The observation in the last few weeks of the sites of the gifts that are Recupe.net and Donnons.org leads me to several thoughts. He is not here to propose an analysis which is meant to be comprehensive, but suggest the beginning of a reflection that an empirical investigation needs to complete. Recupe.net and Donnons.org are the two sites of donations of the busiest on the web, according to their place in Google and the mass of donations that are channeled weekly. Far ahead Recupere.fr or Consoglobe, or Digitroc.co, Trocetdons.com. Our observation is therefore limited to these two sites.
A few words about their operation : they are sites of gifts free of charge after a brief registration on Donnons.org and without registration on Recupe, you can give as many objects as you want : cars, old sofas, plates chipped, earth fill, books, suitcases, faded… Description, photos, place where to come pick up the donation. It is strongly recommended to clarify the actual state of the object : new, good condition, is damaged,… and the terms of the donation.
On Donnons.org in the deposit form of donation, you get a box provided for the description of the object, another allows you to place in the bottom of the description of the object to give a general text. The more often people are the place of the rdv : there are those who give appointment among them (without mentioning the address), but give the borough the town or an approximate location (which may be a selection criterion for the recipient’s future gift), others agree to an appointment to a metro station. In this free-text that accompanies the gifts, several specify the terms of trade prior to the donation : “I do not recall the notebook “, ” Everything goes by mail “, or “shall ye call upon me” . Other place a text that express their philosophy of the gift ” Giving is a gesture citizen, a stop to dealers “, ” All that is not given is lost “, ” The gift comes from the heart “…
A notable difference exists between the two sites Recupe and Donnons.org. On Recupe, the ergonomics of the site is more simple : the presence of the wording of the announcement (description of the object), the name of the pseudo. You can’t click on the nick to find out about all of the gifts he makes. On Donnons.org to the reverse of each donor is identifiable thanks to a nickname, possibly a photo, and each can know its history as a donor or recipient : are attached permanently to the pseudo all donations made and received.
All donations are monitored by moderators who filter ads : I can penetrate the logic of the selection from the outside, but from what I could find on the site and after discussion with one of the moderators of donnons.org the phone : should not appear a notion of exchange or any mention of money. What are sites for donations. Some classes of object are they prohibited ? In any case, about two weeks of observation on the region of the Rhone-Alps (Rhône department), any gift of food (forbidden), nor alcohol, nor tobacco.
Mitigate consumerism ambient, or get rid easily and without the cost of distracting objects become unnecessary ?
Respecting his / her environment, second life of objects, help, generosity, these are the principles announced in the heart of the approach, in particular by the creator of the site Donnons.org (here). Should we see the bottle half-empty or half-full ? Here I would ask the question in the same way.
This is for a lot of users (and I repeat here only interviews would demonstrate) to get rid of objects become unnecessary, annoying. Many donors indicate in their ads ” Urgent “, “very very urgent, cause moving” : to go through the donation site allows, therefore, to avoid a trip to the dump… (vision the more restrictive of the logic of gift and the most interested), and make fun of it, give a second life to objects out-of-date. What logic premium ? The only observation of the exterior of the site does not allow slicing or detail for this beginning of reflection : come into play, memberships, social, geographical. On the department of the Rhone, a geography “social” donations can be made, Genas or Vaulx-en-Velin are not the same types of gifts that in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon…to make it simple and fast, not the same profiles of donors.
To elucidate this question of the logic guiding the gift, you can also take a look at how the donor makes his choice among the many potential recipients as possible.
“First-come, first-served” basis or logic of selection opaque ?
On Donnons.org on each ad there is a system of accounting of the number of applications received for each object. In each moment, each potential recipient knows the status of the offer and the demand (number of stakeholders, number of people who have been contacted by the donor). On Recupe, the system is opaque : the recipient has not provided these statistics, and therefore its application in blind. But the more the application is late, the more the chance to see given the subject matter is generally thin.
Has that give ? For the most part (counting…) of the donors, this is the first receiver that the contacts who wins the gift. Logic sometimes put forward explicitly in the “text free” that I told you about earlier. “The first one who contacts me will be the subject” can we read in some ads. Others show a principle of selection : “Answer in a few days “” I don’t give to the first. Everybody has its chance.” For the first (those who give to the first recipient), this avoids to receive tens of mail, and “get rid” of the gift quickly. For the pervasive logic of selectivity, there is certainly behind a design of the gift different. On what criteria is based the choice ? Certainly a composite whole : politeness of the request, availability of the recipient, proximity of the recipient relative to the gift, “need” an apparent gift (which can be argued upon request). It should be noted in this connection that on Donnons.org the receiver is “noted” : an index is in effect made available to donors to help them in their choice. It counts the number of requests made in the last 30 days, the number of objects received. It is marked that the index (a score out of 10) can be weighted by moderators : raises rabbits, non-polite, non-compliance with the rules.
Remain to consider quantitatively the types of donations the most common (return very regularly washing machines broken data to do-it-yourselfers, the old sofas), and most requested, the logic of operation of the sites (advertising or not ?)… A future post will follow