Gifting ?

[gbb]

I'm lucky enough to not be motivated too much by money and like most of us, occasionally find ourselves with stuff to get rid of. Its surprising sometimes what is seen as rubbish by one, useful as another. I replaced some fence panels a few years ago and the old ones were virtually wrecked in taking them down, now I have a problem smashing them up and getting rid. My wife suggested gifting them on FB...you never know she said, I guffawed...and she proved me wrong, within 24 hours they were taken by a very greatful nearby resident who wanted them to make a chicken run.

This last week we acquired a 7ft x 5ft shed that was going to be thrown away, modest quality but not that old. It turned out to be too big so we gifted it on FB, the same evening it was taken a street away for someone to make an aviary.

No fuss, no awkward bargaining and a sense of doing a good thing.
My dad once gave away a car to a stranger...but he was going to Aden the next day for a year.

Any similar experiences ?

 

[ianrauk]

We've been using facebay to get rid of unwanted stuff for a couple of years now. Last thing we got rid of was a single bed and mattress to a young couple with a growing kid. Nice to know we helped them out a little bit.

 

[welsh dragon]

There is a local Facebook group where I live that sell, swap and give away just about anything. They also advertise services as well.

They are an excellent idea and if it helps someone else, or stops an item being sent to the skip then i am all in favour of it.

 

[Slioch]

We've used our local village's Farcebook page to ask for recommendations for plumbers/sparkys/plasterers etc. Not had a dud one yet.

 

[slowmotion]

I'm glad to hear the stories of strangers actually wanting free stuff. We seem to have the opposite problem (and NO, we don't live in Mayfair or Notting Hill! ). There's a neighbourhood website which spreads the gossip, has a Gumtree-like sell/buy section and gives advice about local foxes, tradesmen and dog poo etc etc etc. We've had some excellent recommendations for building work, but very little luck with giving away some of our unwanted stuff. Nobody wanted two free pristine 17" lcd Compaq monitors. I had to persuade the Estonian replacement window people to take them away.
Maybe people think that anything less than shiny new stuff is just for losers.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I have tried Freecycle (https://freecycle.org/) a few times and generally it seems stuff that someone else can sell gets picked up, stuff that can't be resold gets someone saying yes they will have it and never turning up.

This is an exaggeration and the site seems like a great idea, but in practice it seems that not enough people use it and many of those who do are posting "Wanted - Almost New 3 Piece Suite" type adds on the off chance.

I gave away an MGF once on the grounds that it had many issues and I didn't want the hassle of selling it with all the faults listed and then a lot of hassle with someone who later realised how much they would cost to fix and start to demand their money back because someone on a forum told them that they could. :-)

Bye

Ian

 

[Bazzer]

When my sister and I were clearing our mother's house earlier this year loads of stuff was taken for free by grateful people. A couple of lucky families got walnut dining furniture because it was impossible to sell and heart breaking to skip.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I have tried Freecycle (https://freecycle.org/) a few times and generally it seems stuff that someone else can sell gets picked up, stuff that can't be resold gets someone saying yes they will have it and never turning up.

That was my experience, we tried to move some stuff on & if it wasn't in good enough condition to sell nobody wanted it, although it was still in good serviceable condition.

 

[Drago]

I've been fortunate the be the beneficiary of gifting. My Stepmum fell I'll and had to quit driving (and then sadly died) leaving my Dad with a Volvo XC90 surplus to requirements. He investigated trading it against a new one for himself, but was offered under 5 grand - a quick browse showed that model at that age typically selling for about 8 grand at independents (2009, a bit old to go on a ,ain dealers forecourt now) and he was quite incensed and the level of pith taking.

So, he gave it to me, rather a family member continue to get good use out of it than the motor trade make usary levels of profit from him. Very generous, and I'm very grateful.

My niece is disabled and doesn't have full use of one leg. I haven't told her, but if she passes her test now she's 17 I will pay it forward and give her the Smart, which can be driven in full auto mode.

 

[Milkfloat]

My experience of Freecycle has just seen whatever I have given away up on eBay by the end of the day to make a profit for the person taking it. I now prefer the Charity shops, especially BHF who collect large furniture.

 

[Bazzer]

My experience of Freecycle has just seen whatever I have given away up on eBay by the end of the day to make a profit for the person taking it. I now prefer the Charity shops, especially BHF who collect large furniture.

My sister I found found BHF, (at least locally), to be picky about they would take. And anything with material on it, even the simple covering on sprung dining chairs, was refused, unless we could demonstrate that the material met up to date fire regulations.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I've used Freecycle too to get rid of stuff. I don't care if people are taking it to sell at profit or not, why should I? I am just happy to be rid of it without having to pay the council for a special uplift.

The last thing I gave away was our old two-seater sofa, which was still in great condition. The taker paid a man with a van a tenner to collect it and the van driver said to me, "So, are you really not wanting paid for this? Is this a thing?"

A couple of days later I got a lovely email from the recipient explaining how happy she was with it as she was setting up home on her own for the first time, escaping an abusive relationship, and included a photo of it in her council flat, furnished entirely from Freecycle and Gumtree.

 

[wonderloaf]

Just after my Dad died we were clearing his house and tried to give away a couple of nearly new reclining chairs, so my sister rang round all the local charity shops and only one was interested (can't remember the charity). So the man-in-a-van came round and although he accepted that they were virtually new and had all the required fireproofing labels etc said he couldn't take them as they were not in a popular enough colour. They were in a yellow and grey stripe so maybe not everyones taste but I'm sure somebody setting up home would have been grateful for them, I know my wife and I would have been, we spent the first couple of months in our first home sitting on bean bags! (cue violins)

 

[cyberknight]

Just after my Dad died we were clearing his house and tried to give away a couple of nearly new reclining chairs, so my sister rang round all the local charity shops and only one was interested (can't remember the charity). So the man-in-a-van came round and although he accepted that they were virtually new and had all the required fireproofing labels etc said he couldn't take them as they were not in a popular enough colour. They were in a yellow and grey stripe so maybe not everyone's taste but I'm sure somebody setting up home would have been grateful for them, I know my wife and I would have been, we spent the first couple of months in our first home sitting on bean bags! (cue violins)

people setting up nowdays are too fussy imho around here anyway, i have a perfectly good silver /glass tv stand i cant give away and someone asking for one refused it even though they had been posting they needed one because it didn't match the rest of the furniture .
Its like people expect to have brand spanking new stuff when they buy a house but expect muggins to have gone out to buy it for them

 

[derrick]

My experience of Freecycle has just seen whatever I have given away up on eBay by the end of the day to make a profit for the person taking it. I now prefer the Charity shops, especially BHF who collect large furniture.

Had the same here. Any stuff goes straight to charity shops/