Freecycle Reviews 249

I will never use Freecycle again. I tried 5 different people to give things to and got blown off by 4 out of the five. I put stuff on my porch & wait all day long & they don’t show or let me know or even respond. And, by the time I find out I’m dealing with another loser, of course, they have my address. I can’t even tell them what a loser they are because they have my address & I don’t even know who they are. I would never subject myself to this again. I will throw everything in the trash from now on. It’s not worth the hassle & annoyance. This sounded like a great idea but it does not work.

Ssssoooooo frustrating
I totally love the concept but there is a new message service with people writing the same thing over and over and I keep getting emails even though I have asked for them to stop
I will never sign up again
Once I get them stopped

Good idea to get rid of items that still have life in them

Trying to sign up for Freecycle would be funny if it was not so irritating. Every time I found a username it said was available the system decided it was already taken after I had completed the rest of the form. Then it said my e mail was already registered. I wish I was so lucky. Then when I got through this I kept failing the Captcha. Eventually I gave up.

I've been on Freecycle for many years and had success giving away many items. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good. I'll share some tips that I've learned along the way.

1. Always do a "porch pickup", meaning that you leave it outside somewhere and they come and take it. Obviously, this won't work for everything but you can do this for most items and and it saves you from waiting around for people.

2. Even with porch pickups, ask for an approximate time that they will come. If they don't show up, move on to the next person who requested the item.

3. Freecycle will send emails to you with their name in both the subject line and in the sender field. Set up a rule in your mailbox to collect all of those emails in one folder. This makes it much easier to keep track of your requests.

4. Feel free to deal harshly with anyone who acts inappropriately. For example, someone who rings your bell instead of just picking up their item because they saw other things on your property that they want. Nothing wrong with saying "If I was giving it away, I would have posted it. Have a nice day." You don't have to be nice to rude people.

There is one thing that I haven't figured out how to deal with, though. When giving away multiple items, every now and then someone will take everything that I've left out, instead of just what was intended for them. The only time I was able to prevent this was when they rang the bell and asked for help putting everything in their van. I knew that I hadn't given "everything" to any one person and I told them to leave immediately. They did.

No matter how many precautions you take, you will still run into people like this from time to time but I think by taking the steps that I've listed above, I've managed to reduce the aggravation greatly.

I have given away many excellent items on Freecycle and have had many grateful people receive them. What concerns me are the resellers. When I was new to Freecycle I gave a ceiling fan, a beautiful desk, and a nearly new bed to the same couple on three separate occasions. Now, every time I post they respond. I suspect they are resellers and that is not what Freecycle should be about.

Freecycle is a great idea. In practice, although you do occasionally find that someone doesn't turn up, it works, and recipients are mostly very grateful to have a free item. In my opinion, the personal inconveniences greatly outweigh the importance of reusing things rather than consigning them to the oblivion of the rubbish tip. Do persevere even if you encounter the occasional d*ckhead!

You think you are helping people out who are less fortunate but they repay you by messing you about. Never turning up when they say they are and you are waiting around for hours for someone who is clearly never coming. I will never post on Freecycle again, I will just take good stuff to the tip.

I love Freecycle! I have been a member for years and have received so many wonderful items: A fish tank with all the equipment, a wonderful print of the spot where I was married, an antique office chair to refurbish. I have also been able to gift others with a truck load of used things instead of having them send to the landfill, including some ripped jeans that someone took for patching pants and making a quilt.

I will never post again an announce on freecycle. People like to waste your time. And for what? Nothing, because you are giving away your items for free. And admin don't help you at all when you ask any information. Next time I'm gonna give my piece of furniture to a charity shop, that's for sure. At least I make a good action.

Like many others, my experience is with numerous wasters sadly because freecycle is a good idea in practice. It just seems to attract a number of people with no intention of doing what they say. Whether they're attention seeking, disorganised, want people's names, numbers or simply dishonest I'm not completely sure. Note that like ebay, when people want to hurry you or need you to phone them etc, you should be cautious. People don't return calls / emails / don't turn up / aren't who they claim to be etc. I would strongly advise doing anything else other than giving away things on Freecycle or similar. Phone genuine places like charity shops, refugee places, help centres, debt centres, YMCA, etc etc. Advertise in real groups with genuine potential or churches etc. As stated below by Freecycle themselves, don't give out mobile numbers or address unless necessary - ask why people want something. Even then, people have not responded or turned up. So I won't be using Freecycle any more and will delete my account.

