Is it rude to ask a free poster to also deliver the item as part of the deal?

Standing in front of a free item you can't easily transport, it can feel like a small addition to just ask the person giving it away if they'd mind dropping it off too. It usually isn't small, and it's worth understanding why before you ask.

What the poster's already doing for you

A poster giving something away for free has already absorbed the entire cost of the item itself — whatever they paid for it, whatever it's now worth, gone, for nothing in return. On top of that, they're usually the one managing messages, coordinating a pickup time, and making the item accessible. That's already a real amount of effort and generosity for something that gets them nothing back.

Why asking for delivery is a bigger ask than it feels like

Delivery adds gas money, time, and effort entirely on the poster's side, on top of what they're already giving up. The whole structure of a free listing assumes the person receiving the item handles getting it home — that's the implicit trade that makes giving something away for free workable for the poster in the first place. Asking them to also deliver it shifts the entire remaining burden of the transaction onto the one person who's already not getting anything out of it. It's a fundamentally different, much larger favor than picking something up yourself.

When it's fine to ask anyway

None of this means the ask is off-limits — it just means how and when you ask matters. If you have a real constraint (no vehicle, a mobility issue that makes loading something yourself impractical), it's completely reasonable to explain that honestly and ask. The key is asking as a genuine question you're prepared to hear "no" to, not as a condition attached to taking the item at all.

How to ask without it sounding like an expectation

Frame it as an ask, not a requirement: "I don't have a car, would there be any way you could drop it somewhere on your way, no worries at all if not — I can also try to find someone to help me pick it up." That gives the poster a real, comfortable out, and it signals you understand this is extra, not standard.

Contrast that with something like "can you deliver it," with no context and no acknowledgment that it's an unusual ask — that version reads as an expectation, and it's the version that actually earns a reputation as demanding.

Offer something in return

If delivery would genuinely help, offering something concrete in exchange changes the shape of the ask entirely — gas money, or narrowing the request to something low-cost for them specifically: "only if you're ever passing near [general area] anyway, no rush." A narrow, low-cost ask with something offered in return is a completely different request than a blanket "can you bring it to me," and posters are far more likely to say yes to it.

Consider solving it without the poster at all

Before you even ask, it's worth weighing whether there's a way to solve the transport problem without putting it on the poster in the first place — a friend with a truck, a local hauling or rideshare service that can move furniture for a flat fee, or simply asking around before assuming delivery is the only option. Sometimes the "ask for delivery" question only comes up because it feels like the fastest path, not because it's actually the only one available. If a paid hauling option costs less than the value of the free item, that's often a cleaner solution than putting a stranger in the position of having to say no to you.

How this differs from paying to skip the line

This is a related but distinct question from offering to pay a little to jump ahead of other interested people — that's about priority on an item that's still, structurally, a pickup-it-yourself situation. Asking for delivery changes who does the physical work of the transaction, which is a bigger shift in what's being asked of the poster than priority ever is.

If they say no

If the poster says no to delivery, that's not a rude answer — it's the default, reasonable position, and it shouldn't sour the interaction. Come back with "no problem, I'll figure out pickup" and move on. A poster who declines delivery but still lets you have the item is still doing you a real favor.

The bottom line

Asking a free poster to also deliver is a legitimate question to ask, but it's a meaningfully bigger favor than picking something up yourself, and it should be framed that way — a genuine ask with a real reason, an easy no, and ideally something offered in return, rather than a default expectation.

Freebox surfaces plenty of nearby finds, so pickup logistics don't have to hinge on any one listing working out. See what's free near you →