I joined New Orleans’ freecycle group a few months ago and have used it to pass on a bunch of things… from fence boards to packages of unused hotel soap to shoes. I posted some baby boy items that were given to me from a neighbor… a cap, bathing suit, blue crib blanket, etc. Quickly after posting, an interested party emailed me.
But I am unsettled over her email. For one, her email name is something like “Resaler Cindy,” which makes me think that she may be trying to profit from freecycle, which bothers me. Second, she says she wants it “for a friend,” but did so in all lowercase letters with no punctuation and a typo. I have no problem with quick, un-punctuated, lowercase notes from friends, but my goodness… when it is a formal request to be given an item for free, maybe writing a sentence would be good form! She’s not ee cummings for crying out loud. Sheesh.
In the past, when I’ve received messages that give me pause, the person has been flaky and pick-up has been a pain. So I initially thought I’d just skip her message and go to the next person. But no one else has responded! What to do…?
Gwen | 10-Aug-06 at 5:37 pm | Permalink
i’m a cola freecycle person too! i haven’t swaped or gotten rid of anything yet but i’m watching the community develop. i did post an entry asking if anyone knew of where to buy cloth diapers or if they had any their kids had outgrown…
as for your poster, go with your gut. you have a good gut holly anna, if you think they will be resold then skip it. that’s totally not the point of freecycle (or you could ask your moderator). repost at a later time, donate them somewhere else, or put it on craigslist…our craigslist sometimes has free stuff on it too.
good luck!
Holly | 11-Aug-06 at 2:39 pm | Permalink
Thanks, Gwen! I went with the gut, pulled the post, and will probably re-post later. On a brighter note, there was lots of interest on the next leftover set of our fenceboards!