Replying

  • Are messages public?

    All messages you send in reply to posts and to other people using the messages page are private.

    You can also reply to the messages you receive by email and your replies are only sent to the other person.

  • How can I tell if someone has seen my message?

    There is no way to tell if someone has seen or read your messages.

    You can tell if your message has been sent successfully by looking for the checkmark that shows up on your message on the messages page. But there is no way to track if or when someone sees your message because many people only read and respond to messages by email and there is no way to know when someone opens or reads an email.

    You may also want to read the help page about not getting responses.

  • How do I block someone?

    To block someone, use the messages page to find the conversation from the person you're trying to block. Once you are viewing the conversation, click on the options menu near the top right of the conversation and select "Block" (the options menu uses an icon showing 3 vertical dots).

    Once you block someone, you will no longer receive messages or emails from them.

  • How do I choose who to give my offer to?

    It's completely up to you! Some people choose the first person to respond but we usually recommend choosing someone who communicates clearly and makes it easy to schedule the pickup.

    When you're choosing, you might want to keep some of the no-show prevention tips in mind to help you choose someone who is more likely to show up.

  • How do I delete messages?

    To delete messages, use the messages page to find the conversation you want to delete and then click on that conversation to view it and the messages in the conversation. Once you are viewing the conversation, click on the options menu near the top right of the conversation and select "Delete" (the options menu uses an icon showing 3 vertical dots).

  • How do I reply to a post that I'm interested in?

    If you're on the site, in the app or reading a digest email, simply click on the post title to view the full details of the post. Once you are viewing the full post, click the large green button labelled "Reply" that shows up below the post description (on mobile devices) or to the right of the post description (on laptops and desktop computers)*.

    If you don't see a Reply button, then there should be text in the area where the reply button usually is explaining why (you may need to login or join the group the post is from or the post may no longer be active).

    Keep in mind that the person offering the item may hear from multiple people who want it, so you might not always get the item.

    If the offerer picks you, you and the offerer will arrange a time and place for you to pickup the item. Usually, you pickup the item at or near the offerer's home.

    *The reply button only shows up when you view other peoples posts and not when you view your own posts. Other people viewing your post will see a reply button and be able to reply.

  • How do I reply to an email from another member?

    You should be able to reply to emails from other members like any other email.

    Alternatively, you can use the messages page to view and reply to messages from other members.

  • How do I stay safe?

    It's always up to you to decide who you want to communicate with or gift your items to. To help you decide, you can view the profiles of other members to see their feedback scores and their posting history. How people communicate with you is also important - so trust your judgement.

    To avoid scams - never pay for items or for courier or delivery charges. Everything posted must be free.

    To exchange an item safely, it's recommended to leave the items you're giving away on your doorstep or arrange a meeting in a public place. The recipient is expected to travel to pick-up the item at a time and place that is convenient for the person giving away the item but both people should be comfortable with the arrangements.

    It's also easy to report posts, conversations and other people to the volunteer moderators if you think someone is breaking the rules.

    And don't forget to leave feedback for other people - every bit helps to build trust in the community.

  • How do I stop the emails about messages?

    There is an option to delay unread messages from being emailed to you. If you read the messages in the app before the delay time you set, then you won't receive the messages by email. You can enable this option in the Notifications section on the Settings page.

  • How do I unarchive a conversation?

    Open the archived conversations page which you can find by following these directions.

    To unarchive one of the conversations, just click on the conversation you want to unarchive and then click the button labelled "Unarchive" that appears at the top of the archived conversation. On smaller screen devices, the unarchive button may show up as a box with an up arrow on it at the top of the conversation.

  • How do I unblock someone?

    You can view your blocked conversations on the messages page by following the directions below:

    On a mobile device, click the options menu at the top right of the messages page (it's an icon with 3 vertical dots) and select the Blocked option.

    On a desktop, laptop or tablet, click the red Inbox header near the top left of the messages page and select the Blocked option.

    After clicking the Blocked option, you should see a list of conversations you've blocked. To unblock one of the conversations, just click on the conversation you want to unblock and then click the button labelled "Unblock" that appears at the bottom of the blocked conversation.

  • How do I view archived conversations?

    You can view your archived conversations on the messages page by following the directions below:

    On a mobile device, click the options menu at the top right of the messages page (it's an icon with 3 vertical dots) and select the Archived option.

    On a desktop, laptop or tablet, click the red Inbox header near the top left of the messages page and select the Archived option.

  • How do I view someones profile?

    If you've sent or received messages with the person, go to the messages page and view the conversation. Then click their photo or name that shows up at the top of the conversation to view their profile.

    If you're viewing a post, the profile of the person who posted will show up below the body of the post.

    And when you're viewing the profile, you can click on the persons photo or name to view all their past posts.

  • How long should I wait for a response?

    Many people only check their messages once or twice a day so waiting one day for a response is recommended in most cases.

    Or if the person you're communicating with is typically quick to respond, then it's probably safe to wait a few hours instead of a whole day.

    Just try to use your best judgement and remember to treat other people the way that you would like to be treated.

  • I replied to a few posts but I never got any responses?

    Sometimes emails end up in people's spam or junk mail folders so make sure you check the messages page and your spam mail folder for replies (sadly it's impossible to know if an email ends up in a recipients spam mail folder). And it never hurts to resend your message if you don't hear back within a day or two.

    This can also happen when someone posts a popular item that causes them to get a lot of replies. Rather than reply to everyone, people often only reply to the person they choose to gift the item to. It's always up to the person giving away an item to choose who they want to receive their item so responding first doesn't mean you'll receive an item. Your best bet is to always send polite messages and be clear about when you can collect.

    Other times, you won't receive responses because people forget to mark their offers as gifted. This causes their offers to stay published when they should have been removed. To help prevent this, posts are automatically removed from the listings after 90 days.

    And a lot of posts get claimed within a few hours or days of being posted. So you're more likely to get a response if you reply soon after a post is published. You can see new posts more quickly by getting the digest emails more frequently or creating email alerts or by enabling push notifications.

  • Where do replies to my posts and messages go?

    Replies to your posts and replies to messages that you send in response to other peoples posts will show up on the messages page* and they will be emailed to the email account that you signed up with. You can view and change this email address on the Settings page.

    Sometimes the emails from other members may end up in your junk or spam folder so make sure to check there for responses as well.

    *A link to the messages pages is in the account dropdown menu that is at the top right of most pages (open the menu by clicking the menu icon with 3 horizontal bars). Once you open the account dropdown menu, click the link labelled "Messages".