How To Use Freecycle

The Basics

What are the basic rules?

When you join your local group, you'll receive a copy of the rules by e-mail. Please read them - there aren't many, but following them will make life easier for you and the Moderators of your group.

Although the precise rules will vary from group to group, click on Required Group Guidelines to read the common ones.

How do I send a message to the group?

Posting via My Freecycle.

• If you're new to the group, or haven't used it for a while, your post may need to be approved by a volunteer moderator before it goes out to the group, so there may be a short delay. Please be patient - remember that Moderators have something resembling a life, which means they can't always be looking at the group.
• If your mail is wrongly formatted or unsuitable for some reason, you may get a message asking you to modify and resend it.

How do I see replies?

Replies will go to the email you used to join the group.

Please check that address regularly, including any junk or spam folders in case replies get filed in there.

How do I respond to messages on the group?

• On My.Freecycle, there are now two links under digest posts. One goes directly to the post onsite the other for direct response to the posted message. Under the same link to post a 'taken' onsite you will go to the 'My Posts' tab and then click the 'Manage' button which takes you to the page where you can select 'Mark as taken' or 'Remove and cancel'.

• When you respond to a post, the message should go to that person, not to the group. Contact the individual directly at their private email address by hitting your reply button.

• If you are an EBay seller, thrift store owner, or a reseller of any kind, FULL DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INTENTION TO SELL ITEMS RECEIVED FROM FREECYCLE MEMBERS IS REQUIRED UP FRONT. You MUST disclose your intent to sell either in your original Wanted post or when responding so the gifter can make an informed decision with all the details and facts. Members have the right to inquire as to the intended use of any item they offer.

• NO TRADING!!!! Bartering has its own set of laws and regulations and such transactions are taxable and reportable to the government. Freecycle is simply not set up for that sort of activity. However, there are webs sites and groups for trading/bartering out there to be found if that interests you.

• Do NOT contact folks in response to a want they posted and offer to sell them something! If you are not willing to give it for free at this time, please don't bring it up. Repeat offenses on this rule will get you banned from your group.

• DO NOT request money for your offers. Freecycle means FREE, folks!

• If you have responded to an offer this is no guarantee the item is yours until you hear from the offerer and they tell you it is! Give your personal information (privately, not on the list) to one potential gifter / recipient at a time, and ask for their phone number in return.

• Once you are set to give or receive an item, make arrangements as you like but please practice common courtesy in accommodating people's schedules.

• DO NOT take more than you were promised! If someone agrees to leave an item on the porch for you, don't rudely take advantage and swipe the things left for others!!

• Mailing a small item is perfectly fine if both parties involved agree to it, someone is willing to pay the postage AND the item still remains FREE. If you promise someone you will repay them for the postage, be a good citizen and make sure you do just that.

How do I reply directly via email if I only get my messages via digest?

To respond to a specific item you need to click on the link under that item. This will take you to the website where you can reply.

If you wish to be able to reply directly from email, you must get individual emails instead of daily digests. To change your settings:

• Go to my.freecycle.org and login
• Go to MyGroups, and click on your group name.
• Manage settings
• Choose to receive individual emails

How should I choose who to give to?

Pick whomever you like! That's half the fun. But here are some things to bear in mind:

First-come-first-served is often not the right choice.

• Some people pounce on items and send a quick "I'll take it" just to get dibs, without really thinking about whether they actually want it. If they change their minds, they might just not show up.
• It doesn't give people who don't sit in front of a computer all day a chance, and you might get a later reply which makes you wish you'd not decided already.

So if you pick the first response, you're more likely to have trouble. It makes sense to take time to evaluate your responses for at least a few hours, if not for a whole day. Many groups encourage this.

If someone takes the time to reply politely and explain why they want an item, they're much more likely to show up, or at least let you know if they can't. You might also like to consider giving a local charity preference if one should respond.

How should I arrange pick-up?

After you have picked someone, let them know.

• Please arrange pickup with one person only, rather than "it's outside, whoever gets here first gets it." Otherwise you'll become unpopular pretty fast with your fellow Freecycle group members.
• It's better not to send your address until they respond again. If they take the trouble of sending you emails back and forth, they are very unlikely to stand you up.
• Once you've told someone they can have an item, please don't just change your mind and give it to someone else, unless arrangements fall through; if you do change your mind, please let them know.

