I never give to the first person that responds. They are the gimme types. They either sell the stuff, or hord it all in their attic, that is if they bother to either to reply to your e-mail or come get it if they do. I think some have auto reply to all freecycle e-mails and sort through the offers later. Lame I say. That tactic does not work with me. I take e-mails for about 1 week and then give to the person that either needs it most of I feel is most appreciative, or just made me laugh in their response. "I'll take that" does not meet any of those requirements. I love it when folks say HI "my name" say what they want and a little about why they want it. And are polite enough to sign their name. I just posted a freecycle list of things. Subject was somthing like "102 misc items". I got over 40 replies. That was a month ago and I am still trying to sort it all out. I reply to 1 or 2 at a time, to not get too confused and offer the same items to more than one person. All seem very greatful for what I give them, and stay to talk a little, which is great for me, since I can not go into public due to severve chemical sensitivities. I usually drag them out to my garden for show and tell. I ask if they are interested in seeing my garden first though. The last lady that came, offered me tons of leaves from her propery when she heard I was allergic to the moldy hay I picked up from a farm. This lady is even going to chip up the leaves for me. I am so happy. I need the leaves since the ground under a few of my trees is bare either from the leaves blowing away, or me stealing them for mulch. She said she had like 2-3 feet of leaves under her masive trees. She is trilled to have found a home for them. I also learned a lot of useful gardening tips from her. She said that she has no fire ants due to the fact sugar ants eat fire ants. She said you can't kill your sugar ants if you want he fire ants gone. Wow, what a tip! Fire ants like poor dry soil and the sugar ants like the nice loose stuff. She said if you do not have that kind of soil, to leave out flower pots of good loose soil for them to live in. Due to her good gardening and ant control techniques, she has converted her whole street to organic. Major feat, since my whole street uses toxic chemicals that they do not bother to sweep off the sidewalk. I have to walk in the street to avoid the junk. She sets a good example, others are anxious to copy. I was so impressed. She offered to bring the leaves to me, since I can't drive due to car fumes, but I am eager to see her property and said my hubby will bring me over there. I said, I wish I had something to give you then I said, oh I just gave you a lot of things, including a brand new printer. I guess when you give someone something you no longer want it really does not feel like you are doing much. I feel the leaves are worth more to me than the printer, and other things. Free cycle is great despite the no shows, the rude e-mails from the demanding sort, the folks that want and never give, and the folks that make tons of appointments to pick up their things and still never come. I give um one chance now and move on, especially if the do not e-mail to say they were sorry they forgot. I have a list I keep with names and e-mails of no-shows, folks that came but took a long time to do so folks with auto e-mail replies, I'll take that" folks that do not bother to answer e-mails folks that show up folks that are very nice So if I get more than 1 request for an item, I can look through my list and stick with those that come and are pleasant. When I am more selective in who I offer stuff to, I have less problems with no shows. Mary

I agree, I would never buy/take a used mattress. HOWEVER, we bought a furnished condo and it came with a bed/mattress and I had no problem using it. I also have no problem sleeping on beds/mattresses in hotels and they are "used", and they are actually "used" by numerous strangers. So, I really don't know why it would bother me to buy/take a new looking, slightly used mattress from very nice and clean looking stranger, but it would... just seems different than sleeping behind strangers in a hotel bed. But, I'm sure there are lots of people that would love to have the used mattress, and if it was between sleeping on the floor and sleeping on a used mattress...I'm sure I'd take the used mattress.

Congratulations on your new machine, Patti!! Hopefully, it'll turn out to be something fairly simple and inexpensive to have repaired. I have a weakness for the older machines--they were so much better made. Silly, but it makes me feel sad to see any at Goodwill or yard sales, because I know if only the 'right' person would come along and buy it, how much it would be appreciated. Instead, there it sits, for sale, probably played with by every child who walks along (as well as a few adults!) :) My best friend got a free serger off freecycle--still in the box, never opened! From a young man. I suspect it may've been his mother's, or maybe he'd just gone through a divorce? The serger worked perfectly. My friend uses it all the time.:) She stays busy knitting and sewing preemie baby things to donate to Parkland hospital in Dallas.

I'm a moderator on Full Circles (sister of Freecycle)which has a few thousand members. I belong to both groups. As a general rule, it's best *not* to put in your post that first person to come gets it. That way people aren't going to be going out and wasting their time, in case it's already gone. You make the decision who to give your item to and you can post it that it's taken, ppu (pending pick-up). Don't get rid of the other emails, until it's actually gone, then you can go down the list to the next person you want to give it to. We don't have many problems with no-shows but it does happen. In the event I have them for my items, I have a folder in my email that I keep those people's names. If they respond to an item of mine, I make sure they don't get it. A lot of people use porch pick-up, so they don't have to be home...just mark the person's name on the item. Living in an apt is more of a pain, I have to be here to buzz them in, then I bring the item down to the lobby, or get help doing so, if it's a big one. Posting addresses hasn't been a problem either...any more so than using Craigslist or Kijiji. Curbside is great as well.