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Look Whats On Ebay....


Ladycacher

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I received a note today that one of my SilverMarc Geocoins was on sale on eBay. That makes me proud, of course, but I also felt it appropriate to respond in a public manner. I am dis-including the info from the person who sent me this as that is irrevalent to my opinions.

 

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From: <a concerned geocacher>

Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005

Subject: [GEO] a concerned geocacher contacting you from Geocaching.com

 

Hello.

 

Just thought I'd let you know someone is selling one of your personal geocoins on ebay. In my opinion, you should be the only one selling them on ebay, if that was your choice.

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My opinion:

 

It would be nice if it was "my" coin to sell on eBay – and I was wondering how long it would take until one showed up there.

 

But I guess the point of fact is that since I sold it, it's the buyer's to do with as they want.

 

I appreciate the note, and I guess I could raise a fuss with eBay and they'd cancel the sale, but it wouldn't be ethical (in my opinion) to pursue that course.

 

In my previous posts I decided that it wasn't something to worry about – UNLESS it was a coin that was intended to be moved from cache to cache and then it would be a different story.

 

My coin is an "artwork" now (it always was), and it's value is decided by people who crave it. And I offered it for sale.

 

Unfortunately, what will happen is simple: people will no longer be altruistic and fair about offering their own coins to others for purchase. We'll begin to see in the lists on my coin trading site, and on others where coins are available for purchase, that the buyer's price will start to rise, slowly at first, and then, "Hell," someone will say, "why not sell 'em at $20 each instead of at cost, what am I, stupid..." - just like a print by Tapiés that could have been bought from the artist 50 years ago for a song now costs thousands on the open market.

 

Ebay sales will change the entire nature of coin collecting. For me, I think for my next coin (yes, I have one on tap) I'll only sell 1 to a customer, and maybe I'll take my own suggestion and price it with a "market price". Or maybe not. I think the jury is still out on this one.

 

--Marc

September 13, 2005 @ 11:10 PM

N40° 46.565' W073° 58.756'

 

Edited for over-the-top content!

Edited by SilverMarc
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Gawd, these are taking off like rockets!  where's the link for the "donation code" like on AtlantaGal's page?  If I can find it, I'll put a Frog coin out there!

There are 3 steps...

 

1. Have an ebay account

2. Have a PayPal account (that perferably accepts credit cards)

3. Cross list your ebay account with their charity partner's site, Mission Fish

 

Once those three things exist, go to list an item like normal. Once you get to the payment portion of the auction listing process, you'll see two drop down boxes. One is to select the charity and the other is to pick the percentage of the donation (mine is 100%). The info you see in my listing appears automatically based on those two pulldown menu selections and meshes with the regular listing copy (like in mine).

 

One note, during the listing process, on that payment page, you must check the "accept paypal" box for the item to list properly as a charity auction.

 

This is where I had problems. My paypal is a personal account and can't take credit card payments.

 

(However, there is a way around that other than upgrading the paypal account if the buyer wants to pay with a credit card or debit card. Once the auction ends, buyer transfers money into his/her own paypal account from their credit card/debit card on file. This process takes 3-4 days to complete. Once complete the buyer receives a notice that the money has been transferred. At that time they can click on "pay now with paypal" from the auction listing. The default payment will pull from the buyers existing paypal balance (eg: the transferred money) and the seller recieves the cash just as if it were a bank account payment. There are no fees associated with this process.)

Edited by AtlantaGal
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For me, I think for my next coin (yes, I have one on tap) I'll only sell 1 to a customer

The problem (as I'm sure lots of people are now discovering quickly) is that when you offer your coin for sale to anyone who wants any number of them, you are creating your own competition in the "trade arena."

 

There are only two people on the planet who currently have more than one Joefrog coin that has been given or traded to them. If either of them offer it up on ebay, I will be VERY surprised.

 

On the other hand... if I buy or trade fairly for a coin, it is mine to do with as I wish. If I want to toss it from the Brooklyn Bridge, I can do so. Ebay would be about the same thing! ;)

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I was contacted by, and had a correspondence with someone who had listed one of the SilverMarc coins on eBay, and I edited my previous post slightly. I believe that if I make my coins available to others to buy, that it is then up to them, and not me, to decide what to do with them. And if they want to sell them on eBay, that is their choice, and their right. This has always been my view, and it remains my view.

 

I don't think I'm going to comment much more about coins and eBay, I managed to hurt someone's feelings a bit, and the apology I made to that person was sincere. I always said that I thought that selling the SilverMarc coins on eBay -wasn't- something I had a right to control, and then I made some comments about ethics etc., which pointed to a different opinion.

