Free

[disneysteve]

People are constantly giving away good stuff on our neighborhood private FB page. Some people reply ‘I want that, can you hold it for me until Tuesday’ or ‘can I come see it’ or ‘what are the measurements.’ Maybe fair questions, but when we give something away I say ‘it’s on our porch, first come first serve’ and don’t reply to messages. If I’m giving something away that is definitely worth selling, I don’t want to work at it…

Nobody should have to ask for measurements because that should be in the listing but otherwise I agree.

For all, be sure to take down the listing as soon as it’s gone to avoid ongoing messages and to keep people from showing up looking for it.

 

[old medic]

Ok you win for shortest move!

I think we may have won this move....
We went from 712 to 662... each digit equals 5 feet so 250 feet. Google maps says its 187 Ft

 

[Venturer]

Many years ago the local am radio station in my hometown had a spot for about 30 min. every day called Tradewinds. People would call in with info about things they wanted to sell,buy,give away,yard sales,plow your garden,just about anything you could want or need.As has been mentioned here this might not work the same in this day and age of people being worried about getting harmed by strangers coming to their home. Sad but true!

 

[disneysteve]

Listing an item for free was the biggest mistake I ever made, they want delivery, to hold, don't show up, nit pick the item.
I list for $10 or $20 and if they show up give it to them.

Just list it for free and put it at the curb. Whoever comes first gets it.

Several times we’ve put out a free table full of stuff. No messages. No hassles. Whatever isn’t gone by late afternoon I take to Goodwill.

 

[googily]

My late DH used to call putting stuff out on the sidewalk "the ecosystem," ie, "Just leave that out for the ecosystem." Nothing ever lasted very long, though this was a very dense neighborhood with lots of foot traffic.

 

[COcheesehead]

We live in a pretty upscale neighborhood. We can’t just put things at the curb and hope.

 

[brett]

We are in the initial stages of preparing for a move next Spring so that means clean out time.
I have used FB Marketplace in the last few days to move stuff out the door. The secret? List it for free.
I got rid of old doors, an old TV, some stools. Things go to a good home, but best of all, I don’t have to haul anything away. Hopefully it leads to good karma.

We did the same with one exception. Appliances. We advertised an upright freezer for free.

No takers. Then we put a price of $100. on it. Sold in two days for $80...would have done so for $1. Saved us the price of having it hauled away. Did the same with on older fridge in a home we purchased years ago.


The freezer was the only item from our 3700 sq ft home that we sold. Everything else was given to friends or donated to a women's shelter for reuse or for sale.

We did something else. Sometimes people say they want something but never come for it. We had a deadline to vacate our sold home. We told anyone who wanted something to come and take it by such a date because the women in need shelter would be picking everything else up on a certain day. It worked a treat.

 

[FD1000]

We had a big renovation about 1.5 years ago.
The contractor brought a 30 ft dumpster because he couldn't find a small one. He used about 10-12.
I took advantage of it and filled it with all the junk we had in the basement. It took hours to do that.
I did the small stuff, but the contractors did the rest for the heavy stuff, like beds and furniture, which we kept for the kids if they need it one day.
We never did or would sell our junk on the curb. We are not interested in managing the sale. In the future, we would sell our junk to a company or someone who would buy it all and haul it away.

 

[sdawson]

My wife tackled the basement this summer. Everything just put on the curb with a free sign, over and over again as she tackled the basement. It all went, most within 24 hours. Chairs, poles, wheels, tires, kids toys, fertilizer, window soap, wood, antifreeze, oil, jars, buckets, just tons of stuff. One man's trash is indeed another man's treasure. As mentioned, it saved us hauling it away ourselves, and would have taken months to get rid of in trash cans. Big fan of the original form of curb side recyling. Some of the stuff was put aside for an end of summer lawn sale -- which wa also a sucess -

 

[COcheesehead]

We did the same with one exception. Appliances. We advertised an upright freezer for free.

No takers. Then we put a price of $100. on it. Sold in two days for $80...would have done so for $1. Saved us the price of having it hauled away. Did the same with on older fridge in a home we purchased years ago.


The freezer was the only item from our 3700 sq ft home that we sold. Everything else was given to friends or donated to a women's shelter for reuse or for sale.

We did something else. Sometimes people say they want something but never come for it. We had a deadline to vacate our sold home. We told anyone who wanted something to come and take it by such a date because the women in need shelter would be picking everything else up on a certain day. It worked a treat.

With my most recent “free” sales I had multiple back ups all ready to pick up on the same day. First person took it though.
The guy that picked up my old doors was going to make them into a desk. The TV went to a young couple with a new baby. The stools went to somebody just moving into town.
The whole experience warmed my heart.

 

[Golden Mean]

Cool!

We are building a new house just 1/10 of a mile down the street.

528ft. I'm thinking that's like... 3 doors down?

 

[Golden Mean]

We are in the initial stages of preparing for a move next Spring so that means clean out time.
I have used FB Marketplace in the last few days to move stuff out the door. The secret? List it for free.
I got rid of old doors, an old TV, some stools. Things go to a good home, but best of all, I don’t have to haul anything away. Hopefully it leads to good karma.

It does feel nice to us to declutter. Freeing. We have a hierarchy, depending on the item; goodwill, list for free, just put it out on (bulk) garbage day and see if someone takes it.

 

[COcheesehead]

It does feel nice to us to declutter. Freeing. We have a hierarchy, depending on the item; goodwill, list for free, just put it out on (bulk) garbage day and see if someone takes it.

Yep. Small stuff of value, eBay. Bigger stuff of value, priced to sell on FB Marketplace. Stuff of little value that I can drive goes to charity. Stuff I can’t drive goes on FB free,

 

[athena53]

We live in a pretty upscale neighborhood. We can’t just put things at the curb and hope.

Yeah, I have to list mine. I live in a cul-de-sac with 42 houses so not a lot of traffic other than residents and visitors. I always bring things in for the ight if no one picks them up. If they're still out there the second day I delete the listing and figure out something else to do with the item(s).

 

[COcheesehead]

Just gave away a decent Weber 3 burner gas grill. Third inquiry took it. Got rid of it in about 30 minutes. The first two didn’t understand a direct hook up vs a propane tank so they passed.
Another item we won’t have to move or haul away.

 

[freedomatlast]

Some people reply ‘what are the measurements.’ Maybe fair questions, but when we give something away I say ‘it’s on our porch, first come first serve’ and don’t reply to messages.

I always list measurements even in the free ads. Why have someone waste their time driving to your house if it won't work for them, considering the 20 seconds it would take to list the measurements.....

 

[Teacher Terry]

I always list measurements even in the free ads. Why have someone waste their time driving to your house if it won't work for them, considering the 20 seconds it would take to list the measurements.....

I do the same thing.