I love freecycle.org!
I have cleaned out many things from my home on freecycle, and other than some no shows, it has worked very well for me. I leave items outside for pick-up.
I have also gained friends through freecycle. When I requested hard cover books in good condition for deployed troops, I met spouses and parents of deployed in my area and we all work together to get things done for our deployed. I gave away some fashion fabric I was not interested in using and met a wonderful seamstress who now gives me her scraps of cotton. I put up Wish Trees each year in two restaurants, and I get almost all the ornaments I need through freecycle. I also have found people who do wonderful things for their communities that I can help out when I find things that are useful to them, like used towels and sheets for animal shelters, etc. I even met a struggling, nice young widow with three kids, who turned out to be a neighbor, and now I email her first before posting an offer for something she or the kids could use, she got my spare bedroom set, all my excess serveware, some pots and pans, bakeware, Christmas dinnerware set, tablecloths, and her daughter learned to sew from me, so she got my Singer portable that I wasn't using anymore.
From others, I have gotten a free, working featherweight in prime condition, a full patio set with umbrella, a full set of Jordache luggage used once, a Singer 15-91 in a cabinet in great condition, lots of VHS tapes for children, a beautiful pine hutch, and a new Showtime rotisserie. lots of cotton fabric pieces, and too much more to mention.
Freecycle is a great thing, but lately, spammers have been posting, and the admins let too many people request high ticket items. One thing to do when you join your local group(s), is to sit back and observe the emails. If I see someone always posting a wanted ad, I note thier email, and ignore them if they answer any of my offer ads. Some people are there to mine the goodies to sell on CL or ebay.