BuyNothing

It is Never that I will write a review for an app. Yet I do believe every rule has an exception. There is no other application I look forward to opening as much as this one. BuyNothing has been the cornerstone in restoring my capacity for humanity. I have met community like no other through our shared items we have excess of, and are seeking without a price tag. I am so grateful to be a conduit for magical moments. like being able to fill someone’s entire advent calendar of tea, like furnishing an entire apartment as a full time student while working, like swooping in to help clear an apartment of stuff after someone passed, like asking for extra carbs while training for a marathon (with so much encouragement), like helping organize a BuyNothing free yard sale where you bring anything you don’t need, and take what you do. The future I want is one of both community giving and receiving. I don’t need the latest gadget, the fanciest chtochkey, or whatever the latest cheap trend is. I love my dresser More because i know someone else loved it first and took care of it for the next person. I can only hope that until the day i die- I will be part of something bigger than myself, keeping items out of landfills by using them and caring for them. I know I am just one person. Yet I have met a plethora of people through this app that think the same way, and that lights up my world. This was written by a real person that cares. BuyNothing has deeply affected my life, and deserves more stars than one could ever rate it.

I started a Buy Nothing group back in January for my rural community on Facebook, spending my own money so it could be officially listed and part of the Buy Nothing community. I’ve poured a lot of time and care into building it up, getting to know people, and creating a space that truly reflected the spirit of community giving. Yesterday, without any notice or explanation, I was removed as admin, the page was suspended, and all members are now being pushed to move to the Buy Nothing app. The app isn’t wretched - it’s clunky, unreliable, and not community-minded in the way Facebook groups are. Besides, in my area not everyone has a smartphone that can run it, making not be inclusive. It’s incredibly discouraging to see all the work, money, and heart I’ve put into this local group completely disregarded. This feels like the opposite of what Buy Nothing is supposed to stand for—connection, generosity, and respect for everyone in the community. I wish they’d shown me the respect of notifying me of this move so I could officially remove the group as a Buy Nothing group and change its name, allowing the community I’ve worked so hard to build to remain intact while still complying with the direction Buy Nothing wishes to go in.

I never write reviews because most of the time an app doesn’t warrant me enough to do so; however, I really do love this app and the concept and I want to see the developers follow through on what it means to have community. I’ve gotten to meet some really wonderful people, but god the constant crashing, loading circle of doom, freezing, being forced to log in only to be logged out some time after, and so forth—complete bootycheeks. I’ve never wanted to bang my head against a wall so much until I came across this app. And I know I’m not the only one, so, whatever the developers are doing, please, I beg of you: fix this app. Don’t disappoint the good people that utilize this tool by skipping out on quality. Also, a “repost” function would be incredibly useful so people don’t have to copy and paste a whole new post. Especially for those who have multiple items, it’s time consuming and could be much quicker. I’d really love to change this rating, so I hope you’re reading this and taking it into consideration. It really is a great app, but my patience is wearing thin from how much it has persisted.