Free Coupons

[+HartMan-CatWoman Team]

Is it appropriate to leave a free or discount coupon in a cahce? I've been asked to place free sample coupons for a relatives coffee products in caches and am not sure if this would be OK??

Edited January 10, 2006 by HartMan-CatWoman Team

[+briansnat]

Caches cannot be placed for commercial purposes, but there is nothing keeping you from putting a coupon in a cache. Some people will be pleased to find them.

[+MuckSavage]

I often leave a Wawa convenience store gift card, or a full Subway Sub Club card for FTF'rs. Everyone seems to be appreciative of those.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have put geft cards in caches in the past for local merchants that I have shopped in. But I do not put gift cards in for chains that already have hundreds of stores, they do not need any help.

[+JDandDD]

As long as they are not to advertise for a commercial enterprise, especially if you are in any way involved. I've found some as FTF prizes and they were not advertisments.

 

JDandDD

[+Hula Bum]

I think it's great, and often better than the majority of stuff you find in there. And people can always choose to leave it!

[+Night Stalker]

Just be sure the cache container will stay high and dry. Many of them end up wet and then all those coupons turn into glop.

[+Kathi & the Grouch]

Personally, I'd consider a "Free Item" coupon to be as good as (probably better than) most of the swag we've come across in our first few months in this sport/game/hobby/obsession! Especially coffee, my favorite food group! Seriously, as long as there is no requirement for someone to spend any money to get the product, it fits the rules of being non-commercial, in my opinion. (By this I mean, no "buy one get one" or "dollar off" coupons. It has to be totally free.)

 

I do some work for a company that produces gourmet olive oils, and my client has asked me to give out freebie coupons to my family and friends. I have left a few in caches where I think most of the visitors would be adults. NOTE, I do *not* use it as a trade item, but rather as an extra "leave". (The value of my particular coupon is up to $10 depending on what product the bearer uses it for, so it's often the most valuable item in the cache!)

 

If the coffee product on your coupon is only available in certain stores or locations it might be helpful to include a note to that effect, if the coupon doesn't already have that info on it. And I second Night Stalker's note about wetness. You might want to enclose the coupon in a baggie just to be safe.

[HawaiianFarmers]

(Note to moderator, this is a legitimate question that someone else brought up, I'm not trying to sell coffee here).

 

I checked the "Tips on hiding a cache" (www.geocaching.com/about/hiding.aspx).

 

Some of the suggested items include:

"CDs, VGA cards, gift certificates, dollar bills, gold bars, etc."

 

I figure a gift certificate or a CD are potentially just as commercial as a coupon. I agree that a "Buy one get one free" or "$1 off" coupon isn't really a gift. The coffee coupons I want to leave behind are for a totally free coffee sample (including free shipping) from my farm. They're small (business card sized) so I don't think they're too obtrusive. I thought it would be fun to see if the cards make it into caches other than where I put them. Heck, if Jeep can use the site for promotion, I don't see any harm in giving away some free coffee.

 

I won't say the name of my website or coffee farm. You'll just have to find it on your own.

[+BlueDeuce]

Is it appropriate to leave a free or discount coupon in a cahce? I've been asked to place free sample coupons for a relatives coffee products in caches and am not sure if this would be OK??

If I can try it for free and don't have to go to far to get it, okay I might grab it.

 

Pennies off? Forget it. This is not an advertising medium.

 

And yes, I know those statements seem to conflict with eachother.

[+Team Red Oak]

I recently picked up a coupon for free coffee from a cache. The name of the coffee place incorporates the name of a nearby town so I thought it wold be easy to find. Since the cache was a new cache I didn't think the coffee card was outdated. However there is no address on the card and we can't locate the coffee place. We've looked online, in the phone book etc. but no luck. I even looked through the logs to see if I could find who put the card in the cache so I could email them and ask where this place is, but no luck that way either.