One option is to exchange phone numbers, so that you can contact each other. However, this is not necessary. Reasons to exchange numbers:

• This helps if there are problems (e.g. you have to go out unexpectedly, or they're lost and can't find you).
• But it's better to only give your phone number to one person at a time, otherwise you'll get swamped with phone calls.
• Some groups do not allow phone numbers and addresses to be posted on the group due to safety concerns for their members.

What happens once I've given away/received the item?

If your group encourages it, or if you're getting lots of mails you no longer want about the item, then you can post another mail to the group.

• If you posted an OFFER mail and the item's gone, post a TAKEN.
• If you posted a RECEIVED mail and you've got what you wanted, post a RECEIVED.

If your group uses the plugin then posting TAKEN and RECEIVED mails is particularly useful, because it will grey out your OFFER or WANTED mail when other people using the plugin look at the group.

If you're using a site on freecycle.org - If you have an open Offer or Wanted on the board, and need to mark it as Taken or Received:

-Login to my.freecycle.org and click on “My Posts”. -To the left you will see your open posts, with two options available for each post: Mark as Taken/Received or Remove from My Freecycle. -Choose “Mark as Taken” (Or received if it is a Wanted). -You will be brought to a new screen that has a default Taken message. You can edit this message if you choose. If you do not, simply click “Send Taken message”. -Your Offer/Wanted will then be removed from the board. Those who choose to receive emails will also receive an email notification with your Taken/Received message.

My Freecycle was designed so that when a Taken message is sent to the board, the original Offer is automatically removed from the board. This way, you can visit the site and quickly see what Offers and Wanteds are open without having to search through the board for a Taken message.

Your Membership

Why do some groups have to approve new members

Some Groups have taken the decision to approve all new members to the Group. This can delay an application, but is done for several (very good) reasons:

• known spammers can be rejected
• automatic signups can be rejected (stops email address harvesting)
• people can be directed to a Group that's more local to them

If you receive an email from the Group moderators asking for more information (or just to confirm you're actually a person and not an automated computer program!) then please follow their instructions - they're not being difficult, they're just protecting the list members (of which you will soon hopefully be one!)

I'm going on holiday - how can I stop the mails?

You can change when you receive mails - see Mail_Delivery_Options. If you're on holiday for a while, then you should select Special Notices. You can change it back to Individual Email when you return.

I'm getting too many mails, what can I do?

You can change when you receive mails - see Mail_Delivery_Options. If you're getting too many mails, then you might like to switch to Daily Digest (to get them batched up) or Special Notices (to just read them on the web page).

How do I leave the group?

• My.Freecycle:

To unsubscribe, log in and click the My Groups link at the top right.

A screen will appear with all of the groups that you belong to.

Next to the group you want to leave, select "Change settings", then the "leave this group" green button and you will be unsubscribed from the group.

To leave the My Freecycle site completely, login and click the “My Info” link under the My Freecycle link at the top right. Then click the green “Delete Account” button and follow the prompts to leave the site.

• Yahoo:

The easiest way is to send a mail to the unsubscribe address. This is usually present as a footer at the bottom of all mails from the group, or you can find it on your group's Home_page. It'll look like this:

You must do this from the email address you used to join the group. If this doesn't work, or you prefer to use the web, an alternative is to go to the Join_page and click on a button there to leave the group.

Yahoo has a delay before it fully realizes you've left the group - so you may get emails for a day or two.

• Tip: Set yourself to special notices a day or two before you decide to leave. This way, it *might* eliminate those annoying last drizzle of e-mail flow.

Other Questions

• The best contact for getting immediate help as regards local group issues is to contact your local group volunteer moderator.
• For written inquiries, write to: The Freecycle Network™, P.O. Box 294, Tucson, AZ 85702
  • NOTE: The Freecycle Network cannot help you unsubscribe from an individual group. If you are having difficulty with your email delivery preferences, please write to your group's moderators.

• While, as a rule, you'll find your local moderators will be better able to assist you, if they should be unable to help, then you may wish to write our central contact address[here].

Can I repost a message?

This is a local decision. Please read the guidelines set forth for your specific group that you will have received upon joining. If you've circular filed them, check the files section of your group.

