Nazgul

Good grief yes, let the kid grab a toy. The parent can make up for it later, or put the toy back into another cache after the kid gets tired of it. I've done both. Trading fairly should just be common sense. I really don't understand where the angst and hand-wringing comes from. I'm taking a seat for this and I'm going to sit here quietly and eat my popcorn, heh.

MWM seeks partner for discrete swapping of geocoins. I'm a successful collector, black hair and blue eyes, with nearly 50 different geocoins available for trade. You're a SWF Swedish bikini model with some sort of geocoin I might possibly be interested in trading for. Email me. But seriously, I'm looking for: - Benchmark coin - IndyDiver - GD Mystery coins - MiGO Fall - Missouri 2004 - Blueillfisherman - Wandering Dragon - Kitsap county (bronze) - CacheDragons And more........

Haaaaaaaar, me matey! Dubloon #104 has boarded me galleon today, and a fine piece of eight it be! Many thanks again, ye scurvy dogs!

No Westchester sewer hole covers please, I was born in Westchester County so I'd probbaly have to buy one!

Congrats Pepper, you deserved it!

You are probably right, although I'm certainly not alone and I'm not sure what it has to do with trading fairly for trade items. I can understand that. I'm just saying how I do it, and how I understand that most other coin traders in our area also do it. I'm just reporting the conventional wisdom as I understand it. Hmmmm... I just re-read that thread and I don't see anyone being hard on him. I saw a lot of posts about trading fairly and a lot of posts by me that attempted - perhaps unsuccessfully? - to politely suggest that they should trade fairly for any geocoins they decided to keep. I think that's a fine philosophy. Now everyone please go back to actual geocaching.

I was "payment denied" too but you probably had the same issue I did, where you missed the item in the original post where they said "no credit card payments" because their account isn't set up for them. I just re-submitted payment via my checking account instead. I'm just used to putting it on the card automatically.

I always have a couple of trading geocoins in my geo-pack, and trade items valued in the $2-5 range. So I never have a problem trading for coins - or most anything else - I find. Mauison is right, I would stick with trading a coin for a coin, or something else reasonably good for a coin, and not worry about the values on eBay or whatever. I'd not complain about any geocoin-for-geocoin swap I saw. If someone stumbles on a Moun10Bike coin in a cache, no one is going to expect them to drop a certified check for a thousand dollars in the cache. If someone finds a rare coin in a cache, good for them! I often hear people say they wish they would see more geocoins in caches. There have been several threads about that here. Keep the circulation of them steady, or add to it, don't just take them and leave little or nothing behind. When I stumbled upon a Sgt. Stitches geocoin in a cache recently, I did trade two other coins for it but mostly it was a way to trade up and get more coins out there.

(sorry, double-posted because the forum was choking)

Two please!

That's the cool sixties Austin Powers LE version, baby!

You DO have too much time on your hands! Go caching! That's a great personal list, but I disagree with #31 as it conflicts with 20 or more geocoins I know are out there in local caches that were dropped with the expectation that they would be traded for like any other trade item. Why is a geocoin assumed to be a "bonus prize" if there's no mention of it being so? No other trade item would be.

I'm just glad that Santa is undoubtedly experiencing the who "better to give than receive" thing! Try it, you might like it. (And no, I'm *not* looking to get one!)

Uh, I guess you haven't seen Boulter's multi in Los Altos then... There are at least eight locals I know I've seen at events with two smileys for that one.

Had to miss the eBay thing today due to actual gecaching. Looking to trade, buy, or wait list for one, metal type not important.

Ten bucks starting bid, no buy it now, five bucks shipping! One selling - if they sell - every two days. I'm not getting near them.

We have several people that were at a geocoin event tonight that can vouch for Sharkz, who was going bananas because she couldn't log her final cache (the event) at about 5:45pm PDT.

I thought it was funny too, especially when you could hear palms smacking into foreheads all over the country and the sounds of dozens of geocoin addicts yelling "Doh!" "I sense a profound disturbance in the geocoin force....."

Agreed. Bait and switch is when you see a camera advertised for $500 and it's the best price around, so you call and they tell you it's out of stock but really they never intended to sell that model at that price. Instead they offer you what they're really trying to sell, a different camera (often similar but the next model better and more expensive) or a package of that camera with accessories you don't really want. Hence the "bait" (camera you really want) and "switch" (attempt to sell you something else.) What you're talking about sounds more like a "hidden charge" or something. When you are given an estimate that shows a line item of "Postage and Delivery FREE 0.00 0.00" then that's what you should expect. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

Yep, good communication helps to prevent misunderstandings. It would also have helped prevent me from trading for some geocoins that later turned out to be travelers. Live and learn...

To answer Hula Bum, that's why I'm posting here (and probably just screwing people up worse LOL) in an attempt to educate, not to berate. I apologize for now doing a good job of it. Your suggestion about stickers is good. I actually started doing that myself with the coins I dropped during the Calero Deathmarch and I know another local cacher has used them as well. They say something to the effect of "Trade coin, please trade only for another geocoin." For southbayday, yes I would expect anything in a cache that is not a traveler, or explicitly called out in the cache description (or a log) as an FTF prize or other freebie, is a trade item and should be traded for evenly or better. That's not just geocoins but any other signature items or anything. That's just my feeling so take it FWIW. Don't take the "balance sheet" too literally. You should always trade fairly overall but it should be easy, simple, and informal. Like Marky said, just try to make things even in the long run. In summary, any trade item in a cache - unless somehow called out specifically as a freebie - should be traded for fairly. That's the way I approach it and to the best of my knowledge it is what is generally accepted in the geocaching community worldwide as the standard.

Interested in one.

LOL!

Really, honestly, there's nothing to feel bad about. I'm sorry you feel that way. Some people are putting stickers ot tags on their coins or coin holders now to show if the coin is a traveler or trader. You have to understand that the emails/IMs I have received were all about cachers who have been caching for a long time, usually a couple of years or longer, people with over a thousand finds and who really have no excuse for not trading even remotely fair. People who trade a 4 cent item (or nothing at all, or a travel bug) for a trade coin... It's easy to make things clear, just say something in your log! ("Picked up ABC Geocoin, will drop appropriate trade elsewhere if it turns out to be a trade item and not a traveler.") If you forget or want to update it, you can always edit the log later. Simple and painless, really. Now please go back to enjoying the coins and caching.

Well, I don't think it's the *coin* that's getting the bad reputation, rather the seller.