15/10/2026
My issues with scammers & dishonest resellers far predates this page, you know.
It’s true, does anyone remember the Car Booters & Flea Marketers who used to claim they were assisting a family who’d fallen on hard times or experienced some major disaster or another?
They’d have the Facebook Freesites & Local Community Groups rallying around, raiding their personal belongings & life savings, while I was usually the ‘Vile Woman’ who asked too many questions or tried to warn others when I knew the latest virtue campaign to be hoax.
NB - Some were genuine, but most were not.
Nearly a decade later & with many folks now legitimately falling on hard times, we see the rise of the ‘side hustle’ & the Thrift/Resell Influencers.
But with Car Boot Season 2026 drawing to a close, Charity Shops raising their prices &/or closing & Freecyclers losing heart & throwing in the towel, supplies of profitable Preloved goodies are few & far between, without some creativity.
Ironically, the amount of perfectly usable items being flytipped or binned is still a major problem.
How?
Well many who are jumping on the Reselling Trend want Maximum Profit for Minimum Effort. Listen, some of my stuff at the Online Charity Shop that sold for literally pennies & turned up on Vinted a couple of days later were showcased using MY PHOTOS. Talk about cheek, huh?
So how do I move with the times?
Admit defeat & throw the towel in or jump on the bandwagon?
Nope, neither of those.
I still Freecycle because I’m still passionate about reducing waste & landfill. Plus I believe that it’s important to give local folk a convenient alternative for their unwanted items (within reason).
So I will continue to clean, repair & when required, replace the batteries of all the items I regift to the various families & organisations across the UK.
However, when it comes to all the other bits & pieces that I both figuratively and literally GIVE away to whoever wants them…..if you want to make a few bob for whatever……please keep the carefully scripted sob stories & empty promises to yourself. Honestly, I’ve heard them all before, plus it’s embarrassing & slightly insulting.
Also you’re going to have to rummage, do the leg work, get in early, battle when required & put the effort in when it comes to restoration.
And please use your own photos. Honestly, it only takes a few seconds.
With technology as advanced as it is right now, anyone can do a photo search & trace that Jumperoo back to Free Stuff or discover that top you’re selling on Vinted for £30 is one you donated 10p to the cat rescue for…..that’s the only way I know BTW, your potential customers find me & message me to slag you off. 😳
