Wednesday, November 5, 2014

A few more Free Things

This is a hard look into those websites that claim they will find you free things but require more than I am willing to give in time and effort.  By far the most useful site is Craigs List and even that has its downfall areas.  Be careful of scams.  Sites like Craigs list aren't monitored as strictly as some and people will try to scam and steal from honest folks.  It helps to be aware of this and not give out too much information.  That being said, I have sold and bought items on Craigs List and was treated well.   I do think that more secure and local sites are best.  That is why I would rather deal with places like the free listings on Facebook from folks I know live in my area.


There is a Craig’s List for lots of regions, so you first want to find your state and city, which will direct you to a Craig’s List.org for your area.  In the middle of the page there should be a listing “For Sale” and in the middle of that list is a listing called “Free”.  For the cost of emailing or phoning the person listed and going to get the item yourself, you could find used furniture, moving boxes, German Shepherd puppies, kittens, or even desks and children’s toys.  If you find something you are interested in be sure to call or email (or both) right away as there may be a number of people also interested or the item may have already been hauled off.  I find this to be a great feature to keep your eye on for children’s furniture and moving boxes.  Very helpful.

Many areas have someone who has taken it upon themselves to create a Facebook page with similar elements to the Craig’s List free listing.  They like to list low cost yard sale type items or free-to-a-good-home items on Facebook.  Just type in “free” in the Facebook search and see what might pop up.  I have gotten some lovely things this way.  I bought an electric bread maker from a sweet little elderly lady who said she just didn't have time for it as she was by herself now and she basically wanted to get rid of it.  She sold a $300 bread maker for just $50.  I was overjoyed.
Oil painting of a loaf of bread from my new used bread maker.

In my area there is a Facebook site called (city) Homegoods and Resale Page.  Along with that I found several other Facebook pages with similar names that sell nice items at yard sale prices from local folks.   


This is a site that sends you to other free stuff sites like the ones listed below.  Most want a lot of information from you or require you to use their search engine.  However there are a few good sites listed.  You just have to plow through a lot of refuse to find it.


This site directs you to other sites where you can get free things.  You have to fill out membership information in each of the directed sites but many are worth it.  They have free music, free event tickets, promotional give aways, free samples, coupons, free books, and free movie tickets.

The free music is genuinely free but much of it isn’t very good.  Like the free stock photo sites, you have to really pick through junk to find gems. 

The problem with this site is that you are expected to use their Ask.com search engine.  Although it is free, I find it annoying to HAVE to use something I didn’t really choose.  I looked through a few free things then changed back to my preferred search engine.


This seems like a good site and they do send you free things in the mail but they require you to complete surveys to “determine what products would be best for you.”  I don’t mind a survey or two, especially if it only takes a few minutes to fill out, but these guys send you survey after survey and they are longer and longer each time to complete.  Finally after one lengthy 20-minute survey, I deleted their site.  It just wasn’t worth it.  The sites that send the most free stuff are the baby care sites such as Freebabystuff.com.  This makes sense because they know you must have a baby and the child will need those products for the next couple years.  They are guaranteed a return on their investment.





No comments:

Post a Comment