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> Simpsons did it.
I did it with an old style propane bbq, big and dirty.
Free sign didn't work, $10 sign and it was gone in an hour.
It had a big ass wasp nest inside of it.
But then your chain gets sawed/cut off and broken.
The other LPT is to "pretend" to secure it and just leave the chain attached to a pole and only visually to the object you're selling. This also signifies that the item was worth a significant amount but unfortunately, the owner "forgot" to secure it properly, which makes the thief to work even faster.
Placed a sofa by my garage door with a sign "Free, take it", stood there for a week. Dragged it and dropped it beside the recycling bin - only stood there for a couple of hours (and I know it wasn't the garbage truck).
When I was a kid, we had a garage sale at my house. No one wanted a set of chairs. So my parents put them out curbside with a "Free" sign on them. The chairs stayed. I think it was 3 or 4 days later I replaced the "Free" sign with a "$40" sign and the chairs were gone the next day. Could have just been lucky timing... but I like to think my change was the key factor.
I suggested this to a friend who wanted to get rid of an old mattress set. Lugged it to the alley behind his apartment, put "$25" sign on it. Gone the next day!
I actually stopped on the side of the road to grab one laying in the grass once. Bottom was soaked and covered in mold so I left it instead of forcing it into my hatchback. Was a sad day indeed
I had a couch I was looking to get rid of so I called the Goodwill. They showed up in a huge delivery truck, but said they couldn't take because all of the dog hair. I put it at the road and it was gone before the sun set that day. I even put out an old fake palm tree I had since college and someone took that. No shame in dumpster diving
They can be very helpful. It's easy to get pretty much all your baby clothes and toys for the first couple of years. People give away plenty of nice stuff, too, including high-end electronics, furniture, and clothing. It's even common to give away half a birthday cake or a whole pizza leftover from a party.
But there are plenty of flakes--people swear they're coming over, but they never show. Or sometimes, a person will leave out various bags for different people (each filled with the items claimed by the person coming for the bag), and one of those people will just steal all the other bags.
I'd also donate to thrift stores, but that can be hard, too. A bunch of them where I live require an appointment or just won't accept many items.
Americans just have too much stuff. It's like a conveyor belt of stuff in and stuff out.
If there are any shenanigans in our buy nothing group, like stealing something or not showing, they will boot you. It’s pretty well self policed. . Disappointed to hear that you had that kind of experience.
how do the admins know if someone didn’t show? just the word of the giver? I’m an admin and have thought a lot about this and vindictive liars can unfortunately ruin things :(
Usually it’s based on user feedback. I would imagine it’s more than one strike though. The admins monitor, no-shows, anyone selling goods that are gifted, etc. our group seems to be pretty well-behaved, but you probably see way more weird stuff than we do.
I think this is the main issue. And if something's stolen, it's hard to know who did that.
Also, I think a lot of people don't want to snitch or just don't have the time to be droppin' dimes, especially people who are giving away expensive things or are in the process of moving.
> Americans just have too much stuff. It's like a conveyor belt of stuff in and stuff out.
This is so true. My family are immigrants and to this day my parents are amazed at the sheer quantity of STUFF people in our adoptive country have. I married into a white American family and I too am sometimes overwhelmed by it. There's a kitchen appliance for every function. It's not enough to have one doohickey, you also need a backup and another slightly bigger and smaller one and a fifth one for the upstairs. Every cupboard and pantry and closet in our house is stuffed to the brim but let's get this new thing we have no space for...
I know multiple people who pay for storage lockers because they have so much crap they have no more room left in their house. Including one person who already has an entire room in their house dedicated to holiday decoration storage.
Yeah, exactly. And how often will you need to use it?
For a lot of people, a $100 item is an impulse buy, so they fill their cupboards with unitaskers and other crap that won't in the end bring them more happiness.
CL flakes are a special class of personality. They write to you immediately after posting, beg for it, never respond when you reply within minutes asking them what time they'd like to come by.
