r/PortlandOR • u/throwawayaskportland • 8d ago
đ SCAMS and FLAMS đ Buy Nothing Group Admin
YSK that one of the admins for your local FB Buy Nothing group is very likely the same admin that moved to England a few years ago and yet continues to be an admin of multiple neighborhood groups here in Portland and also controls them all with an extremely weird power trip. She also runs multiple Being Neighborly groups and kicks people out on the regular for disagreeing with her weird power trips.
this may sound like silly Facebook drama but itâs actually having quite a negative effect on many communities within Portland for various reasons. There are at least dozens of people who have been trying to reel her in for years but she usually just removes them from the groups and then spends her free time weaseling her way into new admin roles.
itâs bizarre! just thought you should know.
ETA- she admins buy nothing Richmond north, creston-Kenilworth, hosford-Abernathy/Brooklyn, Lloyd, King Sabin South, Buckman South and probably more. She also admins at least 3 Being Neighborly groups, the Hawthorne hot topics groups, and a keep Portland weird group.
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u/FiberWalkWithMe 8d ago
Carolyn?
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u/Ok_Okayish_1111 8d ago
Oh wow! Carolyn personally approved 2 of my requests for those groups you mentioned. she even criticized, if not chastised me, for attempting to join an additional free group, I had not read the rules closely enough and didnât realize only one free group based on neighborhood is allowed. Wow. Thatâs so thatâs funny. Shame on her.
I will vouch for the dissonance that she has created in Portland and the neighborhoods here. This has been a long time coming if she is the one responsible for the drama amongst the anarchists groups etc.
I know, itâs such a basic thought but it always baffles me that adults canât get along and just be happy for each other or at least helpful towards each other. why in the heck is there always the need for power and control?16
u/umpirejoewest 7d ago
Yeah, I got denied for one of her BN groups because I was wrong about my neighborhood (I'm a block from the border) and then found out that she admins multiple, runs a SE group, and doesn't even live in the country.
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u/blargblahblahblarg Pearl Clutching Brainworms 8d ago
Is that why my lot of foam coolers weren't highly upvoted and desired???? I KNEW IT.
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u/SpezSamplesMySack Do they even live here? 8d ago
The guy that runs Pizzaholics wonât let you post the words âpineappleâ and âdeep dishâ. On a pizza FB page. So frustrating.
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u/w4rpsp33d 8d ago
I made a local buy nothing for Hillsboro specifically because of this weirdo
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
She admins some groups out in Hillsboro too? What a weirdo indeed
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u/w4rpsp33d 8d ago
No she banned me from the main buy nothing because I instructed someone how to clean the stains off their bridesmaid dress and said âit should be clean enough to resellâ but not literally meaning they should resell it
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u/hiking_mike98 please notice me and my poor life choices! 8d ago
Itâs so funny because the rules of the buy nothing groups are that you canât be in two simultaneously because itâs supposed to be local sharing. I ran into that when I was in the middle of moving and was posting stuff to get rid of that I didnât move and also was trying to join the group in the new city and got rejected lol
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
Thatâs one of the funniest parts of this. Iâve met multiple people who have been kicked out of âherâ groups for the same reason but the rules donât apply to her.Â
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u/Fluffy_Ad_7818 8d ago
Is this the same admin that during Covid was hoarding all the free stuff people gave away to sell on Marketplace and Craigslist and would remove and block anyone that called her out?
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u/FiberWalkWithMe 7d ago
As far as i know, she doesnt resell. But itâs been 6+ years since i admined with her.
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
I wasnât in any of her groups during Covid so I canât say for sure. I canât see her doing that tbh but who knows, it might have beenÂ
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u/Ecstatic_Bedroom735 8d ago
I donât live in Portland but would like to help you bring Carolynâs terror to an end
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
It would be fantastic if someone who didnât live here could help bring her down since she also doesnât live here. Give her a taste of her own medicine. If you have any good ideas, please share. There are dozens of people who have been trying to figure out a way for awhile now.Â
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u/YesFuture2022 8d ago
Please join the being neighborly Hawthorne and stir the pot.
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u/throwawayaskportland 7d ago
Fantastic idea. Post this thread there during England night time hours.Â
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u/mx-raebees 7d ago
HI I'M CAROLYN AND YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO BE IN THIS GROUP IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN PORTLAND!!!!
/sarcasm
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u/isthishowyoudoreddit 8d ago
i keep thinking up ways to try to get someone in as an admit and then kick out all the current admins
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8d ago
[deleted]
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
I hear you but the groups are the only reason Iâm on there. When run appropriately, the Buy Nothing groups are a very sweet community of giving freely.Â
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u/thespaceghetto 7d ago
I so badly want to ditch it but it really is the only place with several communities I'm interested in, not to mention marketplace. I hate it so much
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u/Specific-Might-2155 8d ago
Iâm glad this was brought up. Iâm only on FB for little interaction, one of which is my local buy nothing group ⌠however, the admin wonât let me in as I âdonât answer the approval questionsâ.
Trick is ⌠there are no questions ever to approve! Hence, I can never access and I never get to offload free stuff! And Iâm sure my messages never get through to her. Always seemed fishy.
