Buy Nothing Groups Vent

[Anonymous]

I thought this was going to be a rant about no shows. I'm giving people stuff for free, and half the time they don't show up. WTF?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought this was going to be a rant about no shows. I'm giving people stuff for free, and half the time they don't show up. WTF?

You can report those to the admins, they will be removed from the group.

- Buy Nothing Admin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man my group is generally so kind. It’s been a nice way to meet people too. I wish everyone had a nice group.

Do you actually meet people in person? I only joined during the pandemic so maybe it’s different now but it seems to be all contactless porch pickup in my group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don't people say please or thank you? I just gave away many very nice, high interest items in this group and I didn't get a single please or thank you. People said "interested" (then they were not in the pms), "I'll take it!"or, "next" but not a single please or even request as to why they should receive the item. After people picked up the items they didn't say thank you either. I'm relatively new to these groups so is that normal?

The nice thing about these buy nothing groups is that you don't feel obliged to give it to the first person who asks. You can wait and then choose who you want to give it to. If someone doesn't say thank you, or is too slow to pick up, I'm less inclined to choose them the next time. (Sometimes I don't mind if they take days to pick up, if they're considerate about it.) I have also been on the other end, where I have forgotten to go pick something up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought this was going to be a rant about no shows. I'm giving people stuff for free, and half the time they don't show up. WTF?

It’s rant worthy. In my buy nothing group they have 3 strikes and you are out policy. Who knows how many people report the no-shows but they all should. There are a lot of greedy people who are always claiming but never actually picking up.

[Anonymous]

I have a buy nothing question.

Why do people mark things as cross posted? If I’m not in any of your other groups and you don’t say where you’ve also posted the item it’s not really relevant information. If somebody says yes on a post you have somewhere else just update on your duplicate post that it’s taken.

Cross posted vs also posted on xyz page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't people say please or thank you? I just gave away many very nice, high interest items in this group and I didn't get a single please or thank you. People said "interested" (then they were not in the pms), "I'll take it!"or, "next" but not a single please or even request as to why they should receive the item. After people picked up the items they didn't say thank you either. I'm relatively new to these groups so is that normal?

The nice thing about these buy nothing groups is that you don't feel obliged to give it to the first person who asks. You can wait and then choose who you want to give it to. If someone doesn't say thank you, or is too slow to pick up, I'm less inclined to choose them the next time. (Sometimes I don't mind if they take days to pick up, if they're considerate about it.) I have also been on the other end, where I have forgotten to go pick something up.

In FB, you can also click on a person and see that person’s history in a group. If they never say thank you, ask for too much in a way that seems like they may be selling, etc, I don’t choose them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a buy nothing question.

Why do people mark things as cross posted? If I’m not in any of your other groups and you don’t say where you’ve also posted the item it’s not really relevant information. If somebody says yes on a post you have somewhere else just update on your duplicate post that it’s taken.

Cross posted vs also posted on xyz page

Yes it is relevant. It tells you it may not be gifted in the BN group, it might be gone before you even see the BN pist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a buy nothing question.

Why do people mark things as cross posted? If I’m not in any of your other groups and you don’t say where you’ve also posted the item it’s not really relevant information. If somebody says yes on a post you have somewhere else just update on your duplicate post that it’s taken.

Cross posted vs also posted on xyz page

Yes it is relevant. It tells you it may not be gifted in the BN group, it might be gone before you even see the BN pist

It’s tmi. You can say it’s gifted/claimed/taken if that happens. Or remove post.

[Anonymous]

My BNG is a sprout of a sprout, and STILL I have had people who said they wanted something tell me, when I say theirs was the lucky number, "Oh, never mind, that's too far away." Thanks for getting back to me, but come on. If you don't consider the whole area of the BNG to be your neighborhood, why are you here?

I mostly love it, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My BNG is a sprout of a sprout, and STILL I have had people who said they wanted something tell me, when I say theirs was the lucky number, "Oh, never mind, that's too far away." Thanks for getting back to me, but come on. If you don't consider the whole area of the BNG to be your neighborhood, why are you here?

I mostly love it, though.

The only time I feel that way as when it’s a complicated parking situation with specific apartment buildings. I just don’t answer the offers that have those buildings listed, even if I’d love the item. It’s always appreciated when the location is in the post. Maybe adding a cross street withdrawal help? Although sprout of a sprout seems hyper local! I get it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought this was going to be a rant about no shows. I'm giving people stuff for free, and half the time they don't show up. WTF?

You can report those to the admins, they will be removed from the group.

- Buy Nothing Admin

I WISH our admins would remove no-shows, but they don't. At most they will remove someone who lives outside the geographic boundaries, but even that is rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My BNG is a sprout of a sprout, and STILL I have had people who said they wanted something tell me, when I say theirs was the lucky number, "Oh, never mind, that's too far away." Thanks for getting back to me, but come on. If you don't consider the whole area of the BNG to be your neighborhood, why are you here?

I mostly love it, though.

BN groups are assigned, not chosen. The one I am assigned to is very large geographically, and the outer reaches are a good 20 minute drive from my house. The whole area of the BNG is not, in fact, my neighborhood.

When I post to offer something I include my location, so that people at the other end of the boundaries can decide whether the trip is worth it. I appreciate it when they do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a buy nothing question.

Why do people mark things as cross posted? If I’m not in any of your other groups and you don’t say where you’ve also posted the item it’s not really relevant information. If somebody says yes on a post you have somewhere else just update on your duplicate post that it’s taken.

Cross posted vs also posted on xyz page

Followed by AND GO….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My BNG is a sprout of a sprout, and STILL I have had people who said they wanted something tell me, when I say theirs was the lucky number, "Oh, never mind, that's too far away." Thanks for getting back to me, but come on. If you don't consider the whole area of the BNG to be your neighborhood, why are you here?

I mostly love it, though.

BN groups are assigned, not chosen. The one I am assigned to is very large geographically, and the outer reaches are a good 20 minute drive from my house. The whole area of the BNG is not, in fact, my neighborhood.

When I post to offer something I include my location, so that people at the other end of the boundaries can decide whether the trip is worth it. I appreciate it when they do the same.

Has your group considered sprouting a new group? Depending on where you live, that sounds like a very large geographic area. Our group has sprouted two different bng, focusing on the hyper local aspect of the gift giving