+GrnXnham Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Geocoins seem to be getting more popular than ever. It's getting more and more difficult to get every coin because they are getting snatched up so fast when they go on sale. In the last couple of weeks I have missed out on a couple of coins even though I tried to purchase them in less than 1 minute after they went on sale. These were coins with a "normal" price of $6-$8. A couple of other coins that had the "high" price of $10 or more were still available when I went to buy them, even though I showed up to purchase them several minutes or maybe even an hour after they went on sale. Nobody likes high prices but at least the higher priced coins keep the early buyers from loading-up on as many coins and that gives more people a chance to get a coin. I'd rather pay $10 for a coin than miss out on the $7 coin because I was 5 seconds too slow. Yeah, I could trade for coins (if I could buy an extra one fast enough) by mail but that involves packaging, shipping, trip to post office, etc. This costs just as much as paying $10 for the coin in the 1st place. So what can I say--lets keep the prices high???? Quote Link to comment
+Puma Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Just limit people on the amount of coins they can buy per issue. I'm o.k. with coin clubs but not with persons buying coins in masses just to sell them on that Eplace... Quote Link to comment
+GrnXnham Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 How do you know for sure who is a coin club and who is not? I say I'm a coin club and I want 200 coins. Plus, the coins have gotten so popular that even with limiting the number that people purchase, they still disappear quickly unless everyone is allowed to only buy one coin. That Lighthouse coin was limited to 5 per person but they were gone almost instantly. I wonder if they would have disappeared as fast if the price had been higher? Quote Link to comment
+Marky Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Or you can just do a pre-order like what was done with the DNF coin. Let anyone order as many as they want and give some cut-off date for ordering. Then give that number to the mint. Low priced coins will be more likely to be placed in caches than ones you have to pay $10 for and are limited. Wasn't putting geocoins in caches why they were originally made? Quote Link to comment
+frivlas Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Wasn't putting geocoins in caches why they were originally made? Oh, sure, now you tell me this! I thought it was so that groups of cachers had an excuse to get together and drink beer. Quote Link to comment
+Night_Hawk Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I'd rather see a limit of 2 coins per account then higher prices. I'm on a budget right now and higher prices would keep me from buying as many. But if we limit it to 2 per person that would still give most of us 1 for our collections and 1 for trading. Quote Link to comment
+AtlantaGal Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I'd rather see a limit of 2 coins per account then higher prices. I'm on a budget right now and higher prices would keep me from buying as many. But if we limit it to 2 per person that would still give most of us 1 for our collections and 1 for trading. Yep, this is where I sit. Just limited the number of coins a cacher can buy. The problem with the lighthouse coins were that 5 per person was too many. That should have been limited to 2 per person as well. Quote Link to comment
+Rusty O Junk Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I don't think price is the issue here. The problem arises from limited production. When you see 500 coin issues sell out in minutes and 1000 coin issues sell out in 24 hours why do we still see 300 coin issues. There's just not enough to go around and we all know that from the start. No, price isn't the issue because if its a run of 300 it will sell out just as fast at $8.00 as $10.00. Its the limited production that's the problem. Quote Link to comment
Blodlizrd Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 (edited) How quickly are coins of the $6-8 variety with 1000 available selling out? The market for geocoins is very intresting to me. Anywhere else a product that is selling this well would be going for $10-15 each, but since everyone deals with each other on a somewhat personal level, the prices are kept at a low level. People don't want to see such comments as, "So why is your coin priced so high?" However, after all coins are sold, the regular market's behaviour takes over. Supply goes way down and demand is way up. Thus folks on eBay are selling coins that go for $6-8 in presales for $20 and up. (Saw one that went for $50 today.) If you are looking for a solution, it is not to price the coins higher, but instead for people producing coins to get a better feel for what their initial supply should be. The only way to do this is for all the people that sell coins to publish their stats on how many coins they sold, what the average coin per sale was, how much they charged for each coin, and how soon did they sell out. Also, you would need to find a way to gauge how many people would have bought coins if there were more available. That last part would be a huge undertaking and require people to reply saying that they were intrested in "X" number of coins and also require you to troll eBay to see who is bidding on what. The easiest way to keep cost down and still ensure that people get what they want is to offer a presale for a limited amount of time and make whatever number you come up with. If everyone did this, however, I believe that the end of the geocoin craze would be in sight. If everyone had Coin "A" then what is the point? "Oh you have that Coin "A"... who doesn't?" It's the rare coins and the idea of being one of maybe 600 people to have a particular coin that keeps this craze alive. Needless to say, I suggest we keep putting caps on the number we are willing to produce. This is a fun hobby and I will do my part to continue supporting it. Maybe we need to tweak it a little, but not offer an unlimited presale. Edited January 12, 2006 by Blodlizrd Quote Link to comment
