I didn't care about that; the guy obviously needed to beg or he wouldn't have been sitting in a doorway in the freezing cold weather - what he needed the money for was irrelevant. My colleague just couldn't understand my actions, he told me that "giving to beggars just encourages them" etc. I couldn't understand his attitude, but I didn't say anything.

Well, I do tend to turn down street beggars unless I actually have time to buy them what they're asking for money for. I've bought meals for beggars on a few occasions. I think my mom said that my grandmother used to keep sandwiches in her car for exactly that purpose.

Your friend is right that money given to beggars often does end up being spent on drink or drugs, and thus I rarely give money. But I don't buy the "giving to beggars just encourages them" line. Well, actually, it does "encourage" them, but in the "life isn't so bad, somebody cares" sense of the word. So if I can buy them what they need, I try to.