It’s no secret by now that we are moving to Berlin and that we plan to move into an apartment in the city to do the whole “city living” thing for a while. It’s clearly a pretty major change of lifestyle for us (and some probably think we’re nuts — who knows, we might be lol) but we are really looking forward to it. As much as I love our farm and the homesteading lifestyle we’ve been pursuing, I also love being close to civilization, having things to do with friends when they come visit from near or far, and not feeling like a chicken with my head cut off as I run around trying to manage the house, farm, my jobs, our family, the dog and so on. So while I enjoy the homesteading life, I also am excited to just be able to focus on family and job for a while, with only a bit of cleaning up around our place. Plus, I think after all this, all of us are going to be a lot more conscious about cleaning up after ourselves — and we’ll have a whole lot less to worry with as well.
Now since we’re moving into an apartment, there are some things we’re just not going to need. Some of the things we’re getting rid of are things we’ve had for many years but really haven’t used at all in the recent past. And other things we bought with the house (there’s a LOT of those things). And then there’s the stuff we use but aren’t really crazy about, and are just ready to part with. And for many of these things, Freecycle is the BEST!
Why? Let me explain…
1. People on eBay have gotten rather pretentious. We’ve sold quite a few things over the last few years on eBay, and it seems like about half of the sales end up in headaches. People are only looking for new things (even if your ad states that it’s used) and apparently don’t know how to read very well when it comes to listings. I think some of them also experience buyer’s remorse after the auction ends, and they either don’t send the money, or they complain after they receive the items for no proper reason — then leave bad feedback because you are a private person and don’t take refunds (again, an issue with not being able to read so well). Perhaps it’s better outside of Germany, but sadly it’s the case here.
2. The fees on eBay are getting out of hand. Ok, yes, they bring the traffic. But 9% of the sale? Seriously? Versus 2-3% that is used to be…that’s a pretty steep increase. And now they are apparently trying to hold money for 9 days after certain sales… that’s just not going to fly with us.
3. Using Freecycle lets us get rid of the stuff QUICKLY! It is astounding how quickly stuff gets grabbed up on Freecycle around here. With eBay you have to wait a week to sell the thing, hope that it sells, wait for the payment, wait to schedule a pickup or go mail it out, etc. Sure you don’t get any money using Freecycle, but you do get tons of good Karma points. And think about how much your time is really worth. No taking super great photos, writing a big description, answering a bunch of questions, waiting and waiting — for about $3 or $8 or even $15. And people on Freecycle will usually come pick it up within the 3-4 days of listing it.
4. The joy you can bring to someone’s life with Freecycle is the BEST! People will take nearly anything and love you for sharing it. Even the things that we don’t have a clue what we’d do with them, people want them. Most of the stuff we’re putting on there now we got (more or less) for free with the farm, or we have used (or at least had) for quite a while. So we’re just happy to see it move on to someone else who will enjoy having it.
5. You get to meet fascinating people. In the past, we’d only used Freecycle a few times. Now, we’re just overloading their system with stuff to give away. And so far we have met people from all walks of life. It’s fascinating to see who you end up running into, from expats to house wives to hippies, everyone has been super nice and extremely thankful for our generosity.
6. You’re not paying to get rid of the stuff. If we ordered trash containers to get rid of this stuff, we’d be paying about €6,500 in trash containers (and hours of hard labor) to get rid of it all. This way, we don’t spend a dime. In fact, we don’t even waste gas. And many of the people are taking multiple things from us, which means they’re not wasting gas either!
7. It’s not going to a landfill. It makes me sick to think that if we throw away useful stuff, it’s going to end up in a landfill. We had a company come out that would have cleaned out our whole barn (and charged us at least €6,000) and they might have sold a few things — but mostly, they were going to trash a lot of stuff. Using sites like Freecycle helps the environment massively when you’re not just dumping everything out.
8. You can rest easy at night knowing you’re doing something great for others. Honestly, the people who have been taking our stuff have said thanks so many times — it’s amazing. And you also start feeling better and somehow lighter as all the clutter leaves your house!
9. It’s super easy to do. Just write up a few words about what you are listing, follow the few Freecycle rules that exist (like usually putting BIETE (offering) or SUCHE (searching for) here in Germany) and get ready for the responses. I do recommend putting up an image if you can with your listings, so people know what they are getting and don’t waste your time. I jut upload the images into the media section of NOH, and link to them in my Freecycle posts but you could use another free photo hosting service also. Sometimes I just put in one photo, sometimes more…but they should be a good representation of what you are giving away. You’ll get a LOT more responses this way too. Here in Germany, it’s run via Yahoo Groups so it’s pretty easy to keep track of what is going on.
10. It’s FUN! Yes, there’s a bit of work involved. But there’s definitely a thrill every time you put something on there, wondering if there will be any interest at all and how quickly it gets reserved. And yes, you have to have a flexible schedule to get everything picked up — but in our case, where I work from home, it’s a super easy task. Plus a lot of people work so they have a similar schedule to your own.
So if you’re thinking about getting rid of a few things around your house and feel like you’ve gotten all the use of it you can and don’t really want to sell it, consider using Freecycle. No, you won’t get a tax write-off for it, but you can only deduct up to a certain amount on write-offs anyway…and you’ll be doing something great for others!
Tiff,
Sounds like you and Stefan have really thought this change of lifestyle through. This will be a drastic change for you all,but will free up so much time, and give your family quality time together. Berlin is a big city, full of excitement and things to do. Have you found the location and part of town you want to live in. Will Stefan be able to walk to work ???? And have you checked out the schools there around you ? Lil’ Mackenzie will be affected,too, in many new ways…..I guess I sound too much like a caring father,huh ?????
wow… indeed inserting the things you do not need anymore in Freecycle is a lot of fun and brings you lots of Karma… I am one of those happy people who just picked up a mirror that I fell in love with as soon as she posted it, among other things. I appreciate it so much, that I was able to get this mirror from Tiffany! When I saw the mirror in “real life” I was kind of shocked that is was bigger then I imagined, and I was 100% sure this will not fit in my friends car. She knows me well though, and put her hand on my shoulder and said ” first, we will try – then we will see from there”…. that gave me the power to lift that heavy mirror and carry it out towards the car. I guess I was so enthusiastic that I did not realize how heavy that mirror really was. Now it is in my home and I am 100% sure that I will find a great place for it. THOUSAND thanks to Tiffany and her family for making me so happy! I am struggling financially and this is such a great gift – for my wallet AND my heart! Many blessings to you! And all the best for your move to Berlin – specially for the new beginning!
Hello there!
My name is Malte Zeeck, and I am with InterNations.org. I really enjoyed reading your fantastic blog! I think expats in Germany and around the world could really gain some great insights [and have a few good laughs] on this page. The quality of the blog in general is very convincing, which is why I would love to feature you and your writing on the Recommended Blog on GErmany section on InterNations.org
Not only do we feature and link to your blog prominently; we also would like to hear from you directly in our questionnaire! We have also designed a link badge for your blog.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact me via email: [email protected]
Best,
Malte Zeeck
Tiffany, as always, an excellent post! I hope that everything is rolling along well for you with this upcoming move. I’m in the Mainz Freecycle group and you’re right, things move along pretty quickly. Which reminds me that I have to close out a post (Abgeholt). Wouldn’t want to break Freecycle Etiquette!
I do wish they would let people post a “reserved” thing in Freecycle over here. You know, just to slow down the mails until someone actually comes to get the stuff. I got reprimanded a little bit for trying to do that the other day lol.