I've offered a chin on freecycle before. It was for Christmas and they had to fill out an application just like they wanted to adopt a rescue, and I picked the one I thought would give it the best home. If there were no good homes, no one would have gotten one. That was two years ago, his new family still keeps in touch with me. His name is Jack and he's doing great. We had someone gift my daughter an expensive snare drum and I wanted to pass something along that could bring a family joy that they might not normally get, etc.
What I'm saying is... although CL and freecycle can be full of idiots and such, that's not always the case. The thing is that people need to know where their animals are going to. I've sold to people off forums and regretted it later and I don't even know where the chins are now. I gave away Jack on freecycle and he has an awesome home who keeps in contact with me.