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In this paper, we analyze reuse and sharing practices in France and assess the scope of certain French initiatives in the wake of the temporary free zones movement. We study two models of gratiferias (the Magasin pour rien in Saint-Amant-de-Bonnieure, Charente, and Siga-Siga, la Boutique sans argent in Paris), in order to highlight the ambiguities and tensions that these forms of “return to free sharing” entail. We show that the uses of the publics who frequent these spaces are not the same, and that the strength of the representations related to commercial and gift-giving practices also shape the aspirations and the expectations of the promoters of these initiatives.