 

And that, I think, is part of the stickiness of the issue - some people (like me) think it's okay because it's not really "my" coin anymore, but others feel that a buyer is making an unfair profit on something that isn't "theirs" to profit on. I guess over time some consensus will come to be regarding this realm, and won't that be nice!

 

--Marc

September 14, 2005 @ 12:55 AM

N40° 46.565' W073° 58.756'

Edited by SilverMarc
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I placed a golden geobone to help Red Cross. My personal coins are for trade only, so only a couple of folks have more than one (because they had more than one coin to trade with me!) . Exceptionally few folks have a golden bone and only one person other than myself has more than I (they have 2)

 

I hope it helps.

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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Geocoins are going away from the grass roots of trading and the fun of finding personal geocoins in caches :D . I'm a firm believer in only doing trades for my personal geocoin. I will never sell one of my coins :laughing: . It lessens the value of the coin.

I totally agree. The only coin I will ever sell is the one for the Red Cross. The only reason I am selling itis to motivate someone to donate. Sort of like when PBS gives you a $7 book for a $100 donation.

 

Also -- what ever happened to coins in caches! I know that I still place them in caches and intend to continue -- I just now include a trade fair note.

 

I just placed three new caches with no less than 12 coins between them!

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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Also -- what ever happened to coins in caches!  I know that I still place them in caches and intend to continue -- I just now include a trade fair note.

 

The "trade fair" note is a good idea. Cause most people don't even come close to leaving 1/2 the coin's cost value in trade unless they have purchased coins and have a general idea or are trading a coin for a coin.

 

And I still leave mine in caches too. It's just a few local cachers here who have taken 2-5 coins, rather than leaving the coin for someone who doesn't have one yet, made me rethink how often and the type of cache I'll leave my coin in now. As they say, a few bad apples ruin the bunch. I did leave a brass one in one of the 17 Vegas caches I visited last week :laughing:

Edited by AtlantaGal
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There is also a limited Katrina Relief geocoin available on Ebay:

Katrina Relief Geocoin  :laughing:

This listing (5242638289) has been removed by eBay or is no longer available. Please make sure that you've entered the item number correctly.

 

What happened? Was it because it was a presale?

I am the one who listed it. I was out most of the night after listing it.

 

Ebay canceled the listing due to "miscatogorization"

 

After several live help sessions, they still could not tell me why exactly.

 

Coin is still available with a new listing Hurricane Katrina Geocoin - Benefits Red Cross

 

Dave

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Coin is still available with a new listing Hurricane Katrina Geocoin - Benefits Red Cross

 

Dave

RE: Hurrican Katrina geocoin

 

It's been a long day so excuse the dumb question. Is the coin listed on eBay a single coin that is being acutioned or is that a bunch of them that are being sold for $10 each.

It looks like it's a single coin up for auction. If it was more than one, there'd be a quantity listed.

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Well it had to happen I guess. Someone I TRADED a coin with has decided to cash it in on Ebay. :) I had a crappy night at work so this kind of pisses me off.

 

Please don't bid on this item for a couple of reasons,#1. It is listed as LONG GONE, well I am looking at about 33 of them sitting on my desk right now. #2 The buy it now for $75 is way too much.

 

I guess I will get over this in time. I am just ranting at the momment. I just think this whole ebay coin thing is crazy. I had planned on doing another coin next year. I guess I will take time to rethink that. Thanks to everyone who traded with me and decided to hold on to it. If you did trade and no longer want the coin, let me know I will return the coin it was traded for.

Chris-Team Shydog

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I can't believe what I am seeing on ebay with geocoins. There are personal geocoins listed on ebay I myself own that I traded for my own personal geocoin and now they are listed as "buy it now for 75.00 dollars". My trade was only a five dollar trade (about the cost for each geocoin). The kind of folks selling these coins are no better than scalpers selling tickets at a football game.

 

I know some of the geocoins listed as long gone are still around in the possesion of the owners.

Edited by Cav Scout
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Coin is still available with a new listing Hurricane Katrina Geocoin - Benefits Red Cross

 

Dave

RE: Hurrican Katrina geocoin

 

It's been a long day so excuse the dumb question. Is the coin listed on eBay a single coin that is being acutioned or is that a bunch of them that are being sold for $10 each.

It looks like it's a single coin up for auction. If it was more than one, there'd be a quantity listed.

Better to order them here.

 

-

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Well it had to happen I guess. Someone I TRADED a coin with has decided to cash it in on Ebay. :) I had a crappy night at work so this kind of pisses me off.

 

Please don't bid on this item for a couple of reasons,#1. It is listed as LONG GONE, well I am looking at about 33 of them sitting on my desk right now. #2 The buy it now for $75 is way too much.

