Freecycle Reviews 249

Used to be a brilliant site, i used it to post all my unwanted stuff to people less fortunate, New website is terrible, posting an add takes days to post, moderators are terrible to discuss any issues with the site, a lot of traders now are in on the game, Needs someone to make a new site on the same principle

I love freecycle, I've used it for over 4 years. I've always had a positive response to my posts whether offering items or wanting items. I have always had a good experience too when I've been responding to other people's offered posts. Thank you Freecycle.😁

I am a bit annoyed when items appear as ‘Taken’ when the ‘Offer’ listing has not even made it to the notification board! It’s generally really interesting and useful items as well. I believe the Mods are getting in first, and not giving the genuine Freecyclers a look in.

Posting free stuff of good quality. 10+ people want item. 5 want it delivered! 5 mess about with yes then no. Some say yes but don't have transport having said yes to furniture. This time the scrounger cancelled last minute. This is the last time that I arrange a Sunday around the disorganised. I guess that's why they need free stuff. I'll stick to ebay. Its always best when people pay. It's more of an incentive.

Have a listing waiting to be approved, now on day 3. No point offering anything if whoever mods the site can't be arsed.

What has happened to Freecycle? The new website is absolutely awful, unmanageable, clunky, and a waste of time. I am someone who only offers things and I am going to try and find another way to give away what have always been really nice and often new items. Shame on Freecycle for ruining what was once an easy way to help others. Zero stars.

Will never use this site again.posted items to collect ,2 men's showed up to collect , then proceeded to sit on my drive for over 20mins I watched them on video and returned home to ask what they were doing.eventually they pulled off my drive and then sat in the layby out side my house for another hour.very stressful situation.not worth the hassel.

As others have said, some people enjoy arranging a time to collect and not showing up then giving a cock and bull story for the no show. I've also had scammers posting dodgy links in reply to posts. There is no effective comeback either in these cases. It's just not worth trying to do the right thing and offer stuff for recycling when it just causes me hassle. So I'm no longer using this site.

I've been a Freecycle member for at least 10 years. I may have learned about it through Mary Hunt's "Everyday Cheapskate" column. It was a pretty straightforward way of letting other members know I had something to give away; it was also easy to respond to other folks' postings. I periodically would do some purging and list items. If I recall correctly, I usually had at least one response to a posting.

For those unfamiliar with Freecycle, one signs up for an account (it's free). When a post is made, an e-mail is sent to all the members in that particular town group. If a recipient is interested, it used to be that one simply hit the reply feature on your e-mail and the poster would then get an e-mail from the recipient. Then the two parties could communicate back/forth via e-mail to arrange pick-up of the item.

Also, once an item was no longer available, the poster could update the listing by saying it was taken. Then, an e-mail would go out to all members advising that the item was no longer available.

I noticed in the last year or so that when an item is marked as taken by the poster, an e-mail to that effect is no longer sent out. Instead, if a person tried to send an e-mail to the poster to see if it was still available, the sender would get a response saying something like the item is no longer available.

I don't often post and seldom respond to a posting, but in recent months I've noticed that one can no longer simply hit the reply on the Freecycle e-mail. Now, if one wants to express interest in an item, one has to log in to his/her account, find the listing, and then send a message.

Several days ago I made three offer posts. The first one (10:12 a.m.) was for two partial sheet/pillow case sets, the second was for two framed pics, and the third was for some fragrances. The third one was approved and appeared in my e-mail inbox almost as soon as I submitted it. The sheet post wasn't approved until 9:48 p.m. The next morning the framed pic post was still not approved. When I went into my account, it was gone. Now, my first thought would be that perhaps I hadn't hit the final button to submit the post once I had typed the info and attached the pic. However, once a post is submitted, the poster also gets a screen showing how the post will appear when it goes out and I'm pretty sure I saw that screen. I then sent a message to the moderators, expressing surprise that my third post went right through, that my first post was pending for 11 hours, and my second post mysteriously disappeared. I'm STILL waiting for a reply! Based on other reviews on this site, I guess I shouldn't hold my breath that anyone will ever get back to me.

