Just wondering if anyone else has the same problem, i advertise things then have a hard time knowing who to give it too. once i have decided i feel guilty about not giving too the others and were they more needy.

why not just give on a first come first served basis? I thought that's how it worked :confused:

Basically I just go a first come first served thing. Whoever gets there first gets the item, unless someone else is obviously poorer than them. If there are no obvious differences in circumstances, I just give it to the first person. It stops me feeling bad. :hihi:

I look through the emails, and work out if there's any that comes from a community group or charity (cos they get priority), and if not then I take out all of the impolite (or just plain rude) responses and then offer to the one that came first.

You can't worry about all of the people that you can't make happy- you're doing the best you can by keeping your item out of landfill and passing it on to someone who can use it.

Thanks for replies ,just wish sometimes i had enough for everyone.

Of course you do- we all do sometimes- but the fact is that you could just instead not be helping anybody and leaving the item gathering dust in your house (or even worse, scrap it so nobody benefits).

or you could leave out the middleman and just give it straight to me! :D

I keep emailing people about things they have and am always too late :(

:hihi: aw Lotti
I get the same thing. It annoys me, and makes me want to cry :lol: No, just kidding. I think Freecycle is amazing, though. Its definately a good way to stop landfills filling up with things someone else could use! :D

or you could leave out the middleman and just give it straight to me! :D

I keep emailing people about things they have and am always too late :(
well is there something youre really in need of im sure we could all keep you in mind.

i always do it first come first served that is the fairest and only way to do it ive replyed as soon as items go on then either get told an hour later its gone or simply get no reply and then a taken post is posted.i think people pick out people they know as oppose to doing the fair thing its really annoying! and i always reply to everyone that asks for my items to tell them they are taken subject to collection i think thats the decent thing to do so people are not waiting round for days for a reply.wish people would come round to my way of thinking.what do you define as rude i always seem to get good replys doesnt anyone else?

Never had a rude reply yet, always say when an item has been taken, but if no show then offered to next person.
Istarted this thread because i was offering a computer monitor,and there seemed to be what i thought 2 cases where each would benefit and of course i had to choose, but upto present time that person has not got back too me so i will wait while lunchtime wednesday, then offer it to the other person.

I get loads of rude responses so I delete them then either go for the most needy or first polite response, it depends on the item. It's always interesting if people give me the reason they want it and sometimes helps me decide.
I must admit there was once an item I advertised which I got only got one request for which said something like ' I'll ave it but can you drop it off?' I didn't bother replying to it., No please, no thankyou, no 'sorry my legs fell off so I can't collect'. I still have the item and might one day readvertise and hope for a more polite response.

I've started looking up the member to see if they've offered things in the past. Some people have posted a lot but it's all wanted, wanted, wanted. While there's nothing wrong with this in theory (as long as they aren't taking things to sell on eBay) I think Freecycle should be about offering and taking.

I usually wait till I have few replies over the course of a day to be fair to those who may not be around during the day when I usually post. I delete the rude ones and I have to say that I also delete the ones from the people who seem to want everything I offer, no matter what it is. They are usually the ones who also post frequent 'Wanted' posts too. Then it's a case of seeing who sent the nicest email/most deserving cause.

well is there something youre really in need of im sure we could all keep you in mind.

Aw bless you, you're very kind but in reality I just watch out for stuff I could really do with and can't afford to buy (which is most things :lol: )

What sort of responses do you guys look out for?
I usually reply with 'Hi, I was wondering is this item still available? If so I'd be interested. Thanks, Lottie'

Is this rude? :(

No Lottie, I wouldn't say it's rude but I look for replies which say things like 'I'm doing up my sons room on a budget and I would love this rug to jazz it up a bit' or 'I had a decanter set but it broke 6 months ago so I'd really like a replacement', you get the gist, it's an explanation about why someone wants it I suppose.
We've advertised all sorts of bits that we've cleared out and had some real tearjerker stories, true ones in certain cases where I've dropped the item off and I can see why it's needed.
Now we've got twins we tend to need more items than we have to give away, so we often respond for baby items, so I'll always explain that we have twins and would use the item because.... insert reason here...anyone knows babies cost a lot of money, especially when they come two at a time.
People have been very generous with us and we try to freecycle as much as we can back on there.
Anyway, maybe explaining why you want something would help, it can't hurt.
Speaking of which, I've got an item to list on there.