Dear Fellow Freecyclers,

The giver in a Freecycle transaction, that is the person who has posted the OFFER, has tremendous freedom in choosing who the taker, that is the person who picks up the OFFERed item, will be. Givers can request that interested people send them jokes and then they'll choose someone based on the joke they liked the most. Givers can request that interested people pick a number between 1 and 100 and whoever got the closest to the number they were thinking gets to be the taker. There are any number of relevant, irrelevant, sensible, or silly ways to choose a taker.

I make use of the 3-Day Courtesy Rule, a day that allows both the giver and the taker three days to sort out a convenient pick-up time, by requesting that interesting people send me times that are convenient for them to pick-up during a three day span (a time frame for each day). I disregard responses that neglect to include that information. I also give some time to allow for digest freecyclers to see the post and respond. I never respond to "Is this still available?" because, if it weren't, a TAKEN post would be distributed and the OFFER would no longer exist. Having these time frames is valuable to me when I have a No Show because I can choose a back-up quickly based on the times already provided. I know who is available that evening or the next morning.

When a loved one passed away, we inherited a collection of items that were popular during the 1980's but are worth nothing now. My husband is choosing one to keep for memory but we have no use for the full collection. Still, despite being worthless, based on their '80's fame these items can be found on eBay listed anywhere from $100 to $1500. No bids, mind you. These poor souls list and re-list these worthless things until someone foolishly buys them thinking they can turn around and sell them for profit. In truth, not even the scrap yards will take them to melt down the bronze. They are worth only the aesthetic for those who enjoy what they are.

So, when I posted the OFFER, I was cautious of the reason people may want them. I knew there would be people who wanted to make money based on a shallow Google search. A gift for an elderly father is the best possible scenario for a new home for these things and so I chose the taker accordingly.

I have received some very desperate and pushy multiple requests for pick-up from individuals who reply to every OFFER and I know are only trying to make money. They would have made none. In fact, the ones who have repeatedly messaged me to push their desire for the items, in a tone that suggested I was doing them wrong by not responding, go on my list of people I will never allow to take an OFFER.

Remember, Fellow Freecyclers. No one is entitled to anything.

As Always,
Me.

Dear Fellow Freecyclers,

We always want to make our OFFER sound like it's a great item to have. There's nothing wrong with that. You want someone to take something and you want them to feel good about having it. Make sure you're telling the truth.

This following story comes from a Fellow Freecycler who wishes to remain anonymous:

I answered an offer for a drafting table. I was planning on buying a drafting table but there was a post for one sounding exactly like what I wanted so even better! She said it was a complete metal drafting table. I agreed to come pick it up at her convenience and got there on time. When I got there, her and her son had a bunch of stuff just strewn all over the driveway and yard... and her garage was still packed from floor to ceiling with furniture. She said they didn't have a yard sale and they'd been "at it" all day with the stuff. She had set out the drafting table top, which was wood not metal, and then said she couldn't find the legs but the legs were metal and they go with the table. She said she would email me when she found the legs. It's been two weeks. My wife has already yelled at me for taking the drafting table top and trusting this person. But I thought it would be ok since this is the moderator.

On my local list, if someone did that, the moderator would want to know so she could kick them off the list. I could not imagine how frustrating it must be when the moderator pulls unethical and dishonest stunts like this.

In this specific case, the OFFERer should have waited until she had all the pieces together before posting an OFFER for a complete drafting table. It obviously was not complete. She made no attempt to clarify that the Fellow Freecycler could possibly pick up an incomplete piece of furniture and to make sure they were okay with spending the gas to do just that. She was also dishonest about the materials the drafting table was made from and did not attempt to clarify this information before the Fellow Freecycler picked up. What's even worse is that the Fellow Freecycler said they picked up the table at her convenience, meaning she set the time for them to come to get the furniture she OFFERed. Since the Fellow Freecycler took the available piece in good faith and it's been two weeks with no word from the OFFERer, I recommend that the wooden drafting table top be returned to the OFFERer's home and placed where it was originally picked up from the yard or driveway. If the OFFERer has a problem with this since it's not good form in the Freecycling guidelines, this supposed moderator could take a nice, long look in the mirror and consider setting the example for a standard. I have a suspicion that the Fellow Freecycler's wife would agree with me.

As Always,
Me

Dear Fellow Freecyclers,

Honestly, I can't believe I have to write this letter. Unfortunately, as was probably the case for why there are warning labels on toothpaste to keep out of your eyes, I am now prompted by reality to beg of you all to please don't OFFER expired food on your local Freecycle list, especially if it is over a year expired. Just don't do it. I know it probably looks "okay" to you but food has expiration dates for a reason and if your local food pantries would not accept the rancid treat, you should just throw it away or add it to a compost heap.

Please don't make me write a painful letter like this again. Also, don't run with scissors.

As Always,

Me

Dear Fellow Freecyclers,

This is a special letter for moderators on how not to annoy the piss out of the entire group.

Be consistent. Consistency with your own rules and those suggested by the Freecycle Network help keep your yahoo-based list going strong. People know what is expected of them and others.

Keep regular hours. If you choose to moderate your list, keep daytime hours, at least for approving posts. While there are many ways that members can silence devices and not be bothered while sleeping at night, it's annoying to have 30+ emails from a single list awaiting in the morning. A solution to that may be switching to Digest, however, since some posts were time-sensitive to the previous day, it just seems like a better solution is not to live nocturnally if you're going to manage a list of people who don't.

Remove psychos. I don't care how much crap someone gives away, if they disturb others with unsettling behavior, get rid if them!

Do not allow 10+ posts from the same person OFFERing or WANTing items. They can condense in consideration of their fellow Freecyclers and, as moderator, it's your job to make sure that they do.

Refrain from editing posts when the post does not contain restricted information. Definitely remove phone numbers and addresses, but leave the cross-street information and item descriptions. These are standard in Freecycle posts and people look to them to know important information before responding.

Now, this is in no way a complete list of tips on how not to annoy the piss out of your Freecycle list. There are special kinds of moderators who find new and unusual ways every day. I hope this is a good start.

As Always,
Me.