MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Janine profit from a Freecycle telly?

A question about : MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Janine profit from a Freecycle telly?

Here's this week's hypothetical situation for you to cogitate on:

Should Janine profit from a Freecycle telly?

Janine needs a new telly, and is thrilled when she wangles a free fab-condition Sony from her local Freecycle (see full Freecycle guide). Yet a month later, her friend Archie offers her his old, even better, HD-TV. She mentions the fact she's getting a new telly to a work colleague, who then offers her Ј50 for her current one. She's tempted to flog it rather than donate it back to Freecycle.

Click reply to have your say

Previous MMDs: View All

This Forum Tip was included in MoneySavingExpert's weekly email
Don't miss out on new deals, loopholes, and vouchers
FAQs
Privacy Policy
Past Emails
Unsubscribe

Best answers:

• I'd say that was ok. She was honest in wanting it in the first place.
  If she's friendly with the person at work she should just give it to them rather than selling it. Because how would _they_ then feel if they found out she got it for free?
  If she's feeling guilty she could always go round the house and dig out some other stuff for freegle / freecycle.
  Whatever happens, the TV is staying out of landfill, which is the main thing.
• Where's the dilemma? Someone decided to give a tv away on free cycle instead of sell it, that's lovely but I dont see there is then an obligation for whomever takes it to not sell it. It could be worse, she could have got it with the intention to sell in the first place. Incidently I gave away lots of things last year that i was too lazy to sell, I wouldn't care if the recipient sold them.
• if she has previously donated things to freecycle (as i think you have to if you want to recieve things from it????), then i can't see a problem with it. although if it were me, i would let the work colleague have it for free, if i was getting my new one for free.
• The point about Freecycle is to keep things out of landfill. I have donated loads of things from my parents house, and I am not bothered whether they were sold on or not. Doubtless some were, but that just makes more people happy than before. In this instance, the morally correct thing to do is to decline the Ј50 and give the TV to the colleague. Everyone is happy, she has a nice warm glow from having done the right thing and just maybe the colleague recipient of her generosity will pass the favour on somehow - the world can always do with more kindness rather than less.
  [QUOTE=makemineadouble;26159783]Also, after much ado with a fellow freecycler getting caught selling something they received (where they did not mention this to the giver), the majority of members voted that they would prefer the recipient to state that they intend to sell on items so the giver can then decide whether or not they would rather choose someone else who actually needs the item.
• take the money! an item doesnt hold any freecyle 'obligations', once you own it.
  its all very green and tree huggy, but i reckon a lot of freecyle-to- carboot goes on.. shame on original giver, for not selling themselves..
  havent they heard of MSE, gumtree etc?
• Give it away! I don't think people should profit from Freecycle. I'd like to know that the things I put up on Freecycle go to those than really need them.
  One good turn deserves another.
• Give it away and let the peson know that it was free in the first place.
  The original owner could have sold it but was generous enough to give it away, so Janine should do the same and keep the ethos alive.
  If everyone started selling their spare stuff then freecycle/freegle would die a swift death.
• Give it away and feel good about yourself.
  Sell it and feel a bit richer.
  As it is your property then you are free to do what you choose. Freecycle do not mind what you do as long as it isn't thrown away.
• Personally, if I no longer need something I got free on freecycle I will give it away but that is a choice I make (and can afford to make). I see nothing "wrong" with selling the item - if it is saleable then the original owner could have chosen to sell it. I have given away saleable things on freecycle on occasion mainly because I just want to get rid of the thing as quickly as possible and don't want the hassle of selling it. In that situation I really don't care whether the person taking it sells it or not as they have done me a service by taking it away and I am just glad to have got rid of it.
• Who would give a Telly worth Ј50 to freecycle? CRTs dont fetch that much!
• I frequently give and occasionally receive from Freecycle (now called Freegle in Belfast)
  I'm happy to give rather than dump. All I really would like is a 'Thank you'.
  However, often even that is too much for some people.
  Any time I receive I always give a small token, some sweets, a cake, or even last time, a bottle of wine. I know that's not the norm because sometimes I give every week and rarely receive a gift (or maybe I just give to 'tight' people)
  However, the ethos of Freegle is to keep stuff out of landfill rather than expect something in return.
  So I say she should give her friend the TV and her friend should give her a bottle of wine to say Thank you and they both enjoy the warm glow of generosity.
  Pamela
• I would give it to my work mate and get that priceless free glow of being generous. If he still wanted to give me some cash for it I would suggest a donation in the nearest kids cancer charity tin, or charity of choice.
  I suppose though if I was really struggling for cash ie three kids, low paid job, Christmas coming up I'd regard Ј50 as manna from heaven and yes, then I'd take it. It's fine to say be generous if you can afford it but not everyone can afford to pass up Ј50.
  The Freecycle ethos is to keep otherwise usable items out of landfill...I've put plenty into Freecycle and though I would prefer my items went to genuine needy folk, I also don't mind if the recipient is attempting to earn a bit of cash by selliing items on ebay and the local car boot sale. Good for them for getting off their rear end and making the effort, eh? More than I can be bothered with.
• 1. If you donate something via Freecycle, it belongs to the person you gave it to. They can do whatever they like with it. It's none of your business.
  2. If they then sell it on for a profit, good luck to them. Again, it's none of your business. If you're envious, then you should have sold it yourself.
  Question: how would you KNOW they sold it on anyway?
  As for "that priceless free glow of being generous", I'd rather have the money, and use it to pay for the central heating bills..
  * I have never received anything via Freecycle and sold it on..*
• To each their own. I think personally unless I needed the money I'd give it away to the workmate.
• Ok, I run two ex-Freecycle groups now called Freeworld-Recycling. Both Freeworld and Freegle frown upon selling items that have generously been given freely. Unless the person recieving the item is totally up front about selling the item on or the giver says they don't mind about it being sold.
  So, why doesn't she contact the original offerer and aks if it's ok to sell on? Failling that, what's wrong with offering the tv back to her local community on either Freeworld, Freegle or Freecycle?
  Yes, as owners/moderators we do know that a lot of reselling goes on. We do act upon this if we can get firm information about a member who is doing is. I have kicked out a number of eBayers who were blatantly selling items gained from my groups.
  The thing is, each group is not just a place to get free stuff or give away items, it's also a community. That community thrives on trust, the trust of each fellow member to follow the simply rules. If that trust breaks down then the group will die, I've seen it happen to other groups and then everybody loses out.
  Take care.
  Kevan
  https://www.freeworld-recycling.org