 

So if you're going to leave a coupon for something free like a cup of coffee from XYZ coffee then add a sticky note on the coupon where the establishment is located. Then put the whole thing in a zip lock so it doesn't get destroyed in a cache.

[Zoptrop]

I've left fast food coupon books (worth $10) in my caches and they all seem to go quickly. I would not want to find coupons for the grocery store such as 25 cents off shampoo or something though. The coffee sounds good to me. Just use your judgment.

 

<edit>Farmer G... you are right. The guidelines refer to commercially sponsored caches, not individual trade items (IMHO). I think it would be different if your sole purpose was to put out a cache filled with nothing but coffee coupons, or simply to promote a certain product.</edit>

Edited January 11, 2006 by Zoptrop

[+Jhwk]

Well, after finding a dozen caches yesterday in 38 degree, rainy weather, I would have loved to have found a free coffee coupon. Go for it!

[+Thrak]

Free food, coffee, movie rentals, theater passes, etc. would be great! What I don't like finding are business cards promoting a cacher's personal business or religious tracts and such that promote a person's religious choice. I just don't think this stuff belongs in a cache. Now if it's a free lube job at the cacher's business or something like that it's different. Free stuff rocks.

Edited January 11, 2006 by Thrak

[+Zzyzx Road]

I have a stack (about 1/2 in thick) of "$2.00 off any large pizza at Me-N-Ed's" coupons that were part of a promo thing with Girl Scout's cookie sales. I never seem to get enough of them out to the cookie customers...

 

Would those count as favorable? I haven't left any yet, but just thought of them while reading this thread...

[+BlueDeuce]

The question is do you think it is a good trade item?

 

For the most part, in my opinion, two dollars off is not a two dollar trade item.

 

It's just a whole different game when talking coupons.

 

To me, a free two dollar coffee is not a coupon. I simply trade an item of equal value. But if I have to spend eight bucks to get two bucks off a ten dollar pizza, AND I had to leave a trade item. That's a coupon.

Edited January 12, 2006 by BlueDeuce

[+Kathi & the Grouch]

To reiterate....

 

If the coupon is for something ENTIRELY FREE, NO STRINGS ATTACHED, it's ACCEPTABLE. (People don't think of it as a coupon but rather as a trade item with a specific value.)

 

On the other hand, ANY kind of a "discount" (including "buy one, get one free" and "free ____ with purchase of ____") is NOT free because you have to spend something to get something. Those are NOT ACCEPTABLE.

 

Also, I think most people would say NO to "free consultation" offers - those are really just a sales tactic. Reminds me of the "listen to our time-share pitch and get a free set of luggage/camera/trip to Florida/whatever" solicitations I get in the mail. No, thanks, I don't care to subject myself to any sales pressure to "earn" my supposedly free gift.

 

REPEAT: If it's not entirely free it is commercial advertising, which is a no-no.

 

(Just an opinion, of course... but from reading the forums it seems most people agree with this.)

[+Jake39]

(Note to moderator, this is a legitimate question that someone else brought up, I'm not trying to sell coffee ).

I checked the "Tips on hiding a cache" (www.geocaching.com/about/hiding.aspx).

Some of the suggested items include:

"CDs, VGA cards, gift certificates, dollar bills, gold bars, etc."

I figure a gift certificate or a CD are potentially just as commercial as a coupon. I agree that a "Buy one get one free" or "$1 off" coupon isn't really a gift. The coffee coupons I want to leave behind are for a totally free coffee sample (including free shipping) from my farm. They're small (business card sized) so I don't think they're too obtrusive. I thought it would be fun to see if the cards make it into caches other than where I put them. Heck, if Jeep can use the site for promotion, I don't see any harm in giving away some free coffee.

I won't say the name of my website or coffee farm. You'll just have to find it on your own.

 

I also have placed 'Coupons' into caches as a 'F.T.F.' or a book of McDucks coupons, cash cards or asked finders to take 1 coupon or one per person only. Placed free CDs from Wall*** for photo Shop ... freeware music CDs re-recorded and Tim Hortons free coffee coupons.

