FreecycleReviews of freecycle.org

I quit being a Freecycle member after they without notice or explanation deleted two of my posts for free firewood. Lots of people locally including me need and use significant amounts of firewood in the colder months.

I have had good experiences in the past. But recently I was ignored when I tried several times to contact my local moderators after a scary experience. I was giving away some paving materials. Many people replied, but I offered it to the first person, as I felt I should. He texted and showed up promptly. But he also tried to completely control the pickup, and made me extremely uncomfortable. He was verbally abusive and very creepy. He told me that he was friends with the moderators, and basically knew more than I did. And I got no reply to any of my complaints to the moderators. No response at all. I am much more wary now, and hesitate to use freecycle. I recommend that you do not have someone pick up from your home if at all possible. Vet the person if you can, and have someone with you at any pickup. My experience was traumatic. Follow-up. I did eventually hear from the moderators at Freecycle. They said they had had Internet issues and that was why they hadn’t returned my messages. It is still unclear if any action was taken on my behalf.

PROS - Free to use - You may get free stuff - Someone may collect your unwanted stuff for free - Green ethos - recycle and reuse - Site requires log-in profile, so some protection for personal details CONS - Site functionality: unable to upload photos despite following all their hacks/fixes inc. creating fresh posts - So had to share phone details to send photos - Unable to delete posts - Time taken to approve posts - Seemingly impossible to unsubscribe from and I defo didn't sign up to get general emails I really like the idea and would happily pay a donation to help towards cost of improving functionality

I use Freeview mostly to give items that are too good for the tip away for free to people who need/want them in the local area, but honestly, it's just such a faff and you often end up sitting in the house for hours waiting for people who never show up. I've had good experiences with people being really responsive and collecting quickly, but more experiences with people not responding / being no-shows / not having space in the car for it. For balance, the one time I used it as a 'customer' - I got a lovely piece of furniture in great condition that I still use to this day. The issue with Freecycle isn't the concept, it's some of the time wasters who use it...

I'm going to agree with the last review on here regarding time-wasters. We are having a big clear out and have listed an item with provisionally more to follow. 2 people have requested it to the extent they have given us their number, and yet both have ignored all attempts to contact. So now all our stuff will go to the dump. Such a shame but we don't have time to be messed around, with a young family. It is a great idea and it is obviously not the site's fault regards some of the cretins that use it. A rating system is clearly required though so you can identify the time-wasters so you don't end up wasting your own time.

Freecycle is a brilliant idea. It is a shame there are so many time wasters and dealers on the site though. I've lost count of the amount of people who seem really interested in an item and don't turn up when a collection is arranged. Freecycle should have a star system for their members, like ebay.

Freecycle is the typical "curate's egg", good and bad. I have managed to clear numerous items over the years that would have otherwise gone to landfill, but recently my local site seems to have declined. Not sure why. Just not getting interest in items, but when I switch them to Gumtree/free they go in a flash. I have noticed flakey search results in search for items also recently. [cant find my own posted item by name for instance]

I didn't have the same problems as others seem to have. Easy to post, drag and drop pictures and ads were approved in an hour or so, sometimes less. The BIG problem for me has been the sheer volume of time wasters. Almost every ad seems to invite them. They are ruining a great idea, The site would do well to have a simple reporting system so that regular offenders can be blocked.