Freecycle Review

I'd be willing to bet you've got some things around the house, clutter piled in closets, packed in boxes in basements, attics, and garages that you don't want or need anymore,things you bought that looked better in the store, things your kids have outgrown, things you got as gifts that just aren't for you, etc, the kind of stuff that's good stuff that you can't bring yourself to throw away.  You don't want it to just go to the landfill, but you're a busy person and never seem to find the to have that yard sale you say every summer you're going to have.  You don't have time for ebay.  You've had that stack of boxes labeled "To Salvation Army" in the garage since you moved in.  We all do. You don't care if you make any money on it, you just want it gone, but not gone to waste.   That's where freecycle comes in.

Freecycle is a site where you register for the freecycle in your area and can post what you've got that you want to give away and it's posted on the message board and emailed to all the local members.  People that want your stuff will email back to you and you can choose who to give it to and arrange for them to come and pick it up.  No hassle for you, outside of the quick minute it takes to post a note saying what you've got to give away. 

It works the other way,too.  If there's things you'd like to get for free that you think people might have lying around, you can post a wanted message,too.  You'd be surprised what people might have that you want.  And just reading the postings of what people are giving away can find you tons of great stuff for nothing.  All you have to do is reply and if they pick you, you arrange to come and pick it up.

A lot of givers bring the item to work with them if it's something smaller and have the reciever pick it up there if it's going to someone they don't know and don't want give your adress. Though, eventually, you often get to know other freecyclers from giving and recieving from them before or seeing how pleasant their transactions with other members were, and don't worry about them coming to your house. The freecycle community here is made up of really great people, but I know it may not be that way in all areas, so I encourage people to be cautious untill you get a feel for how it is in your area.  Better safe than sorry.  On bigger items going to strangers or items you want picked up at your house while you're at work, you can arrange to just leave them outside (like on the porch works well) and be picked up there.  You don't even have to be present to have your items taken care of!  It's that easy. 

The only drawback I've ever seen to freecycle is that sometimes there's a lot of postings, so there's a lot of mail in your inbox.  If your email is account has plenty of room, like mine, it's no big deal, but if you've only got a small inbox, you might want to open another free email account ( like lycos mail or yahoo email) to use for freecycle.

I've given away lots of things.  It's always been a great experience.  I got to reduce clutter.  People got great stuff.  Nothing went to the dump needlessly.  Everyone was happy.  I've never picked up anything yet (I've got way too much stuff as it is!), but all I ever hear is positive experiences from other members on being on that end.