How to Get Free Stuff From Freecycle

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The Freecycle Network is a website where you can get all kinds of free stuff in your area or give away items that you don't need or want anymore. It's really a great way to get freebies, but also an ideal method of reusing something that otherwise might have ended up in a landfill.

Types of Free Stuff You Can Find on Freecycle

You can find just about anything for free on Freecycle! Whether you're looking for free furniture, baby stuff, collectibles, craft supplies, kids' clothes, or even free books, you'll find them plus a lot more.

Someone's trash is indeed someone else's treasure.

How to Join Your Local Freecycle Group

From Freecycle's Find a Town page, enter your city and state in the box, or browse the map to find a nearby location. Select the town's Freecycle group you'd like to join. You can join up to five, so if you live close to other towns, you may want to join those groups as well. Keep in mind that the more groups you belong to, the more free stuff you'll have access to.

If it's your first time using this site, it's a good idea to read the notices at the top of the group forum to get more details on how to use your city's Freecycle board and the rules and etiquette for the group.

There are two categories of posts for each city: people offering items and people requesting items. It's easy to find the post type you're looking for; use the tabs at the top of the page to filter by OFFER and WANTED items.

Browsing is fine for guests, but to reply to a post or join a group, you'll need to create a free account.

How to Get Free Stuff From Freecycle

After you've become a member of a town, you can immediately begin exploring the items that are being offered or requested of the other members.

Be sure to read the member rules to read how and where to post to get the free stuff. Each group operates a little differently on how they want you to do things. For instance, some groups may want you to give away something for free before you request free stuff from other members. So make sure you read the rules and browse the posts before requesting any free stuff to make sure that you're following the rules of your group.

If you can't quite figure out how to navigate around the site, check out the Freecycle Knowledge Base for help. Don't hesitate to contact town moderators with questions, too.

How to Give Away Your Stuff for Free at Freecycle

You're encouraged to give away your stuff for free on Freecycle. After you've been accepted to your local group, read the rules on how to give away your stuff. Again, each group operates a little differently, so be sure to follow the rules.

Freecycle also supports what's called a Friends Circle, a personal inner circle of your friends. You can gift items and lend and borrow items, but it's separate from your town groups.

Freecycle Alternative

If you're not finding what you want on Freecycle, you can find out how to get free stuff on Craigslist. There's a dedicated section within each city's page just for free stuff people are offering up.