Reading UK
Freecycle - Vital Information for members (Long but please read)
Freecycle - Vital Information for members (Long but please read)
This mail is sent out at intervals to all members of this Freecycle
group to remind them of the groups' rules. Please read it from
time to time to refresh your memory.
This Freecycle group matches people who have things they need
to get rid of with people who can use them. Our goal is to keep
usable items out of the landfill. By using what we already have
on this earth, we reduce consumerism, manufacture fewer goods,
and lessen the impact on the earth. Another benefit of using
Freecycle is that it encourages us to get rid of items that we no
longer need and promote community involvement in the process.
Catchment area for Reading UK Freecycle
Reading UK Freecycle is a local group for local people of the
Reading area. To comply with the local rules of Reading UK
Freecycle if you do not live within the catchment area of the
group we are afraid that your membership to this group will
either be rejected on application to join or when we find your
membership is outside of the catchment area you will be removed
from the group.
We hope and trust that the local members of Reading UK
Freecycle will enjoy their Freecycle experience more as a result
of this decision. If you have any concerns or enquiries with
regards to this rule, please do not hesitate in contacting the
moderating team:
THE BASIC STUFF:
*KEEP IT FREE, LEGAL & APPROPRIATE FOR ALL AGES.
This INCLUDES your profile!!! This also means, no
pornography/adult material, alcohol, tobacco, drugs (legal or
otherwise), firearms or other weapons (including a parts for, or
replicas of, items) no unregistered scrap metal dealers. No
advertising your car boot sales etc either, please, as this involves
money.
*NO Spam is to be posted to the group OR sent privately to
group members EVER. Offenders WILL be put back on
moderation.
*NO Politics. NO Religion. NO personal attacks or rudeness (to
other members or the Moderators). NO money. NO
trading/bartering. EVER!
The rules above are enforced and there will be *NO* exceptions.
If you break the rules you are placed back on moderation
immediately. Please respect the rules - they are here to ensure the
using the group is a pleasant experience for everyone. Abuse sent
to moderators or other members will result in your membership
being removed immediately.
*E-mail Settings** You can choose your email delivery options ...
'Individual mail', 'Daily Digest' or 'No Mail'.
With Individual mail you will receive each post in a separate email message. With
Digest you will receive a group of messages once 25 messages
have been posted.
No Mail will mean you need to read all the messages on the
groups website, you will still receive any Admins that are sent
out by the Moderators.
We set your membership to digest when you join but you can
change it to what you prefer at any time. Ask us if you don't
know how to change the settings and we will change them for
you.
*DO NOT use more than one profile or email address in an
attempt to post more wanted messages and receive more items.
That is dishonest and quite rude to the other members and we
*WILL* figure it out anyway. When we do, you WILL be
removed from the group and you will be reported to all Freecycle
moderators.
*DO NOT use taglines, email names, signature lines and/or
footers that are excessively long or contain business information,
addresses, websites. They WILL be edited or removed at the
moderator's discretion.
*DO NOT use an auto responder to reply to posts. Anyone found
using one will be removed instantly.
*DO NOT EVER contact another member or Moderator only to
be rude or judgmental. If you have opinions about what someone
posts or says, we expect you to be mature enough to keep them
to yourself. Personal attacks or harassment of our members and
Moderators WILL NOT BE TOLERATED and will result in your
removal from the group.
*If you have a problem or an issue with another member please
contact the Moderators who will do their best to resolve it off
list. DO NOT post a complaint to the board. These will be
removed and you will be put back on moderation until the
problem is sorted.
WANTED POLICY..
Each member is limited to ONE wanted post per fortnight (two
weeks, 14 days). Each wanted post will be limited to requesting
2 specific items. Also, the use of words such as Desperate and
Urgent are banned from wanted posts, along with other emotive
language and emotional appeals (as is consistent with the current
policy) We hope that you will enjoy your Freecycle experience
more as a result, of these actions.
The board is ONLY for OFFERED, WANTED, TAKEN,
RECEIVED and ADMIN messages - all other messages will be
removed. ONLY the Lead Moderators may post Admin messages.
Please remember that the Moderators cannot help you if they do
not know you have a problem.
*We advise you not to put your telephone number in your post
but if you do you must realise that well in excess of 26,000 other
members of this group will see it.