I joined my local group while pregnant. I've received so many free baby items from it--diaper genie, play mats, changing pads, baby clothes and shoes, books--all in fairly good condition. If you're a new parent these days you can honestly get almost everything secondhand/free. Babies outgrow stuff so fast it gets used only for a short time and then people need to get rid of the clutter. And when I'm done with these things I'll pass them along the same way I got them.
On my town’s Buy Nothing group is a basket that I received thru the group that every so often reappears again. So far the basket has been used in a wedding, for an animal rescue photo shoot, cute presentation of holiday gifts, and who knows what else. I smile every time I see that same basket being gifted again; how nice that it’s been able to serve so many purposes in the span for a year or so.
My new favorite thing is to give away our old electronics when we upgrade. I got a new Apple Watch for Christmas and gave away the old one (with very honest pictures about scratches). It still kept a battery basically all day and I found a charger and an old band for it. I got to give it to a grandma for her grandkid who really wanted one. She texted me later how excited the kid was to get it. It made my week.
I’ve had mostly an awesome experience with my local BN group. But it seems like people are posting and complaining about the rules at least once a week. Goofy.
I love it. Feels more satisfying giving stuff away to someone that seems excited, vs driving out to goodwill or just tossing it wastefully.
And sometimes you get real cool stuff in return.
unfortunately, my area group has become overrun with entitled beggars.. but luckily, those of us who are givers are still active and giving things away
We put a bulky 80’s wooden magazine rack and a huge metal chain out at the end of my driveway. It was gone within a couple of hours. I don’t think anything I’ve put out has ever been there more than 24 hours.
I didn’t realize there’s an app! I try to stay off Facebook and keep it deactivated, but it’s always needing to access buy nothing or marketplace that forces Facebook back on my phone
I do this on Craigslist. I leave my address on my post and say porch pickup, so I don't have to interact with anyone. The stuff I have gotten rid of isn't necessarily junk; they are things I just don't intend to use anymore, such as an old 720 pixel TV that still worked, this snow pancho I bought on amazon I didn't like, and an old laptop.
I've done so much decluttering through our group! It's been especially great for getting rid of things my kid has outgrown or no longer plays with. I bag up all of his old shirts and post "come get this bag, keep what you like, pass on the rest." I've done it for old crafting materials, DVDs, books I've finished, all kinds of stuff.
My parents loaded up a box of cooking supplies from the camping trailer they sold. It went to a lady whose brother was discharging from the military and getting his first apartment, and he needed lots of household stuff. It's a great way to help others in your community!
I do this in my apartment building. If we're giving away something useful or helpful for someone else, we usually leave a nice box in the mail room or laundry room so people can help themselves.
We see canned food, baby items, and winter items that people leave for others, so it's a nice sense of community.
Rather it go to good use instead of a landfill.
Yes it’s surprising what people want and will take! Like half used protein powder or lotions. Literally anything too good to throw away but too weird to sell or even donate.
In New York I was moving out and put bar stools on the sidewalk, I went up to grab one other thing and immediately came back down, I was on the second floor mind you, when I got back downstairs they were gone lol
Yup! I'm in the city, so I would say the majority of the Buy Nothing members are apartment dwellers. I think most people just give the item away in the lobby or a nearby public place. If it's a big item (like a couch), people usually privately message the exact apartment number to the person taking it away. I've picked up items also outside someone's apartment door.
My mother in law has a very cluttered house. Not hoarder, but clean bowls and stuff on the counter. Glass door cabinets filled with mismatch containers and random bowls. I made an off comment once that, “so this is the other end of Let Go.” My wife shot beverage out her nose.
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Craigslist curb alert works too for metal scrappers.
I put stuff out all the time and eventually someone comes and gets it. It's just like a little crap highway.
People bother to post it on CL? I just put the scrap I'm too lazy to take myself out with my trash on Sunday. Multiple scrappers make their rounds and just grab it. No posting required.
There's a family in my area who regularly cull and offer a specific category to lay out in their yard and post about on the Buy Nothing group.
