Jacob I am very experienced in this area. This is my advice:

Put your phone number in the ad. If someone calls, tell them you will give them directions when they plan to come over, not before. If they say they are coming over, tell them you will hold the item for them for one hour.

Many times people will call saying they want to come look at it some other time. Be sure to tell them someone else may get it first. Never hold an item unles they are actually on their way. 90% of the callers saying they will come at a later date will never be heard from again.

Some tips:
Always ask the caller if they are the one who called earlier. Of course nobody called earlier, but that way they will know there is demand for the item and they better hurry up and get it.
Never change your schedule for a craigslister. Only schedule viewings when you will be home anyway and tell them they need to get there within an hour or you will be gone.

I share exactly this beef with you! but I don’t call it “flaking out,” i call it rude and inconsiderate.

I keep a “hit list” of all those people who ever failed to show up when they said they would and wasted my time. If they ever respond again to something i’m giving away, they won’t get a chance at it.

It’s a nightmare. I have been trying to unload a china cabinet for some time now, I have been emailing with one woman for weeks, I don’t think she will ever come. I’ve gotten emails from others as well, but no one follows up.

I also had a set of encyclopedias I was giving away, I had no less than 5 people tell me they were ON THEIR WAY, and no one ever showed up. Thankfully, they finally were picked up.

On the other hand, I put up a laser disc player and several discs on Craigslist last month, and the first guy who responded showed up the next day and got them.

what a coincidence, we are moving approx. same time. my reply covers a couple of topics – i “thought” had a done a good job decluttering – but when it came time to pack YIKES – the boxes! i was so discouraged! i am not complaining though, sold my place in two days, bidding war, escrow closed in two weeks (all cash, if you can believe it!) areas in the bay area are still going strong (in sf) enough already with the explanation points! But the stuff, which had to go in storage, has to be dealt with, fearlessly. i don’t have the patience to deal with freecycle, i plan on donating to goodwill and revisit the 100 things challenge. i am on my way to taking at least a year off – do i have fear? you bet, but hey, it’s just a feeling. (i should add i am by no means wealthy, money wise; ideas, dreams = Very Wealthy.) am going to lower the bar: earn under $15,000 next year. Best, Jane

I agree with the person above who said your method was inconsiderate because it has several people potentially wasting gas.

We gave a lot of stuff away on freecycle, and there were some flakes. Giving people a time frame of one week saying “If you want this item, you must let us know when you can pick it up this week” reduced the flakes because people who don’t do schedules will not write you in the first place. You can then give priority to the people who can come pick up the item soonest rather than the order in which you received the responses. If someone says they can come and get it that afternoon, then they win. If they do not show up, then you can pick whoever could make it next soonest.

Our local freecycle group requires you to post OFFER: ITEM ZIPCODE. This method makes it easier for people to prioritize by distance.

For large items like the cabinets and the encyclopedias mentioned above, people are going to need time to schedule some way of transporting the item. If you can transport it for them, then you are going to get rid of it sooner. When I was in graduate school, I had a Honda Civic. I wanted to pick up a chair on CraigsList that was $20 or something. It didn’t fit in my car so the chair owner who had a truck transported it for me.

For freecycle, I add a line to the extent of how do you plan to use this. I then pick the “scholarship” winner after a 3+ candidates apply. The most compelling story has yet to flake on me.

For craigslist, my filter is placing a line to include a phone number in the email reply. Again, the people who notice this detail usually stay in communication.

This is a sad commentary that you have to manage people who are flakes. I agree that placing X number of hours or it goes to the next one is a choice. The problem is there is no consequence to prevent people from flaking when it is free. Donate it and then there is no hassle!

Jacob, I like your strategies on avoiding the flakes.

Oddly enough, in my experience on Craiglist I’ve never had a problem. I’ve probably sold about 20 things and I can actually say that all of them have been good experiences. Maybe that’s a typical though.

Wanna guess what I sold that was the absolute easiest to get rid of? A 30 year old set of very used twin mattresses. I sold them for $100 and couldn’t believe it. I must have had 5 different people fighting to be the first ones to get them. Unbelievable!

What I do so I don’t have to make appointments is just say the stuff will be on the curb during such and such a time and leave the address.

I’ve experienced this too, wish people would actually do what they say. Great post Jacob.

I haven’t personally exchanged goods on Freecycle but I can see the frustration when someone backs out. If I do ever have anything to offer I will be using the strategy you’ve outlined here. Thanks for sharing another nugget of valuable info.

It took me far too long to adopt that strategy of replying to the first several if not all responders to an ad I posted with an innocuous “Yes it’s still available when can you come and get it”, then trying to sift out the better customers from there. (As opposed to responding to the first, then the second, and repeatedly getting frustrated with the overwhelming population of flakey people lurking on Craigslist.) Speaking from over on the east coast it seems to be a universal pitfall; one of the trade-offs of using Craigslist I suppose.