*Remember that when we speak to people face-to-face, around
75% of the meaning is conveyed by non-verbal means - tone of
voice, inflection, nuances, body language, etc - but those cues are
not available in an email or instant message which makes it much
harder to interpret someone's attitude or feelings. We should
therefore be careful about drawing hasty conclusions to any
messages we may receive from other users. Please also remember
that there are people using the board for whom the written word
is a difficult way to express themselves, these can include,
amongst others, those who write or speak English as a second
language, are inexperienced on computers and the internet or
those that have specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia or
any of the Autistic Spectrum disorders. If someone sends you an
email and you're not sure how to take it, assume it was meant the
best possible way. Also Freecycle is not just limited to over 18's,
there are a great many younger members to consider within this
group and all other local groups.This will help you feel better
about other members and prevent you from firing off angry
emails. If you still have a problem after doing this then bring it to
the attention of the Moderators.
*DO indicate what area you are located in when posting offers,
wants and when responding to messages. PLEASE note this in
the subject line of your post. It is VERY important to do this so
that you don't get tons of replies from people to far to come pick
it up anyway. If your post does not include your location it will
be rejected.
*Please be totally honest in the descriptions of the items offered.
If it is broken, bits are missing or it needs a jolly good clean then
say so! It will probably still find a home, as there are people out
there who relish the challenge of fixing things up or repairing
broken items. However there is nothing more disappointing than
getting something home and finding out that it doesn't work or
needs far more work than you are capable of. Do not be the one
to spoil someone else's Freecycle experience.
*Please post more Offers than Wants! We cannot stress this
enough. Keep the Wanted posts to a minimum and follow the
guidelines on them. Be realistic and considerate when making
requests. Police yourself on this one so we don't have to because
we DO enforce the wanted rules.
*NO Cross-posting. Freecycle works best when kept at the local
level. If you belong to more than one Freecycle group, POST TO
ONLY ONE GROUP at a time. Wanted messages cross-posted to
several groups at once may be deleted without notice at the
moderator's discretion.
To avoid cross-posting, please follow these simple suggestions. If
you want to Offer an old freezer (or whatever), send your
message to the group closest to you first and consider that one
your "home" group. If after a few days you don't get any takers
for your item, move on to the next group. This is more for your
benefit than anything else - if you send the Offer to 1000's of
people across the South East you'll get more replies than you can
answer and most of them too far away to make it worthwhile.
The same goes for wants - try your home group first and post to
the other groups ONLY if you don't find it in the first group. We
don't mean waiting an hour or two either - we mean days!
*DO NOT post for the same item repeatedly. Once per month is
more than enough. Please be patient. Not every wanted message
can (or will be) answered right away. Your messages remain in
the archives, which are open to our members to browse at their
leisure so they are still out there. Repeated messages will be
deleted without notification and your status returned to
moderated.
*If you post on behalf of or representing a charity your post
MUST contain your charity number. This includes asking for
items to be sold or given away as prizes to raise funds e.g.
Wanted: Items for a charity Raffle. This post must include the
name of the charity and its charity number. Your post will not be
approved or will be removed if it does not contain it.
Anyone found fraudulently posting as a charity or
misrepresenting themselves will be banned from this group,
reported to the charities commission and will have their details
passed on to the owners of all Freecycle groups in the area.
WHAT TO POST AND WHAT NOT TO POST:
*DO post offers for all the good stuff you don't need anymore...
furniture, appliances, toys, clothes, lawnmowers, car parts, etc. If
it's still good, then someone probably could use it.
*DO mark your post as Taken message when your item is gone
and mark your Wanted post Received when your Want has been
met. We cannot keep the archives up-to-date if you do not.
*Please DO NOT write an entire message in capital letters. That
is considered screaming in Internet etiquette and it is very hard
on most people's eyes. If you use all caps because of medical
conditions, please let us know and we will work with you on it.
Posts written in all caps will returned to you for editing.
*DO NOT post your address directly to the group! Think Safety!
Such information WILL BE edited out of messages and the
message will be deleted from the archives. Give this info ONLY
to the person willing to come pick up your item. Meet in a public
place if you want or need to.
*DO NOT submit free-for-all posts (such as "It's on the doorstep,
whoever gets here first can have it.') Posting in that manner
encourages hundreds of people to head that direction, and 99%
of those people will walk away disappointed and empty-handed,
after having expended a great deal of time and petrol for nothing.
Please pick out a few items, post them and set up a specific time
for people to pick the items up. That approach may seem like
more work but if people are making unneeded trips for nothing it
will sour them towards you and towards Freecycle in general and
that's not good for anyone. Ultimately, these posts will be edited
by a moderator or returned to you for editing.
The basic mission of Freecycle is to keep items out of landfills. A
corollary of that is *environmentalism* which is best served by
not having members driving around wasting fossil fuels
unnecessarily for items that will be gone when they get there
anyway.
*NO requests for money EVER!
*NO requests for Frequent Flyer miles, phone cards or special
events tickets such as football games or concerts. We are sorry
and wish we could help but Freecycle is just not the place for
things like that. If anyone has something like that to share they
will post an offer.
