from Admin - re: Do people sell-on items they've sourced on JumbleTown?

[Chris P]

Hi Everyone,

Since the inception of the site, our policy has been that all JumbleTowners are regarded as equal. Neither Admin nor Members have any way of determining the “neediness” or otherwise of a Taker.

Takers can be individuals who intend to use items themselves or perhaps even sell them on. The latter activity may be unpopular with some Members but it’s NOT against the rules of the Forum. Once an item has been collected, the Taker can do whatever they wish with the item. Neither the Giver nor Admin can dictate or determine the Taker’s activities off the Board/Forum.

One view of Takers who sell-on is that they are are entrepreneurs of sorts. These Members are very much in the minority. (As of August 2013, JumbleTown has over 63,000 registered Members -- a handful of Members may sell on items.) As I said above, who can tell what their circumstances are? They could be recently laid-off or struggling to pay a mortgage, and if they can make a few bob by going to the trouble of collecting an item and then HOPING to sell it, then Admin says, good luck to them.

However, anyone who thinks they can collect a lot of items and then quickly sell them on is probably in for a surprise, as furniture in particular depreciates massively in value. So, someone, somewhere, may have a sitting-room full of items they can't sell/shift.

Givers of items should be aware that JumbleTown is not a charity site – if it were, we would have applied for charity-status and all that that entails. So-called "sob-stories" from potential Takers are not acceptable on the public forum or by PM. We know from feedback that Givers generally ignore them in any case.

The site’s raison d’etre is primarily to help people free up space by passing on unwanted items. The primary concern of Givers should be the desire to free up space in their home/workplace in an environmental way that helps the community.

Givers who wish for their item not to be sold-on should state this on their ad, but of course, they have no way of knowing the fate of their item once Taken.

If Givers want to be certain that their item goes to a charitable cause or what they may consider to be a "charity-case", then they should contact their local charities rather than post on JumbleTown.

Givers are free to give to whomever they like, be it the first or tenth respondent. Therefore, being first to post an expression of interest does not mean that you'll receive an item.


"Selling-on" has been the subject of many threads/posts over the past three years -- in fact, it has been done to death -- so we respectfully request that Members do not make posts relating to it in the Support Forum, in any other forum, or on people's ad/threads. Admin will keep you notified of any changes to the site's policy regarding this issue.

Thanks for your co-operation in this matter.

Regards
Chris P
Admin

[Above post last updated in August 2013.]