 

So why not free "Coffee Coupons" ????

[+Traderdell]

As someone who is just starting out I thrilled to find anything that's can't be considered junk. Free coffee or even a free cup of coffee would be appreciated.

 

TraderDell

[+plumbrokeacres]

Being new to the game as well, I agree with the others if it is free no strings attached go for it, up here I've seen CDN tire money in a bunch of caches. When I'm out I like to trade for equal if not more than what I take (Usually it's only Pins that I take another costly collection). but would also take free lube, coffee etc.

[+HappyHabanormal]

i left a coupon for free golf at a rather fun multi cache for 2 rounds of golf for a golf course 5 miles away. it took 3 months and the cache was found several times inbetween. finally a golfer found it as his first to find. now he has over 50 finds. whod have thought id get a golfer to geocache and not a geocacher to golf. lol

[+seattlegeekgrrrlz]

Being from Seattle and a geek to boot, I would be most thrilled to find a coupon for free coffee Although it could be seen as enabling my addiction..

 

IMHO, I would even like a buy one get one free, but that is mostly because we are a team of two, so it would still work out as a free cup of coffee (or other free item). If it was a coupon for something I didn't want, I would leave it for someone who did. You never know what is the perfect trade item for a given cacher. If you had a coupon in there for free shipping and free beans (which seems to be what you were describing), that would be wonderful. We loooove coffee

 

The only thing better would be a rain poncho found in a cache in the nick of time when I have foolishly believed the weather forecast that it would not rain and gone out woefully unprepared. Not that this has happened recently or anything..

[+I am, therefore I Cache!]

As someone who is just starting out I thrilled to find anything that's can't be considered junk. Free coffee or even a free cup of coffee would be appreciated.

 

TraderDell

 

I have to agree. I can't believe some og the crap people leave as swag. Te other day we found a matchbox-type car that looked like it had been run over by a school bus. We find lots of busted up stuff like that.

[+HartMan-CatWoman Team]

As someone who is just starting out I thrilled to find anything that's can't be considered junk. Free coffee or even a free cup of coffee would be appreciated.

 

TraderDell

 

I have to agree. I can't believe some og the crap people leave as swag. Te other day we found a matchbox-type car that looked like it had been run over by a school bus. We find lots of busted up stuff like that.

 

We believe it is a public service to expand the definition of CITO to include items both inside and outside a cache!

[+Outandabout2006]

As someone who is just starting out I thrilled to find anything that's can't be considered junk. Free coffee or even a free cup of coffee would be appreciated.

 

TraderDell

 

I have to agree. I can't believe some og the crap people leave as swag. Te other day we found a matchbox-type car that looked like it had been run over by a school bus. We find lots of busted up stuff like that.

 

We believe it is a public service to expand the definition of CITO to include items both inside and outside a cache!

[+Outandabout2006]

I've been reading through the responses and I'm still not clear on whether there is an actual rule or if these are all opinions. I'm still fairly new to the sport so I thought I would check here first. My reason for looking is, my aunt and uncle own a campground in north Jersey and they want to make up some discount coupons for their camp store, which has many different items other than just stuff for camping, specifically for geocachers. She asked if I could place these in the caches that I find. I of course would not make that the only thing I left, it would be in addition to a nice piece of stash. There is nothing to say that you would have to take the coupon, it would of course be optional. And it goes without saying, this is a family campground with many activities for young and old, alike. They also have many acres people can hike and a wolf preserve located on their property. Please let me know if this discount coupon would be acceptable to leave in the caches with my other stash. Thanks.

[+JustMakingTrax]

I personally think that it would be fine to leave such coupons. If people don't like them, they don't have to take them! Plain and simple. I wouldn't be so presumptuous to tell someone what a "valuable" item to leave is. Everyone values different things. Some of the items that my children take from the cash are unbelievable. To me it is junk, to them it is a treasure. It's in the eye of the beholder. Leave something that you would like to receive. Chances are someone else would love it!