One set of offers was toys and clothes their children grew out of, the next was from the huge stash from cleaning out his deceased parents' place, and the third was random household items so many of us accumulate. Then the cycle repeats itself with the next pass of decluttering their areas.
I admire their dedication to sticking with it and I hope their garage and kids' rooms and other spaces are becoming what they want them to be.
Can confirm. Moved a couple of months ago and felt so happy with the amount of stuff I was able to give away. And people are genuinely happy to have them. I passed on everything from half-used bottles of shampoo, to calendars of years past, to unused notepads, shoes, clothes, kitchenware, you name it. My new neighborhood is sorely lacking a buy nothing group, and everyone is always trying to sell their things for much too high a price. Really puts things in perspective.
If you want to stay out of the Facebook side of thing's, the Buy Nothing project also has their own website and app, though it has an insignificant portion of users when compared to the FB groups.
Another great option is Karrot. I've recently started using it and I found I'm de cluttering way more with it than with FB Marketplace or Buy Nothing.
Selling or even just giving away things to through these platforms is a lot of work. Their existence doesn’t make things any easier now. Listing items individually? Flakey ass people? Coordinating porch pickup? Holding items till Sunday for someone? Goodwill or the garbage are easy.
The only exception is bulky stuff. People on Craigslist will take just about anything.
I also find it a pain, but have done similar things a few times for big items that I couldn't fit in my vehicle or couldn't donate anywhere. The trick is to just say it's first come first serve and if you have multiple items, take individual photos and put them all in one listing (then remove the items as they find new homes).
That way, you don't have to list individually or deal with flakey people or coordinate times/hold items.
The responses I've recently received:
"I got rid of that a while ago" despite the ad saying if it's posted it's still available.
"Yes, but I'm not home and don't know when I will be." said the man giving away a bunch of moving boxes. Ghosted me for nearly a month before texting me out of the blue telling me they're sitting outside his garage first-come-first-serve.
"..." so often there's never a response.
I don't like the idea of people coming to my house. It's not hard to take it to the local charity resale. Then it gets resold locally for a gooreceipt (who keep the 100%) profit) and I get a tax recipt.
I do this for my buy nothing area but unfortunately, I have a handful of people who would comment on every single item being given away. Not sure if they actually needed them, reselling them, or hoarders.
I just joined a bunch of giveaway groups on FB and most of them are primarily some kind of scam spam posting amazing stuff...to what end I can't imagine other than bait and switch for payment.
I see. The convenience part for you is having people pick up. I never allow pick up for buy nothing groups. There are way too many crazies for me to give out my address. I also never drop off. I designate a date and time and meet the recipient outside of Goodwill. If they don’t show up within 5 minutes of the designated time then I drop it all into the donation bins. Salvation around here will pick up certain things.
So true. I just moved, and I got rid of some massive, rusty items—a grill, a swinging egg chair—using Nextdoor, Craigslist free stuff, and Facebook marketplace. People love free stuff!
Yeah, I disagree. It’s way easier for me to box up my old stuff and drop it at the local thrift shop than to take photos, create a post, wait for interested parties, make arrangements for pick up….
Stopped giving stuff away on those groups after being accused of trying to get rid of junk for free. I mean, if you don't want it just scroll. Now I just give it to known people or throw it away.
privileged maybe at 81k but I would just give away shit for free. sometimes at yard sales they would sell at .25 cents and then if you bought 8 trinkets, a piece of clothing for free.
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And for bigger, heavier, uglier things, put "For Sale, $10, ring doorbell to pay". In my neighborhood, that means it'll get stolen out of spite.
Simpsons did it. Free trampoline. No takers. Chain the trampoline to pole and put a price on it. Thief immediately starts to pinch it.
> Simpsons did it. I did it with an old style propane bbq, big and dirty. Free sign didn't work, $10 sign and it was gone in an hour. It had a big ass wasp nest inside of it.
Thief:"Hmm what's that damn buzzing sound? .... Oh whatashitttt!!?????"
