Comments on: Freecycle: Strike One…Try Again Another Day

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:37:48 +0000

I like Scoodi and I like freecycle too. Freecycle has a big user base so items are taken pretty fast but there are too many pest emails for my liking. Someone last week wanted a free PS3 and this week an automatic car! Perhaps they got lucky but I could do without such want e-mails.

The freecycle group structure is also inconvenient; each group has its own local rules, some have little Hitlers in control. My mother was moderated from using the Edinburgh group because she was deemed not to be living central enough – she lives on the edge of the city; yet the next nearest Freecycle group is miles away.

Scoodi is a nice web 2.0 implementations with item tags and photographs for most listings. It is local without needing groups – it works by advertising only those listings that are within a user defined distance from your location. It is free. It allows you to select RSS alerts instead of email, so alerts are pretty instant but don’t fill your mail box with junk. You can also sell locally with Scoodi. I just sold some Hi-Fi speakers last week that I would never had given for free nor would I have been bothered to package up to send to a distant auction buyer.

So I say give Scoodi a try. If there is a lack of content in your area then tell some friends and start a new giving community of your own.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:48:11 +0000

I’ve tried Freecycle but being a bit techno-phobic got a bit frustrated with it so, I tried the Scoodi site that I’ve been hearing a lot about in St Albans recently and I love it. It’s so easy and looks good. I did have to check the spam bin thingy but now I’m up and Scoodi-ing. It’s great that you can receive, give and sell stuff in your local area – all without being charged.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 07:30:42 +0000

Sorry..how very anglo centric of me…..

I’ve just had a lok in the US and I see that there is content (though very little) in New York and Houston.

While I was at it I also checked out Australia. There is lots of content in Brisbane.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 07:23:04 +0000

Cosette. It looks like with Scoodi you can set up an automatic alert which sends you an email when something you looking for is listed. It also supports RSS so you can get it in real time. I now have one set up for free stuff in my local area which acts in a similar way to a freecycle digest email.

Content is still a bit thin on the ground though. There is a bit of stuff around Oxford, North London and Edinburgh. I guess it takes time to build these things up and for enough people to take an interest.

Good Luck.

By: Cosette

Cosette — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:23:38 +0000

I’ve given things away on Freecycle, but I’ve never been quick enough to be the first person to respond to an offer.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:52:29 +0000

Hi everyone,

I love freecycle. My wife and I are neo-hippies and try to do our best to be green in many ways. Freecyle is one of them. I’ve looked at Scoodi but had trouble signing up. I’ll check it out again. Freecycle’s great, though. It keeps stuff out of our landfills and provides some insurance for our environment. To make some extra money, too, we’ve been selling stuff on ebay that we want to get rid of. Another option…

Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:51:06 +0000

Hi there. If you want to achieve the same thing but would prefer an simpler interface with much more functionality, try something like scoodi.com. I have traded a lot of stuff through these guys.

By: Clever Dude

Clever Dude — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:53:10 +0000

Caveman, I corrected it. Thanks for the heads-up

By: That One Caveman

That One Caveman — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:22:58 +0000

Shouldn’t that be Freecycle.org and not .com?