Giving your "junk" to other people.

[Cruise]

Inspired by the thread of people foisting their old junk off onto you....

On the other side of the coin, when is it okay to offer things to other people?

For example, we have a metal frame futon that we'll be getting rid of soon. I could offer it to friends, or I could even sell it on Craiglist. But, to be honest, I'll probably most likely just set it on the curb and maybe make a "free for the taking" post on Craigslist and whoever picks it up can have it. Now, if one of our friends finds out that we did this, might they be offended if they could have used it?

Also, my husband works in an industry where he ends up getting promotional items. The "main" items are valuable by retail standards and always wrapped as new. If this is something we can't use, is it okay to offer it to other people? In addition, there are usually "related" promotional items that we have no use for. For example, I'm sitting here looking at a box of Crayola (yes, name brand on the box) Sidewalk Chalk - 15 sticks of it wrapped in plastic and obviously brand new, never used. We don't have kids ourselves and our closest family is on the other side of the country. However, we have friends who have a 2 year old that might really enjoy this. Do we offer it to them or would it just be seen as getting rid of our "junk?"

And to clarify, we'd never try to pretend these things were gifts that we'd gone out and bought... we've always been clear in the past that these are things we received for free but have no use for.

So I guess the question is - what things would you want to be offered by people?

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I'm a person that if someone offers something to me I normally take it. I thank them for thinking of me and if I don't need it I pass it on to someone who can or goodwill. I have 4 boys and sometimes people offer me clothes for them. I always take them, take out what I can use, donate the rest. But I've never had someone come over and ask specifically about an item they gave me, either.

I think you should offer it and when you do you could say something like "Can you use this or do you know someone who can? I was going to donate it, but I thought I'd check with you first." That way if they don't want it they can say no without worrying about hurting your feelings.

 

[rflorek]

See if your area has a branch of FreeCycle. You sign up, post your item, people repsond, and you can either meet them somewhere to give away the item(s), or you can leave them on your porch or curb for them to pickup.

I've used it to get rid of many things I would normally throw out, as well as to get free packing peanuts to use to ship my eBay sales.

 

[malibuconlee]

Your friends with the 2 year old...do they ever come over to your house with the kid? That's a great thing to keep around, just in case. Kids love sidewalk chalk. It's something that doesn't take up a ton of room and you can keep for them to play with at your house. I did that before we had kids, kept a few things around for kids to play with when they were at my house.

Otherwise, yeah, give it away, I"m sure the parents would take it off your hands.

I agree, Craigslist is great for giving away stuff. Or if you get a lot of this stuff send out an email to your friends offering all the stuff. First to respond with an 'I'll take the whatever" gets it?

 

[wdwfan16]

If the item is new and age appropriate then I would offer it to a friend with kids.

If the item is still in good order and I am only getting rid of it because we don't need it any more than I give it away to a person who I know would like it.

We recently gave a friend a DVD player we did not need anymore. We have a blu-ray player now. Hers died and she did not have one. She was happy to get it.

I would never give away junk.

 

[patsal]

It is never offensive to offer something, just be ok if someone says they do not need it.

When my Mother offers something for example, she insist it be taken, and then if you get rid of it you never hear the end of it.

I have clothing I no longer fit in, I could make $$ on ebay with it, but I always offer it to my sister first. SHe usually takes it, but I don't care if she doesn't because then I'd get money to replace the clothing.

I think it is fine unless you insist that someone take something and then act all offended if they pass it on to somone who can use it, donate it or toss it out.

There are many perfectly good items that end up in landfills, if someone wants it they should definately have it, however by the same notion, if they do not want it they should not be forced to take it.

 

[DaniB]

I think you should offer it and when you do you could say something like "Can you use this or do you know someone who can? I was going to donate it, but I thought I'd check with you first." That way if they don't want it they can say no without worrying about hurting your feelings.

This is what I normally do. I often post things for sale on Craigslist and Kijijii, and I also post things for free on freecycle. So when I think of someone who may want an item, I offer it to them saying, "that I'm about to post this on freecycle but I thought I would offer it to you first in case you wanted it".

This way they can say no if they don't want it, and know that I will not be offended as I was going to post it on freecycle in any case.

 

[3girlsfun]

I just wanted to post on your thread, as I started the other thread about people giving me their junk. It is totally different if someone is offering something to you, not forcing it on you. I can say no to things, and they will still end up at my house. Seriously.....we have a brand new set up outdoor furniture on our deck. We have no room for any other items on our deck as we also have a kids playground thing, a sandbox, and a grill. My mom offered their old outdoor furniture to us. She didn't show up with it at our house. I guess the last time I told everyone off about it, they finally got the point.

I think the key is to make sure what you are offering is not junk. I know it is in the eye of the beholder, but, you know what I mean. Our next door neighbor brought over a huge bag of baby clothes because we have 3 girls. Ok, great, they all smelled like smoke (even after I washed them 2 times) and they had stains all over them.....this is junk!

I hope this doesn't make me sound unappreciative of the things I am given, bc, I promise I so am....I just don't want to be people's dumping ground. (I mean, I have 3, yes 3 baby swings at my house!!!!!!! ARGHHH!!!!!!)

 

[SunnieRN]

I don't give away junk, but I do give a LOT of things away. Most of the time people are pleased and appreciative. I do always ask first if they "need or want" whatever it is. That way they don't feel like I'm showing up at their doorstep with something.

If it were reversed, I would be very grateful someone thought of me or my child.

 

[QVCshopper]

I offer things to people, but it's OK if they don't want it. I just gave away a huge carload of baby stuff to a local charity; maybe that's what you can do with your many baby swings? Or just put them outside with a free sign. That always works well for me, and I've likewise picked up lots of good stuff that way.

I gave a racing car set to my husband's aunt b/c she watches her grandsons at least 3 days a week and wanted new toys. She mentioned that they liked them later on.

However, I also get "hints" from friends asking for stuff. My DD is the same age as my friend's daughter, but my DD is in a size 8-10, while hers is in a 5-6. So, she was basically saying that her DD needed clothes, still was wearing 3T, etc. Pretty sure she was asking around the bush for my DD's clothes, but I already passed them onto a cousin's daughter. Oh well. I used to give her the clothes, get them back, and pass them on again, but that was too much work. Now, they go straight to the cousin.

 

[Ephany]

If the item is in good condition and the giver truly thought it was something we could use, I don't mind being asked. Just don't try to use me as a dumping ground for the stuff you no longer want, but can't bear to throw away (ie my mother). I truly don't mind if someone says no when I offer them something. I used to sell DD's outgrown clothes on ebay, but I simply don't have the time or energy to deal with buyers now that the rules have changed. I had two HUGE bags of clothes (some still with tags ) that I offered to a friend. She was thrilled and asked if I'd be offended if she shared with her sister. I've also shared items with people, the only condition I ask is that if they can't use it, they pass it on to someone who can. However, there has been times when I've been given/won something and I've offered it around and no one's interested. I just put it in my goodwill stash and off it goes the next time I have enough to donate. It would never occur to me to be offended because I was or wasn't offered something that belonged to someone else.

I don't understand the placing of stipulations on items you give away (unless their family items that should stay with the family of course); it's no longer yours, why worry about it?