Freebie Alerts app

[disneysteve]

I think I mentioned this in the ebay thread but I know not everyone reads that.

I learned about a great app recently called Freebie Alerts. It immediately reposts any free listings on Marketplace, OfferUp, Trash Nothing, Nextdoor, and other sites. As soon as someone posts something for free, you get a notification.

I've had the app for the past 2-3 months and have gotten a bunch of things already, some to resell and some that we kept for ourselves. The instant notification is the great thing here as these things are very time sensitive. It's usually first come first served.

It's amazing what people give away. I've told our daughter that when she gets her own place, we will probably be able to mostly furnish it just from free stuff.

[disneysteve]

Two scores from the Freebies app today.

I got a large box of O gauge (Lionel) train tracks. They're kind of rusty but a vinegar bath will fix that.

I got a huge stack of packing paper. I use a ton of that stuff and recently spent $41 for a new roll because I had used up all of the free paper I had accumulated. This will keep me supplied for a couple of months or more. I told the woman to please message me if she gets more. It sounded like she gets a lot of it because she said the stack I took was actually only half the pile. She had already given an equally large stack to someone else.

[crazyliblady]

I think I mentioned this in the ebay thread but I know not everyone reads that.

I learned about a great app recently called Freebie Alerts. It immediately reposts any free listings on Marketplace, OfferUp, Trash Nothing, Nextdoor, and other sites. As soon as someone posts something for free, you get a notification.

I've had the app for the past 2-3 months and have gotten a bunch of things already, some to resell and some that we kept for ourselves. The instant notification is the great thing here as these things are very time sensitive. It's usually first come first served.

It's amazing what people give away. I've told our daughter that when she gets her own place, we will probably be able to mostly furnish it just from free stuff.

I would use this, but I don't use a smart phone and it seems to want me to download an app.

[disneysteve]

I would use this, but I don't use a smart phone and it seems to want me to download an app.

Yes, it is an app. It really wouldn't work well as a website unless you are glued to your computer all day. Things get posted and claimed within minutes sometimes so you need to be quick.

Yesterday I picked up an old stereo cassette deck. It's not fully working so I have it listed on ebay for parts only for $100, which is what the last one sold for. I've already sent out offers to 3 watchers for $89. No response yet. I'm happy to keep lowering the price until it sells since it cost me nothing.

I wish I could claim more of the free items but I've got nowhere to store them all until they sell. Today someone posted a 150-gallon aquarium and stand. A quick search showed that they sell for upwards of $500. I would have loved to get it and list it for $350 or $295 or whatever I could get for it but I don't have anywhere to put it until I find a buyer.

[rennigade]

Two scores from the Freebies app today.

I got a large box of O gauge (Lionel) train tracks. They're kind of rusty but a vinegar bath will fix that.

I got a huge stack of packing paper. I use a ton of that stuff and recently spent $41 for a new roll because I had used up all of the free paper I had accumulated. This will keep me supplied for a couple of months or more. I told the woman to please message me if she gets more. It sounded like she gets a lot of it because she said the stack I took was actually only half the pile. She had already given an equally large stack to someone else.

If vinegar doesn't work use citric acid. I use it on all the rusty barbells I get. Takes all rust off with no scrubbing.

3oz citric acid to 1 gallon of water. Mix and sit your rusty parts in it for 24 hours. It'll look new again.

Citric acid can be found at Walmart in the canning isle. It's cheap too.

[disneysteve]

If vinegar doesn't work use citric acid. I use it on all the rusty barbells I get. Takes all rust off with no scrubbing.

3oz citric acid to 1 gallon of water. Mix and sit your rusty parts in it for 24 hours. It'll look new again.

Citric acid can be found at Walmart in the canning isle. It's cheap too.

Basically the same thing. Citric acid or acetic acid do the same thing. You don’t notice on black barbells but on silver train tracks it does discolor them but makes them smooth and conductive again.

It’s nice that both options are cheap. A gallon of vinegar is about $2.

[disneysteve]

About a month ago, I claimed a bunch of Nerf guns from the app. I listed them on ebay recently for auction and it just ended at $31. I'll net about $25 profit after fees since my cost of goods was zero.

ETA: Actual profit came to $23.36 - for something I got for nothing.

[disneysteve]

Big score today. A woman posted that she was giving away a ton of stuff. It looked like she was cleaning out a house. Sure enough, she lives in Florida. A family member here died and she has very little time to empty the house.

I got a bag of Xbox games, a VHS-DVD player, a high end camping backpack, a food dehydrator, 5 Guitar Hero guitars, and some other stuff. The guitars alone go for $50-100 each. Another $50 or more for the backpack. $8-10 for each video game. A nice haul, all for free.

[james.hendrickson]

Big score today. A woman posted that she was giving away a ton of stuff. It looked like she was cleaning out a house. Sure enough, she lives in Florida. A family member here died and she has very little time to empty the house.

I got a bag of Xbox games, a VHS-DVD player, a high end camping backpack, a food dehydrator, 5 Guitar Hero guitars, and some other stuff. The guitars alone go for $50-100 each. Another $50 or more for the backpack. $8-10 for each video game. A nice haul, all for free.

This post made my day disneysteve. Nothing like a nice haul of free stuff.

[disneysteve]

This post made my day disneysteve. Nothing like a nice haul of free stuff.

And she said she’d call me when she had more as they weren’t done going through everything.

[disneysteve]

Well further research shows that not everything is worth as much as I thought but still, they cost me nothing so whatever I make will be 100% profit.

[james.hendrickson]

Well further research shows that not everything is worth as much as I thought but still, they cost me nothing so whatever I make will be 100% profit.

It's still worth it. Even if they go for $20 instead of $40, like you said its still 100% profit.

[disneysteve]

I got a bag of Xbox games, a VHS-DVD player, a high end camping backpack, a food dehydrator, 5 Guitar Hero guitars, and some other stuff.

It took barely 12 hours to make my first sale from this lot of free stuff. Sold one of the Xbox games for $12.99. The games are the only thing I've listed so far, and haven't even done all of them yet. I did those first because they are easy to list and sell well.

[disneysteve]

It took barely 12 hours to make my first sale from this lot of free stuff. Sold one of the Xbox games for $12.99.

I just sold another of the games for $9.99. Also today, I sold a ceramic wine coaster that I got from a different freebie post a few weeks ago. That went for $10.99. Not big sales, but with zero cost, I'll take it. So about $34 in sales just today from things I got for nothing.

I'm totally convinced I could base an entire business off of selling things I get for free. I pass up way more items than I claim. I could easily be making a few hundred dollars a month from the free stuff, and way more if I wanted to get into selling big items like furniture.

[disneysteve]

I swear some days I almost feel guilty about how easy it is to make money on ebay. I've now had 3 sales from the free stuff I got on Thursday. I really need to work on listing the rest of the stuff. It helps that it's December and shoppers are out in force.

I'm kicking myself for not being able to jump on a freebie post earlier today but my schedule just didn't work. Someone posted a set of Mizuno left-handed golf club irons. At a minimum, those go for $200-300 and depending on the exact set, they could bring $500 or more. Had they been closer to me, I would have done it but they were in Philadelphia and I just didn't have time to drive an hour or so round trip to get them.