Hi zag,
To answer some of your queries:
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Originally Posted by zag
...My concern as a giver is that I have very little context to base my decision on.
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The only context that any of us can be sure of is that you wish to pass on an item to someone that neither you nor Admin knows anything about. Your decision as to who gets the item is mostly arbitrary -- you simply choose from a list of names. (You might select a person closest to you, the first or seventh person on the list, a newbie, or the person who can collect the soonest, but their history of giving and/or taking on the site is only revealed by their number of posts; their "need" is unknowable/unverifiable, even if they write a note about being in need.) The key point is that being charitable or helping the "deserving" is a co-incidental "by-product" of the environmental imperative that informs the site. As the true "need" of any Taker is unknowable/unverifiable, it shouldn't enter into the Giving and Taking process. Some Takers may wish to try to read between the lines, but that's their business. As we state in umpteen posts around the forum, JumbleTown's business is "to help people free up space by passing on unwanted items" [and that] "the primary concern [or business, if you like] of Givers should be the desire to free up space in their home/workplace in an environmental way that helps the community."
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Originally Posted by zag
My request was with a view to *helping* me make a decision as a giver. While many givers simply want things out of their house to the first person to respond, some givers presumably want to be able to give it to one person over another.
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Whether you give to Taker A or Taker B is your decision; however, the site is not configured to give you information about Taker A or B. As far as we're concerned, value judgements simply don't enter into the process. Either you wish to give away your item "blind" or you don't. If the latter is the case, then JumbleTown isn't for you.
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Originally Posted by zag
If there is not supposed to be a choice of taker, then why does the site allow more than one reply to a post ?
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Murrayhead in post #16 has it spot-on: "...allowing more than one person to reply to a post is not so much to create an opportunity for the 'giver' to make a decision as to create a queue should the 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc etc not be able to collect etc." I'll add to that by saying that as it's not Admin's item, we are not in a position to say that you have to pass it on to the first, second, or third person who requests it. We do, however, limit expressions of interest to ten because that seems an ample number for a Taker to make their (mostly) arbitrary decision.
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Originally Posted by zag
If there is supposed to be a choice of taker, then how are givers supposed to make that choice? What information is it acceptable to use in the decision?
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Givers can base their decision on the location of the Taker, or how soon they can collect, their number of previous posts, which may be all offers :) or all requests :) A Taker's posts on
active ads should also be viewable, gremlins-aside. (Click on a Member's User Name to find their posts on active ads.) In short, a Giver who understands the site's purpose and modus operandi shouldn't care about a Taker's history.
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Originally Posted by zag
How do you get that information?
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Look at the Taker's location, position on the list, number of posts etc.
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Originally Posted by zag
Is history on the site not as good an indicator as anything else?
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The only available history about a Member is their join-date, their number of posts, and their posts on active ads. Extrapolate from that what you will...
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Originally Posted by zag
there's reference to this issue "being done to death" in previous posts. Does this not indicate perhaps that many givers have similar thoughts ? Maybe these thoughts are valid, given the number of times the discussion comes up.
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Admin has had the above discussion on more threads than we care to remember...since 2006. (I had thought that the Support Forum post I link to above would put an end to them, but obviously not.) In short, the discussion would be pertinent if JumbleTown were a charity site, but it's not and never will be. It's an environmental site that can help Givers save money in disposal costs and can also, co-incidentally, help Takers.
Regards
Chris P
Admin