+pdxmarathonman Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 If everyone had Coin "A" then what is the point? "Oh you have that Coin "A"... who doesn't?" I guess the only thing left to do at that point would be to put the extras in caches! Quote Link to comment
Not So Lost Puppies Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 If everyone had Coin "A" then what is the point? "Oh you have that Coin "A"... who doesn't?" I guess the only thing left to do at that point would be to put the extras in caches! Brilliant idea PDX I personally know that there several coin designs in the works, and some of them on the way to production that are being made with the hopes they should easily find their way into caches (low price... anyone can order them at any time) Look for a couple threads to show up in the next few weeks. No, it wont help you get that coin that you missed out on... but as was said, they were originally made to go into caches. And maybe some of the travellers that people have put out wouldn't get stolen if more cachers were more familiar with geocoins being in caches? Quote Link to comment
ParentsofSAM Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 So is the geocoin bubble about to burst? Are there too many coins out there right now? Someone said in another thread that a minter told them about 50 or so goecoin projects were on the board. We have other cachers that are producing their 2nd and 3rd coins maybe before the 1st ones are minted or shipped to customers. It makes me wonder how the market will hold up. Now there some coins coins that are going for $10 or more dollars in the primary market and sometimes over $50 in the secondary market. Where does all this leave us? It makes me a little nervous to be minting my personal coin in the middle of all this. But I LOVE it so much I would care if I had 500 to look at everyday. Quote Link to comment
+welch Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 ...Nobody likes high prices but at least the higher priced coins keep the early buyers from loading-up on as many coins and that gives more people a chance to get a coin. I'd rather pay $10 for a coin than miss out on the $7 coin because I was 5 seconds too slow. ... So as the interest in geocoins continues to increase, so should the prices?? Will the $1000 coins be out soon? If lots of people are missing them the obvious answer, as has been said already, is to make larger coin runs. This should should allow more people that want them to get them. Also, if there really are people who buy a dozen thinking to scalp them on ebay this should screw them up a little... Hard to find someone to pay 30 bucks if there are lots of people who will trade for $10. Reselling for profit would mean holding them for months or however long it takes for the surplus supply to get bought/traded/released away. Quote Link to comment
+Geometeacher Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 One of the fastest selling coins was the Georgia Peach at $10. The price doesn't matter, the quantity does as so many people have already pointed out. If however you are adamant about seeing higher priced coins, then just add afew dollars to each coin you oredr and make the sellers happy! Quote Link to comment
+Geo Gypsy Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I would have to agree that limiting the amounts of coins that people can purchase is a great idea. I mean how many coins does 1 person really need. Quote Link to comment
+Ladycacher Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 So is the geocoin bubble about to burst? Are there too many coins out there right now? Someone said in another thread that a minter told them about 50 or so goecoin projects were on the board. We have other cachers that are producing their 2nd and 3rd coins maybe before the 1st ones are minted or shipped to customers. It makes me wonder how the market will hold up. Now there some coins coins that are going for $10 or more dollars in the primary market and sometimes over $50 in the secondary market. Where does all this leave us? It makes me a little nervous to be minting my personal coin in the middle of all this. But I LOVE it so much I would care if I had 500 to look at everyday. I know of one minter with way over 100 orders for coins..... Quote Link to comment
+501_Gang Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 If the coin prices keep getting higher, the minters will raise their price so that they can get in on the profits being made. Pretty soon it will be to expensive to get a coin made. Quote Link to comment
+Nomad and the Librarians Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 The initial investment makes the larger runs more difficult. I am only doing 100 because I can't afford to do more. I saved enough money to pay for the dies, S&H, and 100 coins. If I don't sell them, I haven't hurt myself or my family by laying out a huge amount of money for my hobby. I agree that the limited run, making the coins "rare," keeps the price high, but for me the limited run is an affordable gamble. A larger run would be an unacceptable, for me, investment. Quote Link to comment