Unfortunately, Freecycle is useless as a donor. More often than not, people who say they will get an item do not show up. They don't bother to call, text, or email. It is a waste of time. The moderators do not answer emails and don't seem to care rendering Freecycle ineffective and useless. This is New Mexico. Maybe somewhere else it works. I'm done with Freecycle.

I'd give them a zero star if I could. The San Jose, CA area freecycle sucks! I tried opening an account. A week later I get a reject telling me that I can't use the word "freecycle" in my email address. Hello, an alias of ken+freecycle@...com is the best way to sort incoming email. Next it takes another week before they graciously approve my membership, but do they email me and tell me I'm approved? Hell NO. Now I've been trying to post things but everything is moderated. 3-5 days (or longer, still waiting) for a post to be moderated is NOT acceptable. THIS SUCKS!

I, like many users, believe in the ethos of Freecycle. I also, unlike many users, understand and value the moderators role. I do take issue with the abuse of Freecycle by resellers. But that said, I tell myself that this is still preventing stuff going into Landfills. However I was compelled to post this as a warning. Blatant resellers collected an item from me after SIGNIFICANT messing about and unreasonable questions (my item was advertised for a specific car, yet they asked whether it would work for X, y, z, etc). They then messed us around in collection times. I had to stay on the line whilst they tried to fing us. Then they couldn't fit the item in as they had been 'collecting' and proceeded to unload and reload their vehicle on my drive (I work from home). They they talked incessantly about what people throw away, despite my obvious hints about needing to get back to work. Then they asked about anything else I might have. Then the worst bit, I saw their car pull up again 30 mins later and then drive off. I wish my dog hadn't been sleeping when they came, freaked me out. I took a photo in case of any repercussions. I will never use Freecycle again, the recycle centre at the tip for me from now on every time. Such a shame, it is such a brilliant concept but attracts greedy resellers and i now question wider motives. Sorry Freecycle.

Freecycle is a wonderful idea and over the past few years have given away more than 20 very high quality items that we no longer needed. But EVERY time, and I mean every time, the people coming to collect items don't show up. Yesterday I had a woman email me and say that she could come any time this morning, whatever was convenient for me, so I said 11am. I told her where to come and waited at the gate for 45 minutes, but no sign of her. In the end I emailed her and she replied OMG, she had forgotten. Last time a man didn't come and no response from him, so I emailed and he replied that he'd had to work late (well, he might have let us know). He didn't come the next time we arranged, then said he'd had a bereavement.... and this is how it goes on. I tend to get responses from people within minutes of an item going on, saying they would like it and is it still available, but then I have to go through four or five other people before someone actually comes about a week later. Can't believe this happens every time, but it has so far. I think, because an item is free, they feel it really doesn't matter whether they come for it or not. Yet often we have rearranged our working times so that we're in; we've had dinner early and then sat waiting. Missed TV programmes because people were coming during the evening and then didn't show. So many frustrating hours wasted. Hence my feeling that Freecycle as an organisation is good, the users can be inconsiderate.

Everybody seems to be confusing freecycle with the people who use it. The principle of the site is great and seems to work well. Every time I’ve published items they’ve gone within minutes or days. The problem is the ungrateful or rude people who often use it. The amount of people who request goods with a simply ‘I’ll have it’ is just sad. That said you need to appreciate it is easier than selling items and arranging postage. It would be nice though for users to be a little more considerate of other peoples time and possessions.

Great idea to give and receive unwanted effects.

Lately, there are worrying 'redirect' pop-up ads to suspicious 'Congratulations you have won' blah blah! sites, via mobile/ios Safari or Chrome (McAfee Chrome browser warning!!)

Doesn't happen on other websites

I just learned about this site not too long ago. As someone concerned about our “throwaway” society and environmentally conscious, I think it’s a great idea. So far I’ve only responded to one offer (twice, over about 5 days time, I may add) and just asked if I could be informed whether it was still available. I have YET to receive any kind of an answer. I noticed today the posting was finally gone. It’s put a bad taste in my mouth and I doubt I’ll even try anymore. All you have to do is hit “reply” on the email, it only takes seconds. Extremely inconsiderate and not really worth the hassle.

I have used Freecycle for years. Had some good stuff, and given away a lot too. I do wish there was a way to block those that don't show up when arranged, and the app is slow to load on android.
I used to operate a Freecycle group myself, but found it virtually impossible to get help when I went on holiday.
However, truth be told, this is a site for free stuff. If you aren't successful, you've lost nothing.

Have to jump too many damn hoops just to sign up. Nothing good really offered. Craigslist is the preferred way to go.