The year of the Facebook free stuff

Once again I find myself amazed by Facebook classifieds. Because here I was thinking that nobody would want a bent and broken marquee frame that was just taking up space in the backyard, but as soon as I posted it up a decent line started to form..

Of course the bent and broken episode occurred recently

And up until mother nature decided to render it useless (well to us anyway) this particular 3 x 3 marquee did have quite the useful life. Brought from Bunnings Warehouse a few years back for market stalls, it saw a lot of action keeping the sun off our garage sale gear and provided quite the place to shop at local car boot sales – provided you were into Scentsy smelly stuff or some other kind of nails thing my wife was selling at the time (I’m not even going to pretend I know anything about those kind of selling from home scenarios, they’re just not my bag.)

Recently though it was just going nowhere fast in the corner of our tiny shed when Wifey suggested dragging it out during the scorching summer for the kids. They scored a blow up pool from Santa last year and the pool needed shade, so next minute:

Genius idea really. And there it stayed for a few weeks, keeping the sun off the kids and the pool and also providing a handy place for our outdoor table when we recently had friends around for a catch up BBQ.

But then disaster struck. We had a few rainy days and the material up top started collecting water at a record rate. So much so that every couple of days I’d have to pop out with a big stick to push the water bulges up and tips things over the edge again. This process worked well until the one fateful night when it rained again…and tipped the whole thing over. Bending sections and breaking others, which left this wreck of a frame behind. Farewell marquee, you served us well.

My first (obvious) thought was that I’d have to take this to the tip. But then a couple of days later I wondered out loud if I should try my like with Facebook free stuff and see how I go.

But who would want a broken a twisted marquee frame?
It turns out a lot more people than first thought..

Setting a new reply speed record..

Whenever I put something up on Facebook free stuff, I usually hear back from someone within an hour, even if it’s the beyond useless question of ‘Is this still available’ (I always put in the ad ‘Yes it’s available, you don’t have to ask’ but no one ever reads that.) This time I swear though, Jurgen my smart watch buzzed with a notification someone was interested just three minutes after I’d posted. It was like someone had camped themselves at the local Facebook Free Stuff section waiting for an unrepeatable and free deal…on a broken frame.
It seems Dennis was very keen and had questions a plenty (which is a good sign someone is very interested as opposed to someone who accidentally pressed the is this still available button before disappearing into the ether, never to be heard from again.) And so I gave him the measurements he needed, found out if it what was left would fit into a 6 x 4 trailer (easily) and organised a time for him to come round the next day to take it home.

And then someone else contacted me about it. And then another. Just before bed someone else through Facebook free stuff was interested too and I woke up to three more separate bargain hunters that also wanted it if possible.
If I knew this broken thing was that popular I would’ve put it online as soon as it fell over..

One man’s trash..

Is a Facebook Free stuff project it seems as one of the interested parties messaged me to say that thanks to recent winds roaring through the place, her marquee was a bit on the busted side too which is why she was interested in taking ours if she could to fix it up. Dennis the first in line revealed he was planning to use the pieces to hold up a bit of tarp for something (he turned out without the trailer, the back of the Tarago providing more than enough room for it).

Thinking of it now if we had the room for it, I probably would have tried to jury rig it back together to use as a place for a car project – two minor problems there though a) I have no space and b) I have no car project. Oh well.

Still, once again a few minutes on Facebook Free stuff has saved me a trip to the tip (just like the episode with the Aldi mowers last year), adding to the ever growing pile of waste there. And it’s a great reminder that if if you think something you have is worthless, you might find someone (or in my case many people) super keen to make it theirs.

So why not pop it up on Facebook free stuff and she how you go? Just be prepared for the possibility of a line forming for stuff you never expected to shift..