+IceCreamMan Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Geocoins seem to be getting more popular than ever. It's getting more and more difficult to get every coin because they are getting snatched up so fast when they go on sale. In the last couple of weeks I have missed out on a couple of coins even though I tried to purchase them in less than 1 minute after they went on sale. These were coins with a "normal" price of $6-$8. A couple of other coins that had the "high" price of $10 or more were still available when I went to buy them, even though I showed up to purchase them several minutes or maybe even an hour after they went on sale. Nobody likes high prices but at least the higher priced coins keep the early buyers from loading-up on as many coins and that gives more people a chance to get a coin. I'd rather pay $10 for a coin than miss out on the $7 coin because I was 5 seconds too slow. Yeah, I could trade for coins (if I could buy an extra one fast enough) by mail but that involves packaging, shipping, trip to post office, etc. This costs just as much as paying $10 for the coin in the 1st place. So what can I say--lets keep the prices high???? Now if the idiots who whine for "anti-gouging" laws in the wake of huricanes would just figure that out. Freedom, Liberty and Capitalism work. If we let it. Quote Link to comment
+Prairiepartners Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 It makes me a little nervous to be minting my personal coin in the middle of all this. But I LOVE it so much I would care if I had 500 to look at everyday. Make yourself a personal coin, you won't regret it, you will always be able to trade for coins with them and they make great cache items also. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 So is the geocoin bubble about to burst? Are there too many coins out there right now? ... Yes it's started to burst. Right now nobody could buy them all unless they paid a full time agent to do it for them. Thus people will soon start to specialize in State Coins, Country Coins, Fun Coins or whatever catagories sort themselves out into. Demand will also sort itself out into the catagories. Some catagories may fall flat as people focus on the ones of interest and they can no longer 'buy them all'. I've measured the interest on a couple of coins and one is right at 100 coins. Another has no measurable interest and maybe it has to actually be on sale to have interest anymore. Before all you had to do was ask and people would beat down your door begging for you to make the coin just so they could buy it. In the trading thread I posed a offer to trade a certain coin that was made in a limited quantity. No takers. The bubble isn't over, but it's not what it was. Quote Link to comment
+IceCreamMan Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 So is the geocoin bubble about to burst? Are there too many coins out there right now? ... Yes it's started to burst. Right now nobody could buy them all unless they paid a full time agent to do it for them. Thus people will soon start to specialize in State Coins, Country Coins, Fun Coins or whatever catagories sort themselves out into. Demand will also sort itself out into the catagories. Some catagories may fall flat as people focus on the ones of interest and they can no longer 'buy them all'. I've measured the interest on a couple of coins and one is right at 100 coins. Another has no measurable interest and maybe it has to actually be on sale to have interest anymore. Before all you had to do was ask and people would beat down your door begging for you to make the coin just so they could buy it. In the trading thread I posed a offer to trade a certain coin that was made in a limited quantity. No takers. The bubble isn't over, but it's not what it was. It's a volatile, changing market. That's what makes it so interesting and fun. If you're in it for the money, I guarantee you that someone will be eating some coins somewhere along the line. As for the fun, I don't think that bubble will ever pop. This whole thing is in its infancy. It wasn't too many months ago that people were posting that since coins had started to appear on Ebay, the end was near. Then doom was imminent when personal coins started to be sold for several times cost. Several people said the whole coin craze was over when there weren't enough of a new minting for everybody (i.e. nobody eats there anymore because it's too crowded). The coin thing is driven by the popularity of Geocaching and the desire to add to the fun of it though variation. I did notice a broad downturn in prices on Ebay, though select coins continued to do well (much like the stock market). What will happen is that people will hold off on listing them and prices will rebound (much like the stock market). And then the cycle will repeat. If you're speculating, you could take a bath, but if you're just in it for the fun, the rougher the ride, the more the fun, just like on a roller coaster. Quote Link to comment
+Lemon Fresh Dog Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Or you can just do a pre-order like what was done with the DNF coin. Let anyone order as many as they want and give some cut-off date for ordering. Then give that number to the mint. Low priced coins will be more likely to be placed in caches than ones you have to pay $10 for and are limited