FreecycleReviews of freecycle.org

Response from FreecycleJan 12, 2018

We ask that you post WANTED and OFFER posts to one group *at a time*. OFFERs are easily fulfilled in one group so that is not an issue. People tend to think though that if they post the same WANTED post to several groups that they increase their odds of getting the desired item. This natural human impetus leads to people posting WANTEDs to as many groups as possible. The boards then fill up with WANTED posts even though there are, in theory, the exact same number of items wanted and offered out there. As a result, we ask that members post *one* WANTED post only and to their nearest/home group which you yourself determine. If you have no success in one group you can wait a week or two and try in another group. This keeps things balanced. Thanks for your understanding and for taking the effort to provide us with this input.

Response from FreecycleAug 18, 2017

Sorry to hear it didn't go well for you. Each local group is run by a local volunteer in your community. It can occasionally go awry. If you'd like us to look into it, I'd need to ask that you get me some post/group info: your ID, item posted and post ID if you have it, group name, city, region, country. Although most posts are unmoderated, we do have hotwords that kick posts into moderation that volunteers sometimes miss. We do this to keep out spammers and scammers and to keep the groups family friendly and free of yuck. I look forward to hearing from you. :-) Deron Beal, Exec. Dir.

Response from FreecycleMar 2, 2017

Thank you for your input. Each email does include a hotlink at the bottom with the option to change your email settings. As you are receiving emails, it means that you have indeed joined a local Freecycle group. If you'd like to contact your local volunteer group moderator, simply go to Freecycle.org, log in and click on "Contact Moderator" at the top of each local group page below the "All posts..." etc tabs [you must be logged in as a member to contact the group moderator]. Sorry it didn't work out for you. Freecycle is a nonprofit charitable web community where each local group is run by local volunteers enabling us mutually to keep over a thousand tonnes a day out of landfills as a result.

Response from FreecycleJan 25, 2017

We do have local volunteer moderators who keep out the spam. Most groups don't require your membership to be approved first, but some do, particularly in large urban areas where the risk of spamming is higher. Sorry it didn't work out for you! We try to keep things family friendly and spam free and sometimes that comes at the cost of an up-front approval delay of your membership approval. It does mean though later that you don't have to wade through a bunch of spam which is nice. :-)

Response from FreecycleJan 25, 2017

Sorry to hear this. All local groups are moderated by local volunteer moderators who keep out scammer, spammers and keep posts family friendly. Generally there is no rule against resale as long as the recipient states this intent up front (as this still keeps stuff out of landfills). And, you are welcome to not give an item to a reseller if that is your preference. If they don't tell you up front or something, simply report them to the local group moderator ("Contact Moderator" button at top of local group page) and they'll be removed. We're quite proud of how local volunteers and vigilant local members like yourself are able to keep local groups free of abuses. Over 32,000 items a day are posted on a globally local basis on Freecycle.org. Sorry your experience wasn't up to par.

Response from FreecycleJan 25, 2017

I'd encourage you to wait a day and pick the responder who comes home from their job as a teacher or whatever rather than picking the person sitting by the PC ready to pounce. You'll meet some great people that way. Also, always ask for their phone number to call and arrange pickup so that if they don't show, they have some skin in the game and know you'll call and ask what happened. It works better than only via email. Good luck and have fun!