Community Freebies

Community Freebies are generally free stuff and free services that you can find through community resources. Sometimes tact, creativity and shamelessness are required to obtain these freebies. The freebie hunter who searches for some of these freebies could even be called a scavenger. Unlike commercial freebies, which are offered to increase sales, community freebies are not sponsored by any type of businesses or corporations. In fact, some are purposefully anti-capitalist.

The purpose of Actually Free is not to take sides or create a platform for any type of political debate. The goal of Actually Free is to provide information that can help you to become a freebie hunter. This can be a fun hobby or a regular practice that helps your personal finances. All possible freebies are considered as long as they are actually free. With most of the commercial freebies, consumer warnings are mentioned to prevent gimmicks and corporate hacks from tricking you into spending more. That isn’t necessary with community freebies. However, understanding the motivation behind the freebie can still be beneficial in obtaining it. And just because community freebies are not sponsored by corporations does not mean that the giver has no selfish agenda. Even with community freebies, there can still be value to the giver in giving something away. Yet, some gifts are indeed completely unselfish.

Motivations Behind Community Freebies

Here are some motivations that make community freebies possible:

People have too much stuff and its more convenient to give it away or throw it away than to have a yard sale or continue storing it.

People have items they don’t want and they try to leverage that to get what they want through trading.

Some people are completely ant-consumerist and they refuse to make purchases. They also support this passion by helping others avoid purchases. Purchases help consumerism, which they are against.

Some people want to protect the environment, so they practice re-using and recycling.

Other Distinctions Between Commercial and Community Freebies

While all commercial freebies are brand new, most community freebies will be used items, but some can be brand new or like new.

Corporations can still be involved with community freebies, but if the freebies are listed as community, then they’re not to increase sales. One community freebie hunting strategy is dumpster diving, and some of the best stuff can be found in the dumpsters of corporations or local businesses. Business also give away stuff on Craigslist and there are other ways to get freebies from businesses. However, their motivation is not necessarily to make sales, like it would be with a promotion. Their motivation might be to reduce operating expenses. Just like a person who gives items away on Craigslist doesn’t want to transport the item, a business could do the same to save money.

Also, other entities, such as government entities or schools, can be involved with their communities and offer free services. The local library, which is most often funded by the government, is not just a good source of community freebies, but one of the best sources of freebies, period. A common community freebie offered by schools is when students offer services to improve their training. It’s an equitable trade for both parties, even though no cash is involved.