Naomi Serviss scored a bookshelf and a guitar stand.
Michelle Wolf got three spin bikes — two for a teacher friend’s classroom and one for herself.
Joni Holderman got a gently used rug that retails for $1,000.
They’re part of a growing trend of consumers giving and getting things — for free — via local community groups that are often titled “No Buy,” “Buy Nothing,” or tagged with the words “Free in” and a community name, on Facebook or other web platforms.
These groups provide a connection among community members and neighbors who want to give things away for free or people who are looking for items. It also helps the environment by keeping unwanted belongings out of the trash or landfill.
It is a super-local gifting economy, said Naomi Serviss of North Kingstown, Rhode Island. She has received and given away countless items in Buy Nothing groups both in her current hometown and New York City.
Giving away and receiving “eclectic treasures”
Serviss is a long-time thrifter. But getting something for free is even better.
When Serviss lived on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, she scored what she calls free “eclectic treasures.”
Among them were African masks, soft sculpture art, decorative sofa pillows and even a runner rug that fit her hallway, she said.
“I happily gave away brand-name raincoats, sporty hats and a wedding guest formal gown worn once to my nephew’s Albany wedding eight years ago,” she told USA TODAY.
One of her favorite “gets” was a “stunning” red embroidered kimono, Serviss said. She mounted it on the wall of her one-bedroom apartment.
“It was a thing of beauty and when it was time to relinquish it, I joyfully passed it on to an interested neighbor,” she said.
When Serviss and her husband moved to Rhode Island, she found a new local Buy Nothing group.
Serviss gifted a new set of turquoise Ikea stoneware to a person who had posted an “ISO” or “in search of” message for kitchen supplies for her grandson’s new apartment.
“Coincidentally, that same member was offering a striking antique African doll,” said Serviss. “When she responded to my interest, she mentioned how much her grandson loves the dishes and wanted me to have the doll!”
How does a Buy Nothing or No Buy group work?
The largest network of Buy Nothing groups on Facebook and via a web portal is through the Buy Nothing Project, which was founded in 2013 by two friends, Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller, in the Pacific Northwest when they saw a beach full of washed-up plastics of every shape, color and size.
There were three reasons the ladies started the first group, Clark told USA TODAY in an interview: to help save the environment, to create a gifting economy to share items, and to help people connect socially with each other.
“We all need each other and we can create a circular economy within our community and keep sharing our stuff, especially kids stuff and clothes,” she said.
The women had met on Freecycle, a longstanding web platform where people can post things they are giving away.
The friends launched their own concept on Facebook, creating their first Buy Nothing Group in Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Within hours, it went from the two ladies to hundreds of people.
The idea has now become a worldwide social movement, with 12.85 million users in groups on Facebook and 1.5 million people participating in the BuyNothing App, which also can be accessed online at https://buynothingproject.org. People from 44 nations have registered Buy Nothing groups on Facebook and downloads of the app come from about 193 countries, Clark said.
“We never intended to grow a social movement,” she said. “We intended to just solve a problem in our own community, which was the amount of plastics washing ashore.”
How to participate in a Buy Nothing group
It costs nothing for people to participate in a Buy Nothing group. If someone wants to create a new Buy Nothing group on Facebook, it costs $10 for a license. The project then sets up the group and loads the general rules to get the group started, Clark said.
Clark said there are groups on Facebook that use the Buy Nothing name and don’t register, which is a violation of the trademark, but her group is not big enough to “police” it. There are also groups formed on Facebook that have similar concepts of offering free items within a community, or people who give things away on Facebook Marketplace and are not affiliated, she said.
The Buy Nothing Project has also developed a mobile app and website, https://buynothingproject.org, which is available for people who don’t want to be on Facebook. People can find local groups or participate in a global group online or on the app, paying a minimal shipping fee for their free item. That helps open up the concept to people in communities that might be too small for their own group, Clark said.
Save money: What is No Buy July? We explain the trend that can save you money.
What are the rules of a Buy Nothing or free group?
The Buy Nothing groups all agree to some general rules, including that money can’t be involved and no illegal activity is allowed. But then, each group has its own rules.
Michelle Wolf’s group near Pleasantville, New York, asks the gifter to wait six hours before they pick a “winner.” Wolf said when she’s gifting something, sometimes she picks someone based on their “story” and sometimes she uses an app to pick someone randomly.
Wolf “won” a spin bike when she explained that her friend, a teacher for students with disabilities, had a classroom spin bike that broke.
The kids in the classroom were thrilled, and so was the gifter, Wolf said. She also got a second bike for the friend’s classroom and then one for herself.
Holderman said she loves the Buy Nothing group because “it transforms our mindset from one of scarcity and struggle to one of abundance and sharing.”
A $1,000 “free” rug
The best thing Joni Holderman of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has received in her group was an 8-by-10-feet rug from West Elm that, when she looked up the retail value, turned out to be worth $1,000.
“I know it was lightly used, but it’s wonderful,” she said.
Holderman has given away a large beach-themed dresser and a sofa, among other things. While she still donates to charities, for something like a sofa, she’d have to haul it there. Instead, someone came and got it.
Holderman said she’d also rather give things away to someone grateful instead of getting some money for selling it on Facebook Marketplace. “There’s that whole haggling over the price. It’s almost an adversarial relationship.”
Free groups help people struggling in this economy
The Buy Nothing community and similar groups are especially helpful in today’s economy, Clark said.
“Everyday people are struggling and our economy is kind of questionable where it’s going to go and we want to be that safety net,” said Clark.
The groups connect people to each other.
“They come for the stuff,” Clark said, “and they stay for the community.”
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Buy Nothing’ and free community groups save money, environment