I don't like my username

It's a few steps to take to change it but if you REALLY want to, here you go!

1. Log in with your current membership information
2. On your MyPost tab, cancel any and all open posts
3. Click on the MyGroups tab
4. For each group in your list, click the settings button and then the "leave this group" button until you belong to zero groups
5. Once you belong to zero groups, click on the MyInfo tab and click on the delete Freecycle membership and click the confirm delete on the next page.
6. You can now use the same email address to join with and a different user ID.

Note: Make sure that you remain on each page after the save to allow the system to save the deletion for each post, group, and then the membership.

Note 2: Wait a bit before rejoining to allow the system to refresh and remove all previous footprints.

What can I do if someone doesn't turn up?

There are occasional problems with people not showing up to collect items, or changing their minds. If you're getting stuff for free, it's only fair to be polite and thoughtful about the pickup arrangements - as most of us are. So please make sure you are absolutely going to show up when you say you will.

If you're not sure if you can or will show, then let someone else take the offer. Remember, people talk... and if you become known as a "no show", then members will pass you by for someone else. Sure, sometimes last minute emergencies pop up; life happens... but if you can't turn up, it's courtesy to let them know - if you were staying in waiting for someone, you'd want them to let you know if they couldn't come, right?

When you post an OFFER, you can choose who gets it however you like. There are always going to be no-shows - but you can reduce the chances of it happening to you by choosing people carefully. See here.

Remember that not all no shows are deliberate. People get lost, have car troubles, run late from meetings, or have one of many other reasons for not showing up on time. But sometimes after all this, the person can still be a no show. So save the replies you received just in case, so you can move on to the next person who wanted it.

And because, one day, you might find that you can't pick up something when you said you could, try not to get too annoyed at people who do that to you - they may have good reason.

How do I report spam/scams?

Please don't mail the whole group! That just makes an annoying problem worse. Instead contact the moderators.

How do I contact the moderators?

The best contact for getting help is your local group volunteer Moderators.

To contact them, don't mail the whole group!

My.Freecycle

There are a few options available. If you prefer to do everything Freecycle directly from the web site, then sign in, click on my groups, and choose the group you're looking for. Simply click on "Contact on the mod team". It's really that simple. Here's a visual for you:

If you're an email junkie, then choose the name of the group you want to write to, remembering to use the way it is labeled on My.Freecycle and simply add @mod.freecycle.org

Example: groupname@mod.freecycle.org or waitinglistplayground@mod.freecycle.org

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Yahoo

To find the right email address to contact, go to the Home_page of your local group. Then scroll down to the bottom of that page, and you'll see a -owner address. Here's an example:

If for some reason your local moderators can't help, you can may mail our central contact address info@freecycle.org (or just click here).

What's moderation?

This is when your posts are approved by a moderator before they go to the group. See Moderation for more information.

Is it really worth OFFERing this?

You'd be astonished what things get taken on Freecycle, even if they're damaged, broken or just plain weird. Some people don't mind having damaged items - if a sofa has a big stain on it, they can put a blanket over it. Other people like taking broken items and fixing them up (sometimes to offer back up on Freecycle). Also, you can never predict what people will want for an art project.

So rather than decide that something isn't worth OFFERing, why not offer it up and see if anyone wants it?

Isn't that WANTED request too greedy?

Some groups restrict WANTED mails for expensive items, and some groups just let their members decide whether they want to respond to a request. Please respect the policy of your local group.

• If the guidelines you got when you joined ask you not to post WANTEDs for some items, then please don't.
• If there aren't any such restrictions, then please be aware that something you might think is a ridiculous request might be something someone else was quite happy to give away.

Are offers or wanteds for pets allowed on Freecycle

Whether a group allows posting for pets or not is up to that group. There are arguments on both sides, and people often have strong feelings one way or the other. Please respect the policy of your local group.

There's no group in my area; can I set one up?

First, make sure there really is no group in your area. If there is, it, of course, has priority. See How to find my local group for how to check.

Once you're sure there's no local group already, see here for more details.

Can I volunteer?

Freecycle seeks to ensure equality of opportunity for all sections of the community in its own affairs and in access to its facilities. If you would like to join us as a volunteer, read about the many different opportunities available to you here on our volunteer page.