For Sale, For Free, For Honor

By purple
December 7, 2015 - 23:04

**Update** I realized it might be difficult for some to open the powerpoint, so I've put the text of powerpoint here too

Purpose

As I have been following the ‘For Sale For Free’ Facebook page, I noticed certain interactions that I felt were a result of being in the Bryn Mawr College community

For example:

Students often leave their room numbers on the page
Sellers would leave clothes outside their room for people to try on
Sellers were willing to accept payment by means of people leaving money outside their door
I wanted to find out about the intersection between the Bryn Mawr College Social Honor Code, and the ‘For Sale For Free’ Facebook page because I questioned what made students feel like they could safely do these things

The 'For Sale For Free' Facebook page

The ‘For Sale For Free’ page is a Facebook group accesible only to Bryn Mawr students where people can buy, sell, and give away items to other members of the Bryn Mawr College community
The page is self governed and self regulated by students
A student moderator sets general guidelines and oversees interactions on the page
Anyone in the group can create a post for an item or items they want to sell. These posts usually include a product description, price, and often a picture of the item
Once a post is created, people can either comment to indicate their interest in an item, or send a direct message to the seller

Data Collection

I spent a lot of time looking through posts on the the page, focused on comments and interactions between potential buyers and sellers
I noticed that many posts included the original list price of the item, or the price that the seller originally paid
Many posts also included a room number and the option for people
I collected data on the items being sold on the ‘For Sale For Free’ page
I recorded the first 200 items being sold in the group and separated them into the categories: school supplies, clothes, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, electronics, household items, and other
I also noted which of the items being sold were new items and which were used

Examining the Bryn Mawr College Social Honor Code

The link to the Bryn Mawr College Student Government Association website: https://sga.blogs.brynmawr.edu/honor-board/honor-code
I looked at the social honor code to see if it had anything to say about free market exchange
A clause of the social honor code: “The social resolutions represent guidelines for conduct in areas where a need for community agreement on behavior exists, and may at times restrict the maximum freedom of each individual. ”
I noticed that the honor code is very general, and the social honor code especially does not contain much specificity, leaving it very much up to interpretation

Interview: Molly MacDougal, Honor Board President

I interviewed Molly to find out her thoughts and insights on how the honor code interacts with the type of free market exchange that takes place on the ‘For Sale For Free’ Facebook page
Molly said she thought the honor code leaves much to interpretation, and that what affects the interactions on the page more than the social honor code itself, is what she called “the spirit of the honor code”
She talked to me about how the Bryn Mawr community is trustworthy as a culture and the implied ideals of the honor code are something that the members of the community choose to buy into and abide by

Survey Responses

Question: Have you ever sold anything on the 'for sale for free' Facebook page?

Question: Have you ever bought anything on the 'for sale for free' Facebook page?

Question: Have you ever commented on a post to indicate interest in buying an item someone is selling?

Question: If you answered yes to the previous question: how often do you folluw up with the seller afer indicating your interest?

Question: It is acceptable to sell an item you received for free.

“Its immoral”
“You own it so you can do what you want”
“I think that since most people have not made a profit of what they are selling. It is in the keeping with sort of honor code on the page that students must sell an item for less than what they paid for it”
“I am generally opposed to selling items that you have received for free, but in cases where you may have bought the item as part of a "Buy 1, Get 1" or "Buy , Get 1/2 Off," then I feel there is a gray scale of acceptability since you did pay some money for the original items”
23.53% disagreed
52.94% were neutral
23.53% agreed

Question: It is acceptable to sell an item for more than you paid for it.

“Immoral”
“Most of the items seem to be sold for less than retail value, so I would not be comfortable making a profit off of something that I am selling because no one else is really making a profit off of what they are selling. People seem to be selling items that they have an excess of, don't want, or don't need.”
“It seems dishonest to sell an item for more than you paid for it.”
29.41% disagreed
29.41% were neutral
42.28% agreed

Question: I would feel comfortable accepting payment in the form of people leaving money outside my room

Question: I would feel comfortable leaving items I wanted to sell outside my room

Question: Too what extent where your responses to this survey influenced by Bryn Mawr's Social Honor Code

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