*NO requests or Offers for G-mail accounts or similar non-
tangibles such as help in the garden, or with charity events and
no loans or borrows of items.
*DO NOT offer prescription drugs. It is illegal to transfer a
prescription to another person, not to mention unsafe.
*DO NOT offer or request opened and/or partially used
cosmetics or personal care products, as there could be hygiene
issues with those products. Offers of unopened/unused cosmetics
and personal care products are welcome though.
*NO advertising your garage sale unless it is to offer what is left
over for free. DO NOT post your address to the group, just the
general area and what time to show up. People close enough to
come by can email you for the exact address.
If you are an EBAY seller, thrift store owner, or a reseller of any
kind, FULL DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INTENTION TO SELL
ITEMS RECEIVED FROM FREECYCLE MEMBERS IS
REQUIRED UP FRONT. You MUST disclose your intent to sell
either in your original Wanted post or when responding an offer
so the donor can make an informed decision as to whom they
give their item to. Members have the right to enquire as to the
intended use of any item they offer. If you believe an item of
yours has been sold with out you being told then PLEASE
contact us and we will look into it.
ANYONE FOUND SELLING ITEMS OBTAINED ON THIS
LIST ON EBAY, AMAZON, THE CLASSIFIEDS ,OTHER
YAHOO OR INTERNET GROUPS OR CAR BOOT SALES
WITHOUT DISCLOSING THEIR INTENTION TO DO SO
WILL BE REMOVED FROM THIS SITE AND THEIR
DETAILS WILL BE PASSED TO THE OWNERS OF ALL THE
FREECYCLE GROUPS IN THIS LOCALITY.
*NO TRADING!!!! Bartering has its own set of laws and
regulations and such transactions are taxable and reportable to
the government. Freecycle is simply not set up for that sort of
activity. However, there are webs sites and groups for
trading/bartering out there to be found if that interests you.
*Do NOT contact people in response to a want they posted and
offer to sell them something! If you are not willing to give it for
free at this time, please don't bring it up. Offences on this rule
will get you removed and reported.
*DO NOT request money for your offers either, or set rules about
who can take the item. Freecycle means FREE, with
NO strings attached!!
*Do NOT expect people to deliver stuff to you. If they offer then
that's great but it is not a right to be demanded.
A FEW LAST THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:
*Gifting does NOT have to be 1st responded, 1st served!! It's
been suggested that the first person to reply to your offer may not
always be the best person to take your item, so consider the
people who can't stick by their computer all day. To simply
choose the first responder every time stops MANY deserving
people from ever having an opportunity of participate. Many
groups ask their members to wait 24 hours before deciding who
will receive their item (Fair Offer Policy or FOP). This cannot
really be enforced but sometimes it would be helpful to those
that don't have as much computer access so please consider it if
your circumstances allow. The ultimate decision is up to the
person giving the item and to choose the recipient as they see fit.
*If you have responded to an offer this is no guarantee the item is
yours until you hear from the gifter and they tell you it is! Give
your personal information (privately, not on the list) to one
potential gifter / recipient at a time, and ask for their phone
number in return.
*Once you are set to give or receive an item, make arrangements
to collect as you like but please practice common courtesy in
accommodating people's schedules.
*Arrange pickup with only one person at a time. Often it is
possible to gift an item without having to rearrange your schedule
by simply leaving the item in a designated location, such as the
porch or along side the garage. Share this info only with the
receiver, not with the entire group.
*DO NOT promise your items to one person and then give them
to another! Again, please treat others the way you would wish to
be treated.
*DO NOT take more than you were promised! If someone agrees
to leave an item on the porch for you, don't rudely take
advantage and swipe the things left for others!!
*Mailing a small item is perfectly fine if both parties involved
agree to it, someone is willing to pay the postage AND the item
still remains FREE. If you promise someone you will repay them
for the postage, be a good citizen and make sure you do just that.
Thank you for being here and being a part of this movement. The
generosity and kindness we have seen since getting involved with
Freecycle is quite amazing... and we are proud to be a part of it.
Keep up the good work and enjoy your Freecycle experience.
Kind Regards,
Reading UK,
Moderating team.
DISCLAIMER.
FREECYCLE MEMBERS USE FREECYCLE GROUPS AT
THEIR OWN RISK. Please take reasonable measures to protect
your safety and privacy when posting to group lists or when
completing a direct gifting with another member. By joining a
Freecycle list, you agree to hold neither the list owners,
moderators, nor anyone affiliated with The Freecycle Network
responsible or liable for any circumstance resulting from a
Freecycle-related gifting or communication.
Please login or sign up to My Freecycle to join this group.