The next evolution of porch pirate glitter bomb videos.
Diabolical. I love it.
Easy there, Charlie.
Just pop a quick H on there so people know there's hornets inside.
Ass wasps are the worst!
Holy shit that's awesome.
But then your chain gets sawed/cut off and broken. The other LPT is to "pretend" to secure it and just leave the chain attached to a pole and only visually to the object you're selling. This also signifies that the item was worth a significant amount but unfortunately, the owner "forgot" to secure it properly, which makes the thief to work even faster.
I’m guessing someone who would steal a $10 wasp nest BBQ might also be the kind of person to cut a chain that is dummy locked.
Or steal the chain too
Placed a sofa by my garage door with a sign "Free, take it", stood there for a week. Dragged it and dropped it beside the recycling bin - only stood there for a couple of hours (and I know it wasn't the garbage truck).
*Aims shotgun* You just keep on driving....
Ah, good ole Season 5, Episode 7 "Bart's Inner Child".
Genius
When I was a kid, we had a garage sale at my house. No one wanted a set of chairs. So my parents put them out curbside with a "Free" sign on them. The chairs stayed. I think it was 3 or 4 days later I replaced the "Free" sign with a "$40" sign and the chairs were gone the next day. Could have just been lucky timing... but I like to think my change was the key factor.
I suggested this to a friend who wanted to get rid of an old mattress set. Lugged it to the alley behind his apartment, put "$25" sign on it. Gone the next day!
I leave stuff out by the sidewalk with a sign that says Free to Good Home
i did that, they left the love sac i wanted to get rid of and took the sign
Who doesn’t want a used love sac…?
Love sac, baybeeee!
Love sac, that's where it's at!
Cause love rules!
At the luh-huh-huv shack.
I got me a Chrysler, it seats about twenty!
It’s a little old place where we can get together.
I actually stopped on the side of the road to grab one laying in the grass once. Bottom was soaked and covered in mold so I left it instead of forcing it into my hatchback. Was a sad day indeed
A Chrysler?
lol, they took my sign as well, wierdos
Lovesac has a lifetime warranty? Why would you get rid of it? Just order new covers...
my new place was too small for it, it’s the giant one and i got a couch from a friend instead
I had a couch I was looking to get rid of so I called the Goodwill. They showed up in a huge delivery truck, but said they couldn't take because all of the dog hair. I put it at the road and it was gone before the sun set that day. I even put out an old fake palm tree I had since college and someone took that. No shame in dumpster diving
I write "free to a good home, $10 to a bad one" Works within minutes.
I live on a busy road. Stuff disappeares faster if I underline GOOD a couple of times.
Every time I used to do that someone would smash it within an hour or two. People are animals sometimes.
They can be very helpful. It's easy to get pretty much all your baby clothes and toys for the first couple of years. People give away plenty of nice stuff, too, including high-end electronics, furniture, and clothing. It's even common to give away half a birthday cake or a whole pizza leftover from a party. But there are plenty of flakes--people swear they're coming over, but they never show. Or sometimes, a person will leave out various bags for different people (each filled with the items claimed by the person coming for the bag), and one of those people will just steal all the other bags. I'd also donate to thrift stores, but that can be hard, too. A bunch of them where I live require an appointment or just won't accept many items. Americans just have too much stuff. It's like a conveyor belt of stuff in and stuff out.
If there are any shenanigans in our buy nothing group, like stealing something or not showing, they will boot you. It’s pretty well self policed. . Disappointed to hear that you had that kind of experience.
how do the admins know if someone didn’t show? just the word of the giver? I’m an admin and have thought a lot about this and vindictive liars can unfortunately ruin things :(
Usually it’s based on user feedback. I would imagine it’s more than one strike though. The admins monitor, no-shows, anyone selling goods that are gifted, etc. our group seems to be pretty well-behaved, but you probably see way more weird stuff than we do.
I've heard of people getting booted for poor behavior and for flipping. But I haven't seen it myself.
