Freecycling on the Computer

The electronic version of Freecycle works a bit differently than putting things out at the Watsonville Farmers Market for the Free-For-All. You will need a Yahoo ID so you can join your local Freecycle group. You need access to a computer for several reasons: The posting must go through your local Freecycle group and the approved contact is usually via email. This is for safety reasons. You can do this on computers at the Watsonville or Freedom library for free. Ask someone to help if you’re new to using email. If there's enough interest, I can meet people at the Watsonville library to demonstrate how to get started.

Go either to Yahoo for the Watsonville Freecycle or search for your locality. You can check freecycle.org too. Writing your post comes next. Requirements include the three-part subject line format for ALL messages. This means your subject line must first contain one of four keywords—OFFER, TAKEN, WANTED, or RECEIVED; next the item name; and last the city or locality in parentheses.

Here are examples:

OFFER: Mountain Bike (Monterey)
TAKEN: Bed Coverings (Watsonville)
WANTED: Pet Shampoo (Santa Cruz)
RECEIVED: Chicken Wire (Prunedale)

There are only four kinds of posts: OFFER is letting the group know what item you have to give away; WANTED is what item you are searching for; RECEIVED is telling others you got what you were seeking; and TAKEN is informing the group that a person who needed the item offered was found and the item is no longer available. OFFER and TAKEN are both posted only by the member who made the OFFER. WANTED and RECEIVED are both posted only by the member who posts the WANTED item. All posts should spell out what is desired.

Here’s an example of a complete posting:

Offer: Boxes of Books (Scotts Valley)
Posted by: "Bill" bother12@gmail.com
Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:35 pm (PDT)
12 somewhat large boxes of books. Liquidation of a book store. All boxes are a wide variety of everything. Must take one or more entire boxes, no sorting. I can help load these in your car or truck. Include times you can pick up and phone number in your reply email.

Notice how the poster included what could and couldn’t be done. A request for information saves time, too. Read through posts at the Freecycle site before you begin to write them yourself. Let other people’s mistakes and experience save you time.

Controversy exists about some Freecycle practices. Just putting things out on the curb with a FREE sign on it by itself is OK. A problem occurs when someone also posts that item on Freecycle. Because of the lack of two-way communication, many Freecycle groups do not allow “curb” posts or addresses in the first post, only in email replies. This helps prevent someone from driving across town only to find the item has already been taken. I find it best to have at least one two-way communication with the Freecycler to ask for the item and one more two-way communication to confirm I am the one to get the item, complete with address and directions to pick it up and any other contact information I think I might need.

Another aspect of this is the Yard Sale freecycler. Some people will post OFFER: Yard Sale Items (Aptos) and then say after two o’clock, every thing is free. This is fine if things are free, but to use a Freecycle ad to get folks to a Yard Sale while you are still asking for money is not very gracious. This also may not meet the Group rules for your locality, as no two-way communications have committed to specific items.

Clear communications help smooth this process. If you have a problem with people who are “no shows”—they’ve said they’d be by around 2 p.m. on Saturday and they didn’t show up, check on a couple of things. Did they have your correct address and perhaps even a contact phone number? Are they from your community? Could they have gotten lost? Is your house is difficult to locate?

Attempt to contact them once more, and if they don’t reply within a reasonable time, go on to the next name on your list of people who emailed about your post—some rank these by the date and time they came in, others by how interesting their reasons are for wanting the item. Some Freecyclers report they experience many no-shows while others never have that problem, so explore what you might do to clarify your location, the time you expect someone to come, and other commitment details.

I’ve been on all sides of Freecycle—as someone asking for an item that is OFFERed, and as someone who posted an OFFER. I’ve posted a WANTED and then gotten just what I was looking for. For putting an item out to be picked up, I found it was easiest for me to put the item in a grocery bag, labeled with the person’s first name, at the end of my driveway behind a bush. This way, the item was available for someone to come by when it was convenient for them, and I didn’t even have to be home. This has worked well for me as someone picking up things also, except for once, when someone else took the bag of kitchen items that had been offered to me. (I did report this to the Freecycler; she didn’t know who had done it; we both moved on.)

If you want, most groups allow you to upload one or more photos of your item. Then in the post, you can refer to where the photo is stored on the group site or on a site such as Flickr with a link. This often helps get the item sent along quickly.

When cleaning out, some folks prefer to move their Freecycling fast and they go for the first-come-first-serve practice. Others, realizing Freecycle email may come only once a day in a digest form, like to wait a day or more see who is interested and what their stories are. Also, many prefer giving area nonprofit groups preference for items. Most like to wait at least 24 hours before responding to give group members ample time to write. Keep a list of the email responses and don’t toss them until the item is picked up. When the item is spoken for, post a TAKEN message so no one wastes time with more correspondence. Some folks then also reply to all those who emailed them, announcing the item is gone and thanking them for Freecycling.

Freecycling also has guidelines. Items being OFFERed must be legal, safe, clean, and appropriate for all ages. Weapons, medication, or adult-themed products are not allowed. When posting or responding, keep your communications short and simple. While long stories about why you need something may not welcome, a brief reason may make the difference between you getting that cookbook or fishing rod or not. Do fully describe your OFFER or WANTED items. Your goal is to keep messages clear and understandable. An unclear item description can produce inconveniences for everyone, cause excessive emails, and create a negative Freecycle experience for both parties.

And, last but not least, use common sense. Don’t have people coming to your house in the dark—it’s difficult to locate addresses at night and you are liable if someone slips and falls on your property. Don’t put out the item  where anyone could take it; put it in a somewhat inaccessible spot—on your front porch, by a bench in your yard, or—like me—behind a bush and tell the recipient that location. Label the items if you have more than one out for people to pick up. Don’t share your phone number unless you expect people to be at your house at a specific time and want that communication avenue open. If someone’s reply sounds fishy, move on to the next person—trust your senses about what sounds OK and what doesn’t.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Watsonville_CA_Freecycle/
www.freecycle.org

Next: Where else does this go on? Checking craigslist.org