Olio - Free Sharing App (Food and Home Items)

[Jon]

I've recently been wondering where things like Freecycle have migrated to from that day when that service used to be on Yahoo Groups! It seems things have changed in how unwanted items are now shared and it seems to be via apps like Olio

You download the app from Google Play / App Store and you will see a whole raft of people giving away items for free.

It seems people who work in food establishments are using the app to give food away for free as well as there are LOADS of Pret sandwiches on there last night!

Worth a look anyway if you want some free food or free items for your home!

 

[asajj]

I use this regularly. I have had a lot of Pret Pots/soups and sandwiches (they give away unsold food at the end of the day). Volunteers collect them to list on the app and they can keep 10% of them for themselves too.
i.e. if you receive 10 sandwiches, you get to keep one but you can also keep 10% of every other item.

Tesco recently joined and giving away free food on it.

If you are a maker/crafter, now you can sell your items on Olio too.

Apart from giving away/collecting food, I've given away stuff charities wouldn't normally want (half-used toiletries, used make up brushes etc.). I'd recommend it definitely!

 

[mgcomp57]

Does this work like a delivery service or is there collection points for food etc?

 

[Jon]

Does this work like a delivery service or is there collection points for food etc?

from memory there are collection points

 

[micameyerstarturn]

Thank you Jon for mentioning this. I forgot all about it.

I have had to use foodbanks (last year). This app could be good, but not sure how the lockdowns will affect it.

I heard about them about a year ago, it was one of them vloggers who spent a week without money and show you how to get freebies. They picked up some food from outside someones house. I saw another guy collect food from a cafe and a restaurant.

I would only accept food from a restaurant or cafe, sealed up.

Here's Olio's video

1.
2.

 

[micameyerstarturn]

The Hack, a vlogger who does challenges like living for a day or week with no money or £1. He uses a lot of apps to get freebies.

 

[Jon]

The Hack, a vlogger who does challenges like living for a day or week with no money or £1. He uses a lot of apps to get freebies.

Yeahhhhhh not sure how I feel about people gaming the “system” like this

 

[micameyerstarturn]

Yeahhhhhh not sure how I feel about people gaming the “system” like this

He just uses all the sign up bonuses. I think he just wants to show people that you can have little to no money and still eat if you have a phone, some data or you can access public or private wifi of course.

There's another guy Simon (they do some challenges together), who does some stuff that might get you into trouble, like pretending he is a guest at a hotel and using their pool, gym or sauna to have a shower. Also pretending he didn't get the right takeaway and getting more, mainly from Mcdonalds.

Entertaining videos but I wouldn't encourage anyone to copy these guys really.

 

[amyjay]

I'd recommend olio to everyone.

I'm a food waste hero and once a week I collect from Tesco and distribute to others. I've been doing it for around 6 weeks so far.

I get to keep 10% of items. Sometimes theres hardly anything, only 15 items, but I once had 200 items.

I also have local people I collect from.

Within 1 mile of me, I have several people who collect from bakeries, Tesco and planet organic.

Yesterday I collected 7 huge lemons, 2 croissants, 4 sausage rolls and 2 huge loaves of bread. There was loads of hot items I could have collected too from planet organic, but I already had my meals planned and cooked for this weekend so I wouldn't have time to eat them.

 

[micameyerstarturn]

I'd recommend olio to everyone.

I'm a food waste hero and once a week I collect from Tesco and distribute to others. I've been doing it for around 6 weeks so far.

I get to keep 10% of items. Sometimes theres hardly anything, only 15 items, but I once had 200 items.

I also have local people I collect from.

Within 1 mile of me, I have several people who collect from bakeries, Tesco and planet organic.

Yesterday I collected 7 huge lemons, 2 croissants, 4 sausage rolls and 2 huge loaves of bread. There was loads of hot items I could have collected too from planet organic, but I already had my meals planned and cooked for this weekend so I wouldn't have time to eat them.

Olio is working with tesco now.

I watched a video a while ago with a woman who was eating nearly for free in London, by collecting food thrown out by supermarkets and coffee shops. They used to give people a fine or threaten to get them arrested if they took food from their dumpster. Not sure how things are now.

Coffee shops like Costa, pret and starbucks have some really nice sandwiches, rolls and cakes left at the end of the day. I was temping at a company in the west end, that was positioned right next to a costa. We were given a bag full of sandwiches, rolls, cakes and biscuits.

My friend worked for two supermarkets, Marks and Spencers and Sainsburys. She was disgusted by how much these supermarkets throw away food that is still in date. Some supermarkets do let their staff buy some of the food at a reduced price. The rest goes in the bin.

More and more people need a little help with basic groceries or a decent meal. With foodbanks struggling right now, any shops that can give away a bit of free food using Olio or donating it to the foodbank would be good.