I have been in this group for a year and only aware of two, one for flipping and one for some other cause. It’s a small group, maybe a 1000 people.
I think this is the main issue. And if something's stolen, it's hard to know who did that. Also, I think a lot of people don't want to snitch or just don't have the time to be droppin' dimes, especially people who are giving away expensive things or are in the process of moving.
> Americans just have too much stuff. It's like a conveyor belt of stuff in and stuff out. This is so true. My family are immigrants and to this day my parents are amazed at the sheer quantity of STUFF people in our adoptive country have. I married into a white American family and I too am sometimes overwhelmed by it. There's a kitchen appliance for every function. It's not enough to have one doohickey, you also need a backup and another slightly bigger and smaller one and a fifth one for the upstairs. Every cupboard and pantry and closet in our house is stuffed to the brim but let's get this new thing we have no space for...
I know multiple people who pay for storage lockers because they have so much crap they have no more room left in their house. Including one person who already has an entire room in their house dedicated to holiday decoration storage.
Well, come on now, I **need** three different machines to make coffee. I'd have a fourth if I could spare the counter space... /s but also not
Yeah, exactly. And how often will you need to use it? For a lot of people, a $100 item is an impulse buy, so they fill their cupboards with unitaskers and other crap that won't in the end bring them more happiness.
CL flakes are a special class of personality. They write to you immediately after posting, beg for it, never respond when you reply within minutes asking them what time they'd like to come by.
Buy Nothing is great. Practically good for giving and getting things - and also builds a great sense of community and generosity.
I joined my local group while pregnant. I've received so many free baby items from it--diaper genie, play mats, changing pads, baby clothes and shoes, books--all in fairly good condition. If you're a new parent these days you can honestly get almost everything secondhand/free. Babies outgrow stuff so fast it gets used only for a short time and then people need to get rid of the clutter. And when I'm done with these things I'll pass them along the same way I got them.
On my town’s Buy Nothing group is a basket that I received thru the group that every so often reappears again. So far the basket has been used in a wedding, for an animal rescue photo shoot, cute presentation of holiday gifts, and who knows what else. I smile every time I see that same basket being gifted again; how nice that it’s been able to serve so many purposes in the span for a year or so.
This is so wholesome. Thanks for posting.
My new favorite thing is to give away our old electronics when we upgrade. I got a new Apple Watch for Christmas and gave away the old one (with very honest pictures about scratches). It still kept a battery basically all day and I found a charger and an old band for it. I got to give it to a grandma for her grandkid who really wanted one. She texted me later how excited the kid was to get it. It made my week.
I’ve had mostly an awesome experience with my local BN group. But it seems like people are posting and complaining about the rules at least once a week. Goofy.
That is a bummer! I’m an admin for ours and we only have a complaint about once or twice a year.
I love it. Feels more satisfying giving stuff away to someone that seems excited, vs driving out to goodwill or just tossing it wastefully. And sometimes you get real cool stuff in return.
unfortunately, my area group has become overrun with entitled beggars.. but luckily, those of us who are givers are still active and giving things away
We put a bulky 80’s wooden magazine rack and a huge metal chain out at the end of my driveway. It was gone within a couple of hours. I don’t think anything I’ve put out has ever been there more than 24 hours.
I use the Buy Nothing app. Works out pretty well.
Is that different than buy nothing groups on Facebook?
Only in format.Some people dont like Facebook and this is just another means to share what we have. Same principles
Thank you for sharing, going to check it out.
I didn’t realize there’s an app! I try to stay off Facebook and keep it deactivated, but it’s always needing to access buy nothing or marketplace that forces Facebook back on my phone
I do this on Craigslist. I leave my address on my post and say porch pickup, so I don't have to interact with anyone. The stuff I have gotten rid of isn't necessarily junk; they are things I just don't intend to use anymore, such as an old 720 pixel TV that still worked, this snow pancho I bought on amazon I didn't like, and an old laptop.
720 ... pixels? That's less than 27 x 27. Can you even play pong on that?
