Recycling issues!

[Franker 10]

I love the idea of freegle, but i know what you mean about scrubbers and people just selling stuff on.

 

It's an amazing concept but takes a great deal of trust, which just isn't returned from some people.

[missybabyboo 10]

I stopped donating on Freecycle/ Freegle because of a number of rude scrubbers who just turned up to collect said items without even offering so much as a thank you.

 

I also had strong suspicions that some of these items were going to be sold on, so I now just charity shop things that I need to rehome. It's sad really, because the concept of Freecycling is fantastic. It's just a shame that rudeness and bad manners get in the way.

 

In reply to the OP, yes, charity shops do accept these things. A friend of mine is moving house next week and we contacted The Samaritans shop in Sheffield who arranged for the collection of everything that she was re-homing. They were really appreciative. It also saved my friend lots of time and hassle in terms of having to do multiple trips over there to deliver things.

 

i give a bit of stuff away on freecycle and freegle i also have got a few things from there as well it is a great idea but i expect a polite reply asking for the items and a few people can be rude and bad mannered!

[asr050806 10]

When we give something away on Freegle we always go through the replies and don't go for the ones that use text talk or the ones that say "I want your item and can collect now"

We do ask when a member joins that are always polite and if they are caught selling items on without being up front about it then they will be banned from the group.

 

Adam

[Hairyloon 10]

If you have any suggestions as to how we can do this better then please email us on the group owners email address, we are always open to suggestions

Would you be offended if I post them here?

Then we can have some public discussion about whether they are good ideas or not.

[asr050806 10]

Would you be offended if I post them here?

Then we can have some public discussion about whether they are good ideas or not.

 

Yeah that's fine, one things we want to be is open and honest with everyone:)

One thing is please don't mention members names.

 

Adam

Sheffield Freegle Group Owner

[OOmpa 10]

Freegle has gone downhill since it changed from Freecycle, hardly any members and you can't get rid of stuff, also lots of wants. We used it when it was called Sheffield North West but recently have started using Sheffield City Freecycle instead, they have more members so stuff goes quickly and we don't have to keep re offering it. People offer the same stuff on Freecycle and Freegle The concept is a good idea

[Lielyloos 10]

A lot of people still think that Freegle is only for people who live in the North and West of Sheffield. We are trying to get the word out by attending and organising events to let people know we do cover the whole of Sheffield.

 

Both groups have lots of wanteds this is normal as people do tend to want items as well as offering them especially in the current financial climate. The statistics for Sheffield Freegle show that each month there is usually double the amount of offers to wanteds and we do try to have a wanted for offer basis i.e. if you place 6 offers then you may also place 6 wanteds...other than that the guidelines do ask that you limit your wanteds to 4 per month and these guidelines are what the moderators work to and do thier best to maintain, mistakes are made but they are only human and the work is voluntary. It is the commited members and the volunteer team who keep promoting the group helping make it bigger and better. The more we get the name out there the bigger the membership base will be and the more items will be kept out of landfill. Sheffield Freegle is going from strength to strength as the recent award proves.

 

Freegle as a whole currently has 1,135,3007 members and 269 groups in the UK and more groups are opening daily.

[Hairyloon 10]

People offer the same stuff on Freecycle and Freegle The concept is a good idea

Are they not the same thing?

Are there several groups competing with each other? If so, there is my first suggestion for the table.

[DaFoot 10]

Are they not the same thing?

Are there several groups competing with each other? If so, there is my first suggestion for the table.

 

Freegle used to be part of the Freecycle setup IIRC. No idea why the split/rebranding happened but doubt it could be undone without some bruised egos (Not aiming that at anyone specific, just that if there was a split - need to get past the reason for that in the first place)

[Lielyloos 10]

in general yes they are but (short version):- Sheffield Freegle was formally Sheffield North and West freecycle but last year the american owner of freecycle wanted all the UK groups to move onto another platform away from Yahoo! groups which meant that all control of the groups would be passed over to america. This did not sit well with many group owners and moderators within the UK as many had worked hard promoting and running thier groups. In September last year UK based Freegle was formed and many freecycle groups moved over to Freegle and more are moving every week. This is to keep the groups locally run by local people.

 

hope that helps x

[OOmpa 10]

Are they not the same thing?

Are there several groups competing with each other? If so, there is my first suggestion for the table.

 

They are two separate groups doing the same thing, that's why I moved to Freecycle because its a stronger group. All Freegle seems to be is a mirror image of Freecycle but much smaller.

[OOmpa 10]

in general yes they are but (short version):- Sheffield Freegle was formally Sheffield North and West freecycle but last year the american owner of freecycle wanted all the UK groups to move onto another platform away from Yahoo! groups which meant that all control of the groups would be passed over to america. This did not sit well with many group owners and moderators within the UK as many had worked hard promoting and running thier groups. In September last year UK based Freegle was formed and many freecycle groups moved over to Freegle and more are moving every week. This is to keep the groups locally run by local people.

 

hope that helps x

 

No sorry it doesn't help, we use Freecycle and as far as I'm aware its still run on Yahoo groups so control hasn't been passed to America has it? Maybe you are reading too much into the politics instead of basically seeing it as a recycling group that members can use freely and easily