I blogged about this with some similar thinking at:
http://simonhammond.com/blog/2009/02/17/the-art-o…;

Then I went ahead and hacked together some code to root out any obstacles. None seem insurmountable so far, so I made it open source and dumped it at:
http://code.google.com/p/freelist2web

With dharmafly.com/openfreecycle also pushing in the same direction it seems the time is ripe to take Freecycle to the next level. What do you think?

Si

Thanks for your comments – very interesting and revealing.

I think there’s something wrong at Freecycle’s core, in that the mailing-list-based, quite informal system cannot cope beyond a certain number of people, and once you get the “snafflers” and no-shows. A more robust system (that designs for bad behaviour) is needed.

Thanks for the offer of help with UI design. If I get around to doing anything with this, I’ll be in touch.

Best regards,

Tim

Personally, I used to be an avid Freecycler but have lately given up. There are 2 reasons for that: ‘no shows’ and snafflers. It’s an absolute pain in the ass to hang around, waiting for someone to turn up and take something, and they never do. We recently offered a new, never used mattress (from guest room) on the NYC freecycle list and had 3 ‘no shows’ in a row; in the end we gave it to someone in our building instead. It wasn’t exactly the first time that’s happened, but it will be the last time!

Snafflers are also a pain: those people who snap up everything on offer, so you have to watch the list really closely to get anything you need. (I haven’t had much luck with ‘want’ requests.) I don’t mind dealers being on Freecycle as they’ve taken some things from me that otherwise would’ve gone to landfill, e.g. a fridge that needed minor repairs, but there has to be some sense of proportion here. Someone like me who’s given away dozens of items should be able to grab 2 or 3 things that come up that they do need!

I think some sort of reputation system will be essential going forward, so people like me who give things away can see which people are no shows and who’s given away heaps more than they’ve taken, and make a decision accordingly.

I’m not just here to complain about the problems though, I’m also here to offer my help. I’m a UI designer / usability person, Masters-qualified & 8+ years experience, and I’d be happy to volunteer some of my time to help improve Freecycle or create a viable alternative. My email address is [redacted for privacy]; please feel free to contact me if you’re working on something like this and need a designer to help.

I think Ecojam has the advantage that it is starting in one locality (from the bottom up) and that it already has over 2000 members who are using Ecojam for other reasons as well – e.g. to find green businesses, to search for an ethical job, or tune into local news, discussions and events. We haven’t reached that critical mass but who knows in a few months…

I would be very grateful for any feedback anyone might have on the Ecojam site.

Cheers,

Matt

We have tried to address the problems of Freecycle. On Ecojam, the items are categorised and you can select to be emailed only when the type of item you are looking for is listed. Alternatively you can get RSS feeds. It also has images of the items and a map showing you where to collect the item. We hope this will get even more people into reusing furniture.

We are hoping to reach a critical mass by large organisations listing their office furniture. The University of Bristol is the first to do this, and we are taling with Bristol City Council (who are a co-supporter of Ecojam).

Once we have perfected our model, we hope to replicate Ecojam in cities and regions across the UK.

Matt

http://www.ecojam.org/free-stuff

Categorisation (with RSS) and the ability to upload photos are a couple of advantages that it offers over a mailing list