The freebiemeet is tomorrow — for anyone who wants them, here are the new rules in advance. Everything that has changed I have posted here in bold purple. (And I meant to post this earlier this week so I apologize. I am having a very hard time catching up this spring!)
I know there were many suggestions for rules that I did not include. My hope is to keep it simple, avoid rules I cannot easily enforce, and as much as possible, avoid hurt feelings. Going forward, we are going to hold the freebiemeet three times a year instead of two — the next freebiemeet will be in September. So, other changes:
If you wish to give away items using any rules other than those listed here (to request payment for postage, for example), you are more than welcome to do so any time in one of the scent of the day polls or lazy weekend polls.
How it works: giving away perfume
1. You need to tell others where you’re willing to send (only in your country? International?). If you would list that first, it will save other readers time.
2. Anyone who wants to play can list the items they have. Please NUMBER YOUR LIST (up to 15) and group items you'd prefer to keep in one package. In other words, if you want to give away ten samples and want to mail them all to the same person, list that as one numbered item. Please do not include more than 15 numbered items or groups in your list — it really helps to keep the thread easy to read. You can list full bottles, partial bottles, decants, samples, whatever you want, but please specify what they are!
3. You will have to post your email address in your comment, or have some other way for readers to contact you — one option is to list your email address at gravatar.com, and then link to your gravatar page in your user profile here. Another option would be to link to a contact page at your own blog, or anywhere on the web where people can find a way to reach you.
4. You are free to specify that you would prefer to give your items to Now Smell This "regulars" only, in which case, you may ask that the person calling dibs link to one or two (no more than two, please) prior articles on Now Smell This on which they have commented in the past six months. If you want to be able to apply a different definition of "regular", please give your items away elsewhere, like in a scent of the day or lazy weekend poll.
5. Please, do not give your items away to anyone who does not have a proper "dibs" comment under your post!
6. Package your items appropriately and mail within the next month. You might want to read through items 7-8 on our swapping post.
How it works: getting perfume
1. If you see an item you want, call "dibs" in the comments. Again, you can only do this if you already have an active reader account — I will not be approving comments for new accounts on this thread. You can claim up to 1 item on any given list (please be specific by using the item number) and no more than 2 items total for this episode. Obviously, you should not call dibs on anything that has already been claimed, so you might want to refresh the page before taking the time to leave a comment. Once you can see that you're the first person to call dibs on something, send an email with your username and mailing details. Please DO NOT ask the other party to email you.
2. Please don't leave comments for any reason other than calling dibs...these threads get long enough as it is!
3. Many readers are offended when their packages are not acknowledged, so do send a quick thank you note after you receive your freebies!
Wonderful new rules, Robin! When I read the suggestions I thought you might be overwhelmed but this is a perfect balance of addressing people’s concerns and keeping it easy and fun.
Well I’m glad you’re happy! I doubt everyone is, but we’ll see how this works and we can always revisit later 🙂
I had the same thougt as I remember the last discussion. Clearly, we have lots of opinions! But, yes, thanks for listening and for the thoughtful changes.
Time to get my links ready, just in case! Don’t want to miss out because I’m unprepared!
Not just for this revision but for all the work you do daily, thank you Robin!
Well thank you!
Robin, thank you for keeping things simple and fun.
You are made of awesome.
And hyperlinks.
And perfume. 🙂
Oh, I like being awesome and hyperlinks and perfume, thank you!
Thanks for simplifying the rules, Robin.
For the avoidance of doubt, may I assume that a dibs comment in the previous freebiemeet does not count as a comment? (I’m being facetious 🙂 )
Last question (maybe) — would it be against the rules to include something like “if you received a freebie from me in the past 2 freebiemeets, please give others a chance”? (I have kept track since that is the only way for me to keep organized!)
I think it safe to say that would not count!
And no, I would not mind that at all.
And if anyone thinks of any other criteria they might want to include, maybe tomorrow they could post questions here where they won’t tie up the freebie threads? Mostly what I want to avoid is any disputes or hurt feelings over who is or isn’t a regular.
I was wondering if perhaps it would be wise to stress that Freebiemeet really does (or should) mean free. It seems obvious, but having participated in several Freebiemeets, I have had several people insist on sending me something in return. While I appreciate the thought, I really don’t need or expect anything in return for an item offered in the Freebiemeet. If I wanted a trade, I would offer my items in a Swapmeet (which I have done on several occasions). I really do need to reduce the size of my collection, and I cannot do so if everyone insists on of giving me something in exchange. I guess there is something in human nature that makes it hard to accept a gift with no strings attached, perhaps especially when it comes from someone you don’t know.
Can I suggest that you add that to your actual listing, as opposed to my putting it in the post?
People barely skim the post as it is, but I think if you put a nice statement about “Please don’t offer to send me anything in return, I am downsizing” people would see it and respect it? Worth a shot.
Yeah, I should have done that. I thought about it, but somehow forgot to include it when I made my listing.
Question: someone is calling dibs pretty often (4 times so far) – the first dibs was on my item. This person had also contacted me a couple of weeks ago outside of any meet by looking through the previous freebie meet threads and asking me for an unclaimed item from that time (I said no and referred him to this freebie meet). Not a regular poster. I don’t feel like sending him the item any longer because I think he’s exploiting this, being fully aware of the rules (I wouldn’t be surprised if he contacted others as well prior to this meet). What do do?
I found someone who had called 3 dibs and so I left a comment on the last one, although I may be too late. If I got the wrong person, send me an email at robin at nstperfume dot com.
But also, that’s totally inappropriate to contact somebody based on an old freebiemeet posting and I can’t see any problem with you not wanting to send them anything, in which case, all you need to do is tell them and then leave a comment on the freebiemeet saying the item is still up for grabs. Then, if you like, give it away next week in a sotd poll, or just mention tomorrow in a sotd poll that it’s up for grabs again.
Sorry this happened!
Thanks for listening – I feel bad that you have to police the meet when people should just be playing by the rules. Also thanks for your input. The person called a 4th dibs on ElleBe’s post, too…Thanks again, Robin! I really appreciate the community that you enable for us!
No worries! People really don’t always read all the rules.
They have acknowledged my comment…if you’re not sending yours, I think they are only taking 2 items.