A woman's well-intentioned gesture to give away items for free took an unexpected turn, when she was asked a bizarre question by a stranger.

While many opt to pass on their surplus belongings to charity shops, some individuals choose to contribute directly to their community by offering goods at no cost via social media.

One lady, active in local "buy nothing" online groups, grew frustrated with people claiming urgent need for freebies yet failing to collect them, so she decided to pile everything outside her house for anyone to take.

She was unprepared for the reaction that followed. Sharing her ordeal on Reddit, she wrote: "I frequently post stuff [for] free in our local buy nothing groups."

"Between my household and my grandma's, we have a lot of stuff," she continued. "Most people just don't show up after holding it since they 'need it so bad'.

"Fed up with keeping items for months, I put it all outside. I snapped a picture and posted, 'all the stuff people never showed to pick up. No holds. Pick up at (address). Don't take the table'."

The woman described how her table was laden with so many items that she had to extend the display onto the footpath.

She continued: "Someone asked me, 'is that all or are you adding more?' I replied, 'this is all [the stuff] people never picked up. I'm not adding anything else'.

The response she got left her astounded. "She said, 'that's disappointing, can you add more or allow us to walk through your house and pick out more?'."

The woman's response was of sheer disbelief: "I'M SORRY who do you think you are... My house isn't a free Goodwill to walk up in and take whatever you want. Yes she is older, so the entitlement does not surprise me. Just the audacity to ask that is jaw-dropping."

Reddit users jumped into the discussion, echoing the woman's shock: "Wow! The nerve!" and dripping with sarcasm: "Surprised she didn't ask if she could have your house as well."

One commenter shared a similar unnerving experience: "Oh man! Our first garage sale we had everything set to go in the garage, sale starts at 8. 6.30 in the morning! While my husband and I are asleep in bed! There is scratching and rapping at [our] bedroom window!

"The window is two feet from our bed, and someone is peeking through a gap in the curtains and can see my husband's head two feet from them. They [were] trying to wake us up so we [would] let them into the garage early to go through our stuff."