Opinions! - 'freecycle' on pets.ca

[Diamondsmum]

ummm our disclamior is a sticky..on the website I manage

I think a pets.ca has no respnosibly for the items that are listed/bought on the forum. Shipping is at the receivers expense.

we hold no accountablity for this part of the forum. (unless spammed)

No member shall contact admin/mods for such items that are not the recievers expectations. or something to that

(I think you can make a disclaimer before posting in a certain part of the forum?)

with a I agree that you tick?

[marko]

OK then this is a done deal and will be set up this week.

What should we title this new forum? Would we be allowed to use the term 'Freecycle' or can we come up with a synonym?

thx for all the input thus far!
Marko

[bendyfoot]

"Free Stuff is Good Stuff - pets.ca's freecycling forum"

I don't think you can use "FreeCycle", it's TM'd but freecycling seems to be a widely-used slang we could get away with

[Diamondsmum]

i like it bendy

[onster]

great idea..looking forward to it!

[bendyfoot]

Marko, to keep the posts clear/easy to use, you could adopt some freecycle guidelines about the format:

-New thread titles should follow this format:

1. "WANTED:" or "OFFER:"
2. brief description of the item
3. location of the item - maybe just the province, since shipping will probably come into play in a lot of cases...people can pm each other with mailing addresses etc.

So, an example would be "WANTED: skijoring harness for 50 lb dog (Ontario)"
or
"OFFER: naughty smooshy-faced mugsly puppy (Ontario)"
(oh wait, that would be a violation of the "no animals" rule.

Would people reply to the post? Or would they PM the person? Or would we have the option of either?

When the item is taken/found, there should be some indication on the thread...maybe we could simply close the thread to avoid confusion?

[breeze]

what about adding a picture of the item??

or the poster puts a "SOLD" in the reply box

[bendyfoot]

I personally would love a pic, but what if people have dial-up? Maybe people could request pics???

[breeze]

Originally Posted by bendyfoot

I personally would love a pic, but what if people have dial-up? Maybe people could request pics???

or they could put it in their profile. this way for dial-upers they can see the picture.. non??

[JennieV]

OMG! I have been away from here for a few days and I come back and OMG! I am soooo happy! This is just awesome! can you tell I am excited about it?

I had an experience on a bridal website, where brides posted their stuff for sale, thus recycling the wedding stuff (and recouping some pennies here and there) the idea was that you would be able to add a pic or two, but if more details were necessary - the interested person would take it up with the person giving the item. That can be first done via PMs, then taken to a more personal level of emails or phone calls etc...whatever the people involved are comfortable with.

I think pets.ca should put a clear disclaimer, that it carries no responsibility and "use at your won risk" type of message. All we really need is a place to post, which is provided, they do not need to be involved or held accountable.
After all, this is not Ebay!

Also, regarding sold or pending items, the poster of the message should be responsible to indicate to members if an adoption of their item is pending or went through, then the admins could just delete completed transactions, or archive them or whatever...So the message title would read for example:
"OFFER: A leash - PENDING" then, after the transaction completed "OFFER: A leash - ADOPTED!"

I am sooooooooo glad this is working out!!!!!

[Diamondsmum]

Personally, what we do is leave it open for a 1week period after item is Sold then its locked (members may use it as a THANKS for said item)

just a suggestion

[marko]

Thanks for all these ideas everyone! Please keep them coming. I should be able to set this up tomorrow.

Thx
Marko

[marko]

I am setting this up now -

QUESTION - Only members with 50+ posts will be able to post new threads but I think it makes sense for members that have a few posts and have been around for a few days with less than 50 posts (but NOT total newbies - read possible spammers) to reply to offers.

OR can only members with 50+posts reply to offers?

What do you think?

Thx
Marko

[Chris21711]

Originally Posted by marko

I am setting this up now -

QUESTION - Only members with 50+ posts will be able to post new threads but I think it makes sense for members that have a few posts and have been around for a few days with less than 50 posts (but NOT total newbies - read possible spammers) to reply to offers.

OR can only members with 50+posts reply to offers?

What do you think?

Thx
Marko

Maybe a minimum of 10 posts would be fitting, I think that that should be long enough to weed out spammers

[Diamondsmum]

marko.. I think yes they can browse/reply with less then 50 posts. but not start a new thread. (The only issue is I can see is possibly hijacking the thread?to recycle there wares)

[Diamondsmum]

10 sounds good Chris

[Spatx]

I love it, can't wait for it to be finished and started! I have some pet supplies that I can't really use, can't sell, so a free-cycle is perfect!

[marko]

Okay everyone the freecycling forum is live here:
http://www.pets.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=77

Thanks so much for all the input!!

As with all new forums, there may be comments, suggestions, issues, glitches etc. Please report them all here in this thread. I'll be following this thread closely over the next few days.

Thanks everyone!
Marko

[bendyfoot]

Yay, it's great! And in use already! And you liked my name suggestion!!!

[JennieV]

WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!

Now...I have to get cleaning and collecting my stuff to post..!

[Mat&Murph]

Yahhhhh!!! Thanks Marko!!!! You too JennieV for posting the idea!!!!

[woofendog]

What to do with unused pet medication? I recently lost my 18 year old Elly cat to a broken leg. At the time of her passing she was being treated by a vet for a thyroid problem. So now I have approximately 100 Tapazole (methimazole) 5 mg tablets. With the high cost of pet medication, it seems a shame to toss them away. Any suggestions?

[hazelrunpack]

Some vet clinics will take opened bottles of meds back and dispense them to low-income households as needed, so you might want to check with your vet first.

Elly

[Longblades]

I am so, so sorry you have lost Elly. My condolences.

Yes, ditto Hazel. Some nice people gave thyroid ear gel back to my Vet when their cat passed away. I was the only one with a cat on the same dose so the Vet gave it to me, nearly a whole box, free. I offered to reimburse the people (I don't know who they are) but the Vet said they said no need.