Anyone used Gumtree

[EvianBaby]

Do any of you use Gumtree?

I'm looking at the possibility of getting my sofa (for when I move out) from there if I can find one I like rather than spending out lots on a brand new one.

Is there anything I should be wary of or things to look out for?

I had e-mailed a couple of people over the weekend about items they had listed but neither got back to me. Do people usually just leave the ad on once they've got rid of the item?

Any tips to get the best deals/not get done over?

[jomifl]

They seem to leave the ads up forever..

[EvianBaby]

Hhmm, maybe I need to be quicker off the mark. The ones I messaged about had been up for a few days so I guess they'd been taken. Gutted as one of them seemed a bargain!

[chelle7272]

Yes that's one big flaw, the ads never get removed, I tend to look just at very recent ones or elsewhere these days

[Buenchico]

Your local 'free ads' paper is probably a better bet. (At least you'll know that the ads are recent).

If there's a British Heart Foundation Furniture & Electrical Store near to you, it may well be worth a look. To locate your nearest store click 'Find services near to you', enter your postcode and use the drop-down 'Service' menu to select 'Furniture & Electrical Store':
http://www.bhf.org.uk.../our-local-shops.aspx

Chris

[mojay]

have a look on freecycle too - are bargains to be had

[sandyRoe]

Is there a freecycle in your area? I've used it to get rid of some stuff I didn't need anymore.

http://uk.freecycle.org/

[erin-x]

I've only ever bought one thing from Gumtree and it was fine. Phoned them up and collected the same night, they were only down the road though! :)

If you have facebook, try searching for facebay and your town. I know a lot of people who use that and it's quite good :)

[EvianBaby]

Thanks for the responses. I'll have a look at the other free sisters too and I'm pretty sure there is some sort of charity owned furniture store in town somewhere.

I had a look at a similar thing to what youre suggesting Erin but gave up as it was 99% kids stuff but I'll see if I can find a facebay group you suggested.