Good grief! You and a few others listed by that guy. I just listed a few "bought" coins (and refuse to feel badly about it), but I won't be selling any personal coins. Well, except for the one of mine I listed for charity.

 

Let me know in an email who that is... I'll make it a point not to trade with them.

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It looks like he is dumping all his coins.

 

TheFabFive Coin-

"This was a limited edition coin that was not sold to the public, and only available by trade. They are long gone!! Bet You don't find a coin like this in a cache near you!"

 

There is still some left.

Edited by ladycacher
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Well.... I know that I make the commitment to NEVER sell a personal coin for which I have traded. If I bought the coin, then I guess I can do whatever I want with it, and if for some reason I have an extra copy of a personal coin, I tend to cache it, give it, or possibly trade it to another cacher. (for example, I have a personal coin. A local cacher does not, but has a coin I want. A third cacher only trades personal for personal -- so I trade my personal for a personal and then trade that to the local cacher -- everyone wins in this case)

 

However, before we bash the cacher that IS selling this coin (and I have no problem with that), we should also remember that it is possible that the coin was placed in a cache, found, and is now being sold. I think that it is important to specify conditions of trading up front when sending personal coins.

 

I will say, that folks can do whatever they want with the geobones they have traded with me. I have a registry of every number, and like to track lineage, but once we trade -- it's yours. Sell it on eBay and we'll likely never trade again though.

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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Ahhh, Sleep makes me less grumpy.

 

Words of wisdom from someone who I place a great value on their opinion…

 

Selling state/regional/event coins on there is one thing, but traded personal coins go into another realm. I can only think of a few extraordinary circumstances where it may be OK. Liquidation for financial ruin......a death in family.....a divorce maybe,....something along those lines. Those would be rare exceptions though.

 

My biggest gripe is that by selling traded personnel coins on Ebay it takes the fun out of this aspect of geocaching. It also will make me question future trades with others, Are they just looking to make a profit? When this happens It is not fun for me.

 

Again, Please don't pay $75 for the Shydog coin. It is NOT worth it. It cost me $5.63 to have made. Save your money and have your own coin made and then trade me for one.

 

Some of you have made really good points in this forum. I appreciate everyones opinion and respect them.

 

Little side note, After some thought (ouch, my head hurts), l still plan on making a Team Shydog 2006 coin. But it will be in the Johnnie Lacy style, traded in person or found in a cache only. I hope to have it before Geowoodstock 4. Also, Any personnel coin traded to me will stay in my collection.

 

Thanks,

Chris-Team Shydog

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Although not a perfect scenario, have you considered listing one of your personal coins yourself? Start the bidding at $5.63 and in the Description you could note that you are the creator/owner and it is not "long gone" etc.

 

Basically, auction-bomb the $75 buy it now. The insertion fees for the $75 buy it now will soon stop this behavior (you pay to insert buy it now if the item doesn't sell)

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Although not a perfect scenario, have you considered listing one of your personal coins yourself? Start the bidding at $5.63 and in the Description you could note that you are the creator/owner and it is not "long gone" etc.

 

Basically, auction-bomb the $75 buy it now. The insertion fees for the $75 buy it now will soon stop this behavior (you pay to insert buy it now if the item doesn't sell)

:( Good idea!

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Little side note, After some thought (ouch, my head hurts), l still plan on making a Team Shydog 2006 coin. But it will be in the Johnnie Lacy style, traded in person or found in a cache only. I hope to have it before Geowoodstock 4.

Yay on 2006. Booo on in person/cache trades only. Hmm, hope that means you'll be attending GW4 cause then I'd be elligible to trade in person :(

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Yay on 2006. Booo on in person/cache trades only. Hmm, hope that means you'll be attending GW4 cause then I'd be elligible to trade in person 

 

Yes is does and yes you will :(

sadly, like the John Lacy coin -- it will, for me, only remain an image on the computer screen and not anything I'll be able to trade for :P

 

Maybe, I'll have to do a coast to coast, meet/greet/trade trip. I'll just load up the kids, the dog, the wife....... :(

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Yay on 2006. Booo on in person/cache trades only. Hmm, hope that means you'll be attending GW4 cause then I'd be elligible to trade in person 

 

Yes is does and yes you will :(

sadly, like the John Lacy coin -- it will, for me, only remain an image on the computer screen and not anything I'll be able to trade for :P

 

Maybe, I'll have to do a coast to coast, meet/greet/trade trip. I'll just load up the kids, the dog, the wife....... :(

spouse: Why are we driving to Georgia, dear?

cacher: To get a Johnnie Lacy geocoin! It's the only way. And I can get a Shydog '06 coin if we time our trip right to hit GW4!

spouse: But your shelf is already full.

cacher: I'll sell some on Ebay

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