Reminding myself why I hate getting rid of things online

[Pixelated]

Two people were supposed to be coming by today: one to pick up my Christmas tree, and the other for my bicycle.

Now, to be fair, I'm not entirely sure the tree person has my address. I've just sent her a PM to ask if she did have it and does she still want the tree.

The bike person does have my address and I suggested she drop by about 3 p.m., as the tree person was coming by around 2:30. That seemed fine. It's now 3:30 and she hasn't shown up yet either.

In future, I swear, I'm gonna say "I'll put it out in front of the garage 5 minutes before you're due here. If you don't show up, it goes to whoever zooms into the driveway and grabs it."

[Ironclad Alibi]

On our neighborhood list serve people post they put something on the curb (or wherever) and if any one wants it they can get it.

I don't even go that far. I put the item on the curb on trash night and it is usually gone by morning before the trash truck arrives.

[Pixelated]

I did that once ... put something on top of the "Herby Curby" (this big wheelie-bin that we're supposed to use for our trash) because it wouldn't fit inside. I came out next morning ... the trash was still in the bin but the item was gone.

It was a piece of garden equipment; something that you could wind up the garden hose on.

The irony is ... it was broken.

You probably could still wind the hose around it, but not as easily as you should have been able to.

[csquared]

Put it out on the curb with a sign that says "Free - Take it or loose it". And make sure your not home that day.

I heard a story once about an item put curb side with "free" on it. Someone knock on the door and asked they would hold the item for them... For a week.

[Pixelated]

I can believe it! I offered a boxful of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines to somebody on one of these FB groups ... she kept re-setting the pickup day and time, and never showed up. I finally just gave up, deciding that I would add "NO HOLDS" in any future posts.

[Ironclad Alibi]

One day our electric dryer stopped working. We bought a new one and put the old one out on the curb for trash pickup. It disappeared. A few hours later a guy came to our door asking if we had meant to throw it out. He had gotten it home, plugged it in, and it worked. He wanted to be sure he hadn't inadvertently stole it. I guess the act of moving it jiggled whatever connection was loose and it started working again. We let him keep it.

[It's me]

Put stuff at the curb with a sign saying "free" and it'll be there for weeks. Change the the sign to "$25" and it will disappear like magic in hours! ��

[drunkenwildmage]

I was helping my brother clean out some rental propriety couple years ago, and we moved a washer and old stove to the curb. Within 30 minutes, a group of 3 people came by and saw it. They left a person to sit on it while they went and got the 'bigger' car. Wait about 15 - 20 minutes, and the other 2 in their group show up in a Pontiac Vibe, cram the stove and washer in the back of the car, then all 3 of them climb in the front and drove off. Driver in the drivers seat and a friend and his buddy in the passenger seat.

[protege]

Put stuff at the curb with a sign saying "free" and it'll be there for weeks. Change the the sign to "$25" and it will disappear like magic in hours! ��

Very true. Not long after I moved into my place, I took out a wall in the garden. It wasn't a large wall--about 2 feet high. But, it did leave me with a pile of cinder blocks that I had no use for. Stacked out at the curb with "Free" painted on them, they were gone within a day. Oddly enough, my dead lawn mower (ever see one put a rod through the side?) took the $25 treatment. That disappeared in hours. Why you'd *want* a 22-year-old mower with a blown engine, I have no idea.

[It's me]

Very true. Not long after I moved into my place, I took out a wall in the garden. It wasn't a large wall--about 2 feet high. But, it did leave me with a pile of cinder blocks that I had no use for. Stacked out at the curb with "Free" painted on them, they were gone within a day. Oddly enough, my dead lawn mower (ever see one put a rod through the side?) took the $25 treatment. That disappeared in hours. Why you'd *want* a 22-year-old mower with a blown engine, I have no idea.

Deck rusts out leaving you with a good engine. Hmm.... I am now wondering if the $25 trick works because people assume price="working okay", or if they do a grab-and-run without looking at the thing so they don't caught stealing.

[Pixelated]

I will certainly keep the $25 trick in mind, LOL.

Guy who might want some furniture has asked for photos. A reasonable request, and I told him I would get the photos to him in the next few days. It's a time-consuming process since I have to clear all the stuff off each piece of furniture in order to photograph it ...

Woman who was pleading for a Christmas tree for her young son couldn't pick it up on the first date. I said fine; if she wanted to come by this week, weeknights worked best. Haven't heard back.

Woman who says she has posted three times because she so desperately needs a bicycle forgot to come get it on the weekend. We agreed on Monday night or Tuesday night, around 6-6:30 p.m. It's Monday night and 8:45 and she hasn't shown up ...

My week is pretty hectic so I'm not going to do squat about it until Friday. If I've not heard from either of them by then, the tree goes up on Kijiji (Canadian version of Craigslist) and the bike ... well, heck, I was debating whether I really wanted to get rid of it in the first place. If she shows up and takes it, well and good. If not ...

[Deserted]

I once put a sort-of-okay cheap ($50) bike in the bulk trash pile. Literally minutes later, someone who was driving by asked if it was free. I told them go for it.

Also, many years ago, I happened to see a few computers stacked in front of a lawn. These were high-end Compaq servers, probably a few thousand dollars each (new). I knocked on the door to verify that they were really getting rid of them, and when they said yes, I took them... and soon found out why they were getting rid of them. Mors illos fuisse asseruit.

[Mental_Mouse]

I once put a sort-of-okay cheap ($50) bike in the bulk trash pile. Literally minutes later, someone who was driving by asked if it was free. I told them go for it.

Also, many years ago, I happened to see a few computers stacked in front of a lawn. These were high-end Compaq servers, probably a few thousand dollars each (new). I knocked on the door to verify that they were really getting rid of them, and when they said yes, I took them... and soon found out why they were getting rid of them. Mors illos fuisse asseruit.

Well, traditionally this is how you pick up spare components, depending on whether or how well the prior owners stripped the corpses. And if the causes of death are varied, you can probably combine them into somewhat fewer working machines.

[Deserted]

Nah, these was were those monstrosities that Compaq used to sell that were proprietary everything, nothing standard. IIRC, you needed a special floppy just to get access to the BIOS, and I didn't get one with the machines. (They also weighed 70 lbs each... literally.) I never could get them to anything remotely resembling "useful".

[protege]

Well, traditionally this is how you pick up spare components, depending on whether or how well the prior owners stripped the corpses.

Provided, that said machines haven't been sitting out in the rain But yes, I'd pick up scrap computers that had been put out for the trash. The last one I found that way, was at my next-door neighbor's. Nothing really wrong with the machine, other than it was slow as hell. No wonder, since the drive was nearly filled with crap. After I ran a virus scan and removed all the bloatware, I did some checking around. I kept the games and music, along with some of the hardware...before cutting the machine up for scrap.