Web Site Swapping
By Chris Martell, The Wisconsin State Journal
Apr. 2–Betsy and Gayel Larsen, of Oregon, were able to build a three-stall horse barn almost entirely with stuff obtained from people trying to get rid of the items.
How? By scouring a growing number of new, small nonprofit Web sites. Using these “swap” sites, the Larsens found materials including plywood panels, metal siding and nine new gallons of blue Sears Ultra Weatherbeater Exterior paint for which they paid $20.
“The owner didn’t like the color,” Betsy said. “I did. The horses did.”
Free, local online swap sites are becoming popular especially with the growing number of people who have gotten fed up with eBay. Among the complaints: It’s too big to navigate; the junk overwhelms the treasures; eBay takes hefty commissions; monitoring auctions, arranging payments, packaging and mailing things is time-comsuming.
Local Web pages meant to foster free or low-cost exchanges are an alternative to the big Web sites. Madison Stuff Exchange, for example, is a Web site operated by the city of Madison and Dane County, and Freecycle is a broader network that bills itself as a “grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns.”
On a swap site, a user can post listings of items and materials they hope to dispose of, or browse for items currently available in this area. Listings must contain contact information, and the actual exchanges or transactions must be carried out directly between giver and taker.
The process takes time and patience, but some users enjoy the hunt. “It’s great fun,” Betsy said of surfing swap sites. “I check to see what’s new on the site about once a week.”
And it makes people feel better. Sometimes, people find it troubling to throw things away, even if they have no apparent monetary value. “I have found new owners for several things that I knew someone would have an interest in, but no understanding where the market was for them,” said Madison Stuff Exchange user Tim Jackman.
After renovating his house, photographer Jeff Miller used Madison Stuff Exchange to unload 13 wooden storm windows, three double hung sash windows and a large metal basin. “One recipient is an artist reusing our window sashes as the platform for glass mosaic designs, and she sent me a picture of it.”
Several people whose house siding was damaged in last year’s hail storm said Madison Stuff Exchange spared them the expense of paying for dumpsters for old siding. After it was offered free on the site, people who had use for old siding came to haul it away.
Debby Pechan, of the Greater Madison Visitor’s and Convention Bureau, had an old neon sign with an outline of the Capitol and the lakes that was snapped up within a few hours of being listed; the recipient was someone who was decorating a retro recreation. When the bureau put in a new phone system, 20 obsolete phones were given to a man who was converting a barn into a house and wanted phones that connected throughout the sprawling property. Pechan said another neon sign will be up for grabs in the near future.
Marshall Mennenga, a tax and financial adviser, said his firm has used Madison Stuff Exchange frequently to get rid of office furniture, copiers and many miscellaneous items. “The site is very easy to use and navigate,” he said.
When Mary Battaglia redid her bathroom, she had to dispose of appliances. a vanity, medicine cabinet mirror and light fixtures. But since they were more than 30 years old the Habitat for Humanity ReStore wouldn’t take any of it because of concerns about lead paint, so she listed them on Madison Stuff Exchange.
“Within two days the new owner picked them up and was very happy with everything, and so were we because it could avoid the landfill.”
Cindy Vodak got a free entertainment center, microwave and microwave cart from Madison Stuff Exchange, and has given away clothes, toys, a dorm fridge, pet supplies, computer books, small appliances, household decorations and a lawn mower.
Before moving to India, Del Marshall disposed of almost everything he owned online, and posted tools, furniture, audio equipment and computers on Madison Stuff Exchange, as well as the more widely known Craigslist and eBay.
Jackman said the swap sites also helped him find homes for more esoteric items. “I had some black and white photographs taken by a professional photographer of trips in the 1920s and 1930s in Europe, featuring period clothing, cars and classic buildings,” Jackman said. “I hated the prospect of throwing them away. I posted the offering and within hours I had collectors eager to have them.
“I also had a collection of recipes from my mother’s estate, recipes that she had collected over a lifetime,” Jackman said. “Again, it would have been easy to throw them away but I thought someone might be interested in them. Sure enough, after posting them Madison Stuff Exchange, a professional chef asked for them.”
He didn’t want money for either collection, but was relieved they found a new home with people who appreciated them.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Wisconsin State Journal
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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