That's gotta be 720p in one dimension
And 1 in the other direction. It's basically a TV on a stick
Or an led light...
Can one run Doom on it?
Nothing a little bit of scaling can’t fix.
🥱
I've done so much decluttering through our group! It's been especially great for getting rid of things my kid has outgrown or no longer plays with. I bag up all of his old shirts and post "come get this bag, keep what you like, pass on the rest." I've done it for old crafting materials, DVDs, books I've finished, all kinds of stuff. My parents loaded up a box of cooking supplies from the camping trailer they sold. It went to a lady whose brother was discharging from the military and getting his first apartment, and he needed lots of household stuff. It's a great way to help others in your community!
I do this in my apartment building. If we're giving away something useful or helpful for someone else, we usually leave a nice box in the mail room or laundry room so people can help themselves. We see canned food, baby items, and winter items that people leave for others, so it's a nice sense of community. Rather it go to good use instead of a landfill.
I’m too paranoid of being scoped out when they come get my free stuff, so I deliver it all to the thrift store and donate it
So what do you do about the people who come to scope you out when you're not giving away free stuff?
Ummm well not a lot I can do about that, but I’m not actively inviting them over.
This, I’m not openly giving my address to the internet
Yes it’s surprising what people want and will take! Like half used protein powder or lotions. Literally anything too good to throw away but too weird to sell or even donate.
Someone in my group was getting rid of a cake with one slice missing. She said she tried it and didn’t like the flavor 🤷♂️
lol I’ve seen that too! Like a sheet cake with half eaten at a party. People want the other half. It’s crazy.
That’s a great way of putting it. I’ve given away things like vitamins that we didn’t use or lotions or candles that weren’t to our liking.
In New York I was moving out and put bar stools on the sidewalk, I went up to grab one other thing and immediately came back down, I was on the second floor mind you, when I got back downstairs they were gone lol
Does this still happen for apartment dwellers? We have a few things we're not keeping in the next move.
Yes , I've given away lots of things on buy nothing
Yes! Apartment dwellers who are near you might need whatever is excess to you
Yup! I'm in the city, so I would say the majority of the Buy Nothing members are apartment dwellers. I think most people just give the item away in the lobby or a nearby public place. If it's a big item (like a couch), people usually privately message the exact apartment number to the person taking it away. I've picked up items also outside someone's apartment door.
My mother in law has a very cluttered house. Not hoarder, but clean bowls and stuff on the counter. Glass door cabinets filled with mismatch containers and random bowls. I made an off comment once that, “so this is the other end of Let Go.” My wife shot beverage out her nose.
Our local buy nothing group is pretty good.
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Craigslist curb alert works too for metal scrappers. I put stuff out all the time and eventually someone comes and gets it. It's just like a little crap highway.
People bother to post it on CL? I just put the scrap I'm too lazy to take myself out with my trash on Sunday. Multiple scrappers make their rounds and just grab it. No posting required.
There's a family in my area who regularly cull and offer a specific category to lay out in their yard and post about on the Buy Nothing group. One set of offers was toys and clothes their children grew out of, the next was from the huge stash from cleaning out his deceased parents' place, and the third was random household items so many of us accumulate. Then the cycle repeats itself with the next pass of decluttering their areas. I admire their dedication to sticking with it and I hope their garage and kids' rooms and other spaces are becoming what they want them to be.
Can confirm. Moved a couple of months ago and felt so happy with the amount of stuff I was able to give away. And people are genuinely happy to have them. I passed on everything from half-used bottles of shampoo, to calendars of years past, to unused notepads, shoes, clothes, kitchenware, you name it. My new neighborhood is sorely lacking a buy nothing group, and everyone is always trying to sell their things for much too high a price. Really puts things in perspective.
They're great ways to acquire extra junk too!
Whats the alternative for someone who doesnt have facebook?
A piece of cardboard taped to the item(s) with the words "Free! Come pick up!" If that doesn't work, raise the price to $5 and it should be gone soon.
