Be less weird during Craigslist pickups
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Be less weird during Craigslist pickups
Why do Freecycle people bring out their ‘inner weirdo’ when getting free stuff?
Writer’s note: This post was first published on Medium’s “Tickled” on January 4, 2020 and will now be permanently housed on Substack’s new “Tickled” column.
I’m not a big fan of throwing items away that can be used. I even made this topic a 10-minute speech for Toastmasters, in regard to fast fashion and honorable donation bins. So obviously when I saw a basement shelf full of hair shampoos, oils, head bands and barrettes at my parents’ house, I asked my mother what was up with this. Some were pretty much new and the rest still had at least 50 percent of the products inside. My mother (who has dreadlocks now and doesn’t use most of it) told me I could donate them all. I took three garbage bags worth of hair products home and got to work posting them to Craigslist and Freecycle. And the weirdness ensued.
Just take the products without the background check.
One woman showed up to my door with a note about homeless centers that may be able to use beauty products. I thought that was fantastic and agreed to contact them should I have new items I didn’t want anymore. But before she walked away, she offhandedly told me she looked up my name on Illinois State Treasurer’s Office to see if I had any property tax money that I was owed. In all fairness, I understand how dangerous it can be to show up to a stranger’s home. But this level of a background check to receive a gallon of shampoo was overkill.
Stop advertising your business until you get your Yelp reviews in order.
A man showed up to pick up a hair dryer and set of curling irons for his girlfriend. As I got ready to walk away, he gave me a pitch for his contracting business as an electrician, handyman and painter. Although that seemed like a lot of careers for one person — in addition to him telling me he can build a house from scratch — he had no promo vehicle nor business cards because he wants “to save the environment.”
Recommended Read: “Round 2: Filtering out the oddballs on Craigslist and Freecycle ~ If it’s free, why are you so entitled?”
He told me to check out his Yelp! page instead. I was excited about this impromptu networking, considering I know someone who needs bathroom repairs and my go-to handyman is hibernating for the winter. I mentioned how annoying it is when handymen are no-shows. He agreed. But then his Yelp page was full of complaints about no-shows. I mentioned that to him in a follow-up email. His response: “Oh yeah, those bad reviews are for when I didn’t show up.”
Meet me at the pickup spot instead of scoping out the neighborhood.
During a different pickup for kitchenware, I specifically mentioned a nearby restaurant parking lot to go to. As I’m strolling down the street, a van starts honking away and waving at me. I ignore it, hoping this nuisance will go away. As I’m going into the parking lot, the van pulls up, too. The driver gets out of a paint truck to tell me he thought he’d just drive around to see if anyone was carrying the item I was giving him. When asked why he didn’t just wait in the lot (I wasn’t even slightly late for the pickup time), he said he thought it’d be “easier.” And just as the handyman above did, he immediately asked me, “Do you need anything painted?” Well, at least this guy had a legitimate company vehicle.
Be ready to travel to the destination.
No matter how many times I put the intersection or the neighborhood I live in, I’ll always get one user who gives me a sob story about why I need to live somewhere else. This person will ask me to meet her halfway, go to a train station, or insist on no curbside pickups or at-home pickups. Then there was the one guy who didn’t want to walk two whole blocks from a nearby bus stop, even after I insisted on knowing whether he was familiar with the neighborhood before giving him my exact address.
Public Service Announcement: You’re not obligated to pick up every item you like online. Uber, Lyft and Via are in business for a reason. A Divvy bike trip is $3 one way. If a destination is too far for you to walk, drive or take public transportation to, just ignore the post. Stop wasting people’s time with back-and-forth emails.
Understand that Craigslist and Freecycle users are not retail stores.
If you give stuff away on Craigslist and/or Freecycle long enough, chances are you’re going to have to weed out no-shows. Even worse than no-shows are those “interested” emails from people who never have a time or date that they can confirm, but always want you to hold the items for them. And not only do they want you to hold one item, they request that you hold ALL of the items until they feel like getting up from the couch.
Recommended Read: “Revenge flaggers on Craigslist: Why is your life so empty? ~ Why Craigslist needs to take notes from Freecycle: Get humans to confirm legitimate flagging”
Then there’s the third group — this one wants you to describe in detail how much of the item is there, what the products are used for and which ingredients are in the products. Product images just aren’t enough for this person. They want a product breakdown and reviews. The oddest question I’ve gotten so far is “How do you use the barrettes?” I block all three groups; they are better off buying in stores than getting freebies.
Gift-giving season is over, but finding a home for items you don’t need happens all year round. For those of you who want to help find new homes for these $0.00 items or be the person to get them, just stop being weird. It makes the Freebie World a better place.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “Tickled,” “We Need to Talk” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter to keep up with all posts at once.
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