Monday, November 9, 2026 · Customer reviews of US businesses
The Fair Hearing score
Poor
243 reviews
FreecycleSelect a line to read only those reviews.
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A nonprofit and globally local re-gifting and re-use network, each group is moderated by a local volunteer who keeps things flowing along. It's like a cyber curbside, or a family-friendly and scam-free Craigslist for free stuff, keeping good stuff out of landfills to the tune of 32,000 items a day in over 5,000 local groups. Find your local group on Freecycle.org and let the re-use and de-cluttering begin!
Freecycle (freecycle.org) has 243 customer reviews on The Fair Hearing, with an average rating of 2.2 out of 5.
Showing 128 reviews with 1 star · Clear filters
Ssssoooooo frustrating I totally love the concept but there is a new message service with people writing the same thing over and over and I keep getting emails even though I have asked for them to stop I will never sign up again Once I get them stopped
By Alan M.
Response from Freecycle· Sep 10, 2019
I'm sorry to hear that. If you still need help please write our volunteer support team at help at Freecycle.org. Best, Deron
Trying to sign up for Freecycle would be funny if it was not so irritating. Every time I found a username it said was available the system decided it was already taken after I had completed the rest of the form. Then it said my e mail was already registered. I wish I was so lucky. Then when I got through this I kept failing the Captcha. Eventually I gave up.
By Ringle
Response from Freecycle· Aug 5, 2019
If your email is already being used for a Freecycle account, it most likely means you signed up, perhaps years ago, for an account. All you need to do is to log in, rather than to sign up, with that account. You may do this here using only your email address as your log in ID: https://my.freecycle.org/ If you no longer know what your password is, you may change it here: https://www.freecycle.org/login/forgotten_password Thanks for the input. Deron
You think you are helping people out who are less fortunate but they repay you by messing you about. Never turning up when they say they are and you are waiting around for hours for someone who is clearly never coming. I will never post on Freecycle again, I will just take good stuff to the tip.
By Christine R.
Response from Freecycle· Apr 12, 2019
That certainly is frustrating when someone is a no-show! What I do to avoid this is to arrange the details by phone. That way if they are late or do not show, they'll get a phone call from me. If I just arrange things via email, it's a bit too impersonal and easy to ignore if someone replies back asking where they are, etc. Also, our site relaunch will eventually have a rating potential later this summer. Thanks for your input! Deron Beal
I will never post again an announce on freecycle. People like to waste your time. And for what? Nothing, because you are giving away your items for free. And admin don't help you at all when you ask any information. Next time I'm gonna give my piece of furniture to a charity shop, that's for sure. At least I make a good action.
By mark
Response from Freecycle· Oct 29, 2018
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. There are ways to avoid frustrations when gifting an item -- I advise requesting the individual's mobile number to arrange for a time and directions rather than doing so via email. This way, if the person is going to be late or is thinking about not coming, they'll call you back. If they don't, they know you have *their* number and will be calling them in a grumpy mood. It allows them to have some "skin in the game" and to have a more direct and personal relationship with the gifter. It's always worked for me. If you conduct the gifting entirely via email, then there is no personal connection or personal risk of them getting called by you. It doesn't tend to work as well this way. Finally, by all means, gifting to a local charity shop is a *great* option, just remember that Goodwill/Oxfam, etc generally have to throw away about 70% of all donations as they are unable to sell or make use of the items. Freecycle does fill that gap nicely for items that are still perfectly useful but may have no resale value. Sorry your experience wasn't great. Thanks for having tried. Sincerely, Deron Beal
Unfortunately, Freecycle is useless as a donor. More often than not, people who say they will get an item do not show up. They don't bother to call, text, or email. It is a waste of time. The moderators do not answer emails and don't seem to care rendering Freecycle ineffective and useless. This is New Mexico. Maybe somewhere else it works. I'm done with Freecycle.
By Jan
Response from Freecycle· Oct 2, 2018
Sorry to hear about the issues you've had. Each local group is run by a local volunteer. There are over 5,000 local groups and about 10,000 successful gift exchanges a day, *but* an occasional moderator may on occasion miss a pending post, etc. If you'd like, I can make sure the local volunteer is still out and about and able to reply to posts and requests from local members? As regards making a post, we always advise giving final directions via phone rather than email so that the replier knows you could call them back if they are a no-show. Keeps everyone honest. Website relaunch before the new year will also have the ability to rate members, for example, with a thumbs up, etc. Thanks for your input. - Deron Beal, Executive Director, The Freecycle Network
I'd give them a zero star if I could. The San Jose, CA area freecycle sucks! I tried opening an account. A week later I get a reject telling me that I can't use the word "freecycle" in my email address. Hello, an alias of [email protected] is the best way to sort incoming email. Next it takes another week before they graciously approve my membership, but do they email me and tell me I'm approved? Hell NO. Now I've been trying to post things but everything is moderated. 3-5 days (or longer, still waiting) for a post to be moderated is NOT acceptable. THIS SUCKS!
By Ken
Response from Freecycle· Oct 29, 2018
Huh, that's too bad. Each group is run by a local volunteer. We'll let them know that they are incorrect about not allowing ken + freecycle@. We'll also check out the moderation level of the group. Thanks for the input. Deron Beal
Have to jump too many damn hoops just to sign up. Nothing good really offered. Craigslist is the preferred way to go.
By jtbmetaldesigns
Response from Freecycle· Mar 15, 2018
Thanks for the input. Yes, we are a different animal. Craigslist is wide open in every way, both good and bad. What we do is ask that you sign up and join a local group and we have local volunteers who keep out spammers and scammers as a result, and keep it family friendly. If you are looking for unfiltered, Craigslist is the way to go. After sign up with Freecycle.org, though, you'll find everything is free and clear and without icky stuff to weed through. We're more of a community recycling effort in each local community with folks who care enough to gift items which still have some useful life in them to others in the local community. We are about keeping good stuff out of landfills more than just getting more stuff. It's all good. Sincerely, Deron Beal, Executive Director.
You wont get anything decent for free on Freecycle. Every time I have responded to an advert (even within MINUTES of adverts being posted), the email back says 'already taken' or there is no reply (which bascially means its already taken). It's well known that there are "professional" (scavenging) "sellers" (scroungers), who constantly watch Freecycle for anything of value. However, you may find Freecycle useful to get rid of stuff. Just bear in mind, you might not get any interest if the item cannot fit in a car boot, or holds no value. In summary, its a waste of time so don't bother. Just take your junk to the local recycling center (some have shops to sell stuff if it holds any value).
By Bullbar
Response from Freecycle· Feb 13, 2018
We're sorry to hear that you haven't had much luck getting items on Freecycle. We do encourage posters to give responders a day or so to reply, and I personally never pick the first reply that says "Still got this?" and always look for the reply that says, "My son/daughter is heading off for school and really could make use of that item, here's my phone number." In other words, replying in a sharing, personable way often yields the best results rather than trying to reply immediately to an OFFER. Know that Freecycle fills a valuable gap between still has usable value but no longer has monetary value. The Goodwills and Salvation Armies of the world have to throw away about 70% of everything that is donated to them as they are unable to sell the items. Long story short, if you don't think it can be re-sold, it probably can't. You can still give someone a shot at giving an item a longer life though on Freecycle.org. Pretty soon, you'll discover that the real gift received are the effusive thanks when you give someone an item, an item that just turned from trash to treasure.... Good luck down the road!