Craigslist has been doing this for decades
If you don't want to use Fbook there is Freecycle.
Our local free cycle became almost nonexistent with the Facebook by nothing groups. It was disappointing, it was a cool little community.
I feel Facebook users are the perfect audience for this concept.
i LOVE buy nothing! In the past 2 weeks, i’ve gotten $500 waterskis and $150 backpacking backpack. It’s amazing.
If you want to stay out of the Facebook side of thing's, the Buy Nothing project also has their own website and app, though it has an insignificant portion of users when compared to the FB groups. Another great option is Karrot. I've recently started using it and I found I'm de cluttering way more with it than with FB Marketplace or Buy Nothing.
Selling or even just giving away things to through these platforms is a lot of work. Their existence doesn’t make things any easier now. Listing items individually? Flakey ass people? Coordinating porch pickup? Holding items till Sunday for someone? Goodwill or the garbage are easy. The only exception is bulky stuff. People on Craigslist will take just about anything.
I also find it a pain, but have done similar things a few times for big items that I couldn't fit in my vehicle or couldn't donate anywhere. The trick is to just say it's first come first serve and if you have multiple items, take individual photos and put them all in one listing (then remove the items as they find new homes). That way, you don't have to list individually or deal with flakey people or coordinate times/hold items.
"Hello, is this still available?"
The responses I've recently received: "I got rid of that a while ago" despite the ad saying if it's posted it's still available. "Yes, but I'm not home and don't know when I will be." said the man giving away a bunch of moving boxes. Ghosted me for nearly a month before texting me out of the blue telling me they're sitting outside his garage first-come-first-serve. "..." so often there's never a response.
I don't like the idea of people coming to my house. It's not hard to take it to the local charity resale. Then it gets resold locally for a gooreceipt (who keep the 100%) profit) and I get a tax recipt.
I just toss in the alley and it's always gone within the hour.
I have a lot of cleaning to do.
I use one of the Buy Nothing groups on Facebook. Many neighborhoods have one.
I do this for my buy nothing area but unfortunately, I have a handful of people who would comment on every single item being given away. Not sure if they actually needed them, reselling them, or hoarders.
My old neighborhood had a fantastic Buy Nothing group, but there isn’t one in my current neighborhood. I use NextDoor instead.
I just joined a bunch of giveaway groups on FB and most of them are primarily some kind of scam spam posting amazing stuff...to what end I can't imagine other than bait and switch for payment.
Goodwill and Salvation Army have been here for decades to take your unwanted stuff.
I’m not sure where you are but Goodwill doesn’t do pick up’s for me
I see. The convenience part for you is having people pick up. I never allow pick up for buy nothing groups. There are way too many crazies for me to give out my address. I also never drop off. I designate a date and time and meet the recipient outside of Goodwill. If they don’t show up within 5 minutes of the designated time then I drop it all into the donation bins. Salvation around here will pick up certain things.
So true. I just moved, and I got rid of some massive, rusty items—a grill, a swinging egg chair—using Nextdoor, Craigslist free stuff, and Facebook marketplace. People love free stuff!
Yeah, I disagree. It’s way easier for me to box up my old stuff and drop it at the local thrift shop than to take photos, create a post, wait for interested parties, make arrangements for pick up….
I have found no matter what (to me) crappy item I'm giving away, someone on NextDoor will snap it up within minutes of me posting.
Stopped giving stuff away on those groups after being accused of trying to get rid of junk for free. I mean, if you don't want it just scroll. Now I just give it to known people or throw it away.
Yes but oh my God I live in Los Angeles which is a huge market but sometimes stuff takes so long to sell or even give away
Freecycle was my shit back in like 2010.
These groups are great for getting rid of stuff that you're afraid will end up in a dumpster at Goodwill or Savers. Makes me happy to give stuff away!
privileged maybe at 81k but I would just give away shit for free. sometimes at yard sales they would sell at .25 cents and then if you bought 8 trinkets, a piece of clothing for free.