UNDERGROUND ECONOMY

MSN Money ran an article about my favorite group, Freecycle.org. If you're hurting for money, or want to give your extras to those in need, this is not just practical - it's fun!

As with every good idea, there are glitches. Every time an article appears in a local paper, or the site gets mentioned on television or radio, local groups get inundated with new members who just don’t get the concept -- who try to barter, buy or sell on the boards, or who post Christmas lists of stuff they want.

“People ask for pool tables and laptops,” Teutsch said. “Then, again, sometimes they get what they ask for.”

Some groups have instituted an informal rule that a new member’s first posting should be an offering of something he or she has to give away. It’s a way of driving home the point that the board is about giving as much as -- or more than -- taking.

But moderators say even groups that grow rapidly seem to survive and thrive. Membership in the Dallas-Fort Worth group doubled to 850 within five days after an article about it ran in the local paper, said moderator David Neely. The message board now has more than 1,300 members. Some of the newcomers fall away, but others stay and are converted.

I'd just like to point out that I was the first person to ask for a laptop, and I got one. I also saw someone giving away a pool table just the other day.

I did give stuff away first, though.
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