by Tricia
I’ve mentioned Freecycle on here before, but I haven’t mentioned it in a while. It really is a great website that tries to match up unwanted items with people who want them. It keeps stuff from getting thrown away and it’s great for getting rid of clutter.
I’ve given away broken items that other people wanted because they had the skills to repair them. I’ve also given away various other odds ‘n ends from around the house. In fact, I gave away three bags full of stuff just the other day to a non-profit agency that replied to my email.
You can’t make any money, because the premise of Freecycle is that everything is free. What you can get is a sincere thank you from the person you giving something to. That can be much nicer than getting a few dollars for something.
If you are looking for a way to find free items or if you want to give things away for free, Freecycle is an awesome site to check out. From the main site, you can drill down to find a Freecycle group where you live.
I had completely forgot about Freecycle. I have given away stuff before and it feels wonderful to know stuff I don’t want someone else is going to use. I also like to read the request people have, too. Have gotten rid of some unwanted items that way.
I might actually try doing this before throwing stuff I don’t need or can’t sell. Does anyone even use photo scanners anymore? How about a ZIP disk drive, remember those stupid things that hold 100MB on a disk? This old technology just doesn’t cut it anymore and it would be nice to see if someone else may have a use for it.
Just a heads up – freecycle.org is the actual site (freecycle.com is a live web page, but not the correct one).
Kari – thanks for the head’s up! I fixed it.
Wow. Interesting site. I wish I knew of it two weeks ago before my wife and I did a pre-spring cleaning! We threw out so much that someone may have wanted, but probably wasn’t worth selling.
I am not a clutter person, so didn’t think I’d ever see anything that I wanted… but sure enough, not 20 posts deep, 3 books on a type of car that I would like to own, someday.
I have some things I would like to give away and was thinking of Freecycle. Could you please address how you handle the giving away part? I feel uncomfortable having people I don’t know coming to the house. Thanks.
K – We live in a pretty safe area so I’ve been having people come to my house. I also make sure my husband is home as well. But you always have the option of setting up a place to meet to exchange things. So you could meet a a grocery store, gas station, etc.
Jim – I’d list your things on Freecycle to see what happens. You never know!
Speaking of which, I have a few ZIP disks laying around somewhere….