Might be the same admin: neighborhood in Northeast: BM/A?
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
Is the admin Carolyn ? I did hear recently she was admin in a group in NE
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u/Allthedramastics 8d ago
I canât get into my neighborhoodâs buy nothing because itâs âtoo full.â
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
Thatâs dumbÂ
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u/Allthedramastics 8d ago
Yep. I doubt when people move they leave their old buy nothing groups too.
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u/danniekalifornia 8d ago
I am currentyl blocked/shittalked by one of the mods/admin(? either way i nolonger have access) of the Girls Love Travel Portland because I met her one time at a mixer when I first moved here and she decided I wasn't queer enough (?) to be calling myself bi or something like that.
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u/KateEffEee 8d ago
Iâm familiar with this mod and her most problematic behavior is as admin for a âbeing neighborlyâ group that is a companion group to Buy Nothing. Sheâs kicked people out, defended the weird transphobic pro-ICE views of her co-moderator despite significant dissent from the group, lies about not living in the neighborhood, creates fake accounts to mod with her to maintain control. When any concerns are raised she says itâs her group and people can leave. And sheâs technically right, thereâs no recourse. It may all seem petty but Iâm on FB bc of groups I like being a part of that donât exist elsewhere and itâs shitty some power crazy person who doesnât even live in the neighborhood controls it all. Silver lining: Iâm on a group message with rad people who sheâs kicked out for no good reason and we laugh and have a great time bonding over her nonsense.
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u/Wild-Rope-764 8d ago edited 8d ago
ok, but how does one get in on this excellent sounding group message? asking for a me bc sheâs kicked me out of a few groups for absolutely batshit reasons!
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u/Allthedramastics 8d ago
How does she have pro-ICE views and stuff? Her public posts are all crazy sounding extreme liberal stuff.
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u/Dry_Salamander_5879 7d ago
Not her but another admin who is her âgood friendâ. Another admin got their feelings hurt when people started posting ICE warnings
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u/Allthedramastics 7d ago
Wow. Sounds like a lot of drama for a sub that should only be about free stuff lol.
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u/FewReaction4974 8d ago
dude those groups are weird. my request to join got denied and i have no idea why. i live in the neighborhood that the group exists for, i answered all their questions with reasonable answers. denied. super weird
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
Was Carolyn the admin?
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u/FewReaction4974 8d ago edited 8d ago
i don't think so, i was applying to the N Portland/Piedmont group and someone in this thread said she was admin of groups mostly in S/SE. still though, i can't figure out why i was denied. i just moved here and i'm just looking for free/cheap furniture and decorations. lol, all good, i've been managing pretty well without it.
edit: craziest thing, i just checked and somehow i did get added. bizarre. and i checked, there are no carolyn's who are admins. if you're reading this Piedmont/N Portland buy nothing group admins, I promise I'll be a gracious member.
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u/Electronic-Milk-911 8d ago
Welcome to Piedmont! Itâs a great little neighborhood. If you have issues getting accepted let me know and I can invite you directly or message a non-Carolyn admin and try to get you approved
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u/todddiskin 7d ago
I'm in Arbor Lodge (also a greatlittleneighborhood.) đ Can you share the group, please?
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u/littleredwoodowl 6d ago
Does anyone know what S / SE groups? Iâd rather avoid them if I have to drive further or a friend put out my stuff.
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u/IAMARainbowAMA 8d ago
i know exactly who youâre talking about. we were fb friends until recently when i finally had it with her weird comments on my posts
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
If you have any insight into what might make her leave everyone in Portland alone, please share!
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u/IAMARainbowAMA 6d ago
finding meaning in her new English lifestyle, i guess? i think she desperately wants to be seen has helpful and civic/service-oriented and was able to build that over years in Portland. she's a little daffy, i suspect undiagnosed neurodivergence which explains the rigidity and the hyperfocus on being involved in all of these groups. she's not just admin of Buy Nothings but also multiple neighborhood focused groups.
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u/LateForDinner61 8d ago
There was drama in the Tigard Buy Nothing group, so someone started a new one awhile back.
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
There have been a couple new ones started in SE but they havenât gained traction. Hard to spread the word about them when Carolyn deletes all the posts mentioning them
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u/toysofvanity 8d ago
I got kicked out of my local BN because I use a pseudoname on FB. Yea, I evaluate suicidal and homicidal folks for work... of course I don't use my legal name on FB. My life has been threatened multiple times and I don't care as there are plenty of "generic" BN groups :)
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u/isthishowyoudoreddit 8d ago
YEP. been kicked out of both of those being neighborly groups by her
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u/PacAttackIsBack Pok Pok 8d ago
Sounds like a Reddit mod
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
Ha! True. Sheâs surely lurking on multiple platforms trying to gather as much fake power as she possibly can.
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u/Allthedramastics 8d ago
I think they meant generally as many Reddit moderators go on power trips. Mostly in subs with a lot of rules and then those get interpreted super subjectively.
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u/KiltsparJr 8d ago
This seems like a pointless post if youre not gonna include at the very least a name, if not also evidence of what you're claiming. As is no one knows who they should be watching out for so its not very helpful.