Another thing that is a change--and not for the better--is that when making a post, one no longer has a large box in which to write. Instead, you get a one-line high horizontal box. You can type a lot--nearly 1000 characters--but you can only see a portion of it. So, when one is done typing and wants to go back to the beginning to proofread, you have to use the cursor and go backwards to the beginning and then cursor back again to the end to read what's typed.

In the last year or so (probably since the new web format came out spring 2021) I've noticed a drop in the number of e-mails for new Freecycle posting. I suspect that people are moving away from Freecycle and to other platforms (i.e., FB buy nothing groups) that don't make users go through as many hoops as Freecycle now does. Not saying that FB is perfect but listing items and responding to others' posts are more user friendly.

So, while I'm not planning to close my Freecycle account (at least not yet), I will probably quit posting items on it and use FB instead. I may still reply if there's an offer of something I'd like.

Fantastic concept and the majority of members use the site in the spirit it is meant for. Site has been glitchy since upgrade, but issues are being dealt with and things are running much more smoothly. There will always be members who will take the proverbial, those who don't follow the rules and those who mess folk about. They are invariably the ones who complain they are being treated unfairly by moderators. At the end of the day, items are not being sent to landfill instead being passed on to those who can make use of them.

Tried to post items to Freecycle both times the moderator found some minor issue with them that didn't suit their ego. Whats annoying is that then the whole post is deleted instead of being left in draft , they send erogenous accusations to email and spam you, dont reply to your issues are rude when they finally decide to a month later ,Have been using Freegle instead - much pleasanter user experience and had many people contact me for my items. why use a tyrannical site ? Won't bother with Freecyle anymore

I've updated. As user for a little while now I had to downgrade my rating.

Pros: did have my posts approved on time so no complaints there.

Cons:
Time wasters - although only a couple - didn't even bother to turn up or give reason
Surprisingly the people who post can be awful which you don't expect
Been offered items which have been given away from under me. One person said "sorry someone else collected this morning - said they weren't going to come but turned up anyway"
Bearing in mind this was like 5am in the morning when this person allegedly collected ...

People posting can very unkind sometimes. I responded to someone's post for some seating cushions. I offered to collect that same day. No reply. 2 days later they appeared to be offering it to me giving me the sizes (which I asked for). I explained due to a family member being seriously sick I'd try to come soon depending on how close they were. They didn't reply to my question and the person then cruelly responded that someone else was coming to collect that same day and they'd let me know if they didn't. It wasn't until days later the item was marked taken. Leading you up the garden path.

Cruel Post-ee who allegedly told me they no longer had the item - as they sold the item - this was 30 mins before I was to collect it
People who post taking liberties

Now I've experienced it for a fair amount of time sad to say my experience has been more negative than positive.

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.

The website needs work but the community here are, as a rule, generous and kind. The moderators work hard - a proper grassroots organisation that should be supported.

A 2 from me . Used in past snd it was once good . However , glitchy website , unfelpful and not succinct in what it wants . As for moderators ! There’s one of my stars .
Poor site . Poorly run and managed badly .
Moderators writing certain words in capitals!!!! Really poor approach to customer service . Will stick to charities in future .

In the past this website was helpful but maybe it’s the sign of the times. I never got approved for something I posted over a month ago! How busy are they? Never again. Trash. That is not nice to keep people waiting.

Just to back up what others say really, awful interface, people say you can have arrange then pull out, tiny tiny thing moderators dont like they bin your whole post never tell you exactly what they dont like, I used a while ago and left as of all this, I see new interface thought try again, but same moderators up own behind, so gave up, as other guy said easier to skip it, sad but true, I did 2 runs to tip, so much easier bish bash 1 hour all gone, freecycle, and freegle waste of time now, dont waste your time

I was trying to delete messages in my Messages folder. I could not find a way. Can someone help me please?

Great principle but the site is very difficult to navigate.

Tried to post items on Freecycle and both times the moderator found some minor issue with them that didn't suit their rules. What I find annoying is that then the whole post is deleted instead of being left in draft so you can make the necessary edits. Have been using Freegle instead - much pleasanter user experience and had loads of people get in touch for my items. Won't bother with Freecyle any more.