eBay Golden Rules: protect yourself and cut the purchase price | MoneySavingExpert.com
Get it for free - Freecycle

An environmentally friendly and cheap alternative to auctions sites, is Freecycle. Here members ‘recycle’ goods they’d otherwise have thrown out, in other words they’re given away free to someone else in the group. Some off the stuff is junk, some are top notch goods from generous people.

In fact it isn’t a website in itself, it’s run via Yahoo group emails which is highly localised so you become a part of your area’s own Freecycle. You’ll then receive e-mails when someone near you wants to get rid of their stuff.

As the scheme gets more popular, members can get hundreds of emails a week, so it’s a good idea to set up a new email account solely for Freecycle. When something takes your fancy simply email back and arrange to pick it up. Though it’s Freecycle etiquette to email an offer when you first join; nothing is too small.