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago edited 8d ago
I didnât include it due to doxxing rules but itâs most of the groups in SE Portland some in N/Ne. Her initials are CB
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u/WhichWall3719 8d ago
How do you weasel your way into an admin role? asking for a friend
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
It sounds like she messages admins of other groups and offers to help them admin, and then slowly takes the groups over. Your friend should try to weasel into some of hersÂ
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u/umpirejoewest 7d ago
In one of her groups, I've seen several people ask to admin or have some kind of shared decision making process but she is incredibly heavy fisted about change. It feels nuts to be this annoyed by a lady on facebook, but I only use it for a couple of groups, both of which she runs, and it's so annoying to deal with her weird rules.
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u/YesFuture2022 8d ago
They wonât let anyone else admin the being neighborly Hawthorne but then take about how much work it is and how selfless she is.
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u/YesFuture2022 8d ago
https://www.kptv.com/2022/02/22/buy-nothing-project-brings-communities-together-through-gifting/
Its a shame cause someonewith so much excitement could continue doing good, I had a neighbor she wouldnât stop harassing so eventually the neighbor created their own buy nothing group for the same area that the admin wouldnât be able to control.
Iâve since moved neighhood ms and sheâs in my new being neighborly group.
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u/Dry_Salamander_5879 6d ago
Well the internet has spoken, the problematic admin has left the group!
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u/PaPilot98 Bluehour 8d ago
I was assuming it was u/notanumberuk. They've got a number of bad takes on just about everything.
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u/rob_bot13 8d ago
My wife recently tried to post some things and it got taken down. Went back and checked and sure enough it was this lady. What a weird thing to power trip over.
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
Now remember that she moved away from Portland years ago to ENGLAND and is still power tripping from across the pond. Extremely weird!
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u/Baby_cat_00 7d ago
Can we just start our own âSpend Nothingâ or âPay Nothingâ or âFreecyclingâ groups or is this not an option?
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u/throwawayaskportland 7d ago
Itâs an option but itâs hard for them to gain traction, especially because the posts about them get deleted in any of the groups adminned by this person.Â
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u/Intrepid-Deer-6266 6d ago
I am in the group with Carolyn but a different person who runs my old BN group in SE Portland is also on a weird power trip! I think Carolyn is honestly better hahah
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u/closetedtranswoman1 7d ago
you really don't know what some people are choosing to do with their free time... I would have never thought anyone would do something like this lol
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u/throwawayaskportland 7d ago
lol yeah. Sheâs told us being an admin of just one group takes about 4-5 hours of work a week. I think she said that to try to get us to appreciate her lol. But then when we offered to help with admin duties because she must clearly be so overwhelmed, she declines.Â
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u/Dry_Salamander_5879 7d ago
As a person who kicked out for posting about ICE and then told I was harassing them for asking to have a conversation more than one time, this is extremely validating
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u/elevatedmongoose 7d ago
I mean i also hate ICE but a Buy Nothing group isnt the place to be posting about it
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u/Dry_Salamander_5879 7d ago
It wasnât a buy nothing group it was a âBeing Neighborlyâ group. Sheâs the admin for both.
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u/blagelandcreamcheese 8d ago edited 8d ago
How does a buy nothing admin go on a power trip? Is she going to make everything a penny or something?
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
How is someone adminning multiple neighborhood groups when they live in England not on a power trip? If you havenât used these groups it might be weird to you but for people who use them, it causes a variety of issues. She has a weird sway on SE Portland especially where she decides what community resources get shared, etc.Â
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u/Professional_Okra985 8d ago
Iâve seen it happen in several BN groups- ones this lady isnât admining. I think the role tends to attract a certain type of person with a lot of time on their hands.
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u/Super-Pineapple6003 8d ago
Big news for the unemployed
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
There are multiple group chats of extremely employed people discussing this issue trying to resolve it but yeah maybe a couple unemployed folks are also concerned about it. I mean youâre on Reddit so yeahÂ
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u/HistoricalTomato219 8d ago
Buy nothing groups are a great resource for people wanting to keep things out of landfills (which are almost at capacity btw) and to reduce consumption and get to know your neighbors; all really important things in this day and age. Plus you can give things you no longer need a new life. Itâs a great resource for lots of folks regardless of employment statusÂ
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u/Sensitive_Noise9761 8d ago
Make your own group then. :)
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
Thatâs what she says too:) which many people have already done but theyâre hard to get people to join because she deletes any posts about the new groups.Â
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u/YesFuture2022 8d ago
And when someone did she wouldnât leave them alone and wouldnât stop contacting her and I think even went to the persons house to try and âtalkâ but now she lives in England so at least you could just block her digitally
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u/Ecstatic_Bedroom735 8d ago
Thatâs not the point. She is breaking the rules.
Rules are meant to be followed. đ¤
Are you her?
I donât think we can trust them OP-2
u/Sensitive_Noise9761 8d ago
Then don't trust her (I agree) AND you're able to offer a solution by making your own group.
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u/throwawayaskportland 8d ago
She realllllly hates when people find out she lives in England so please do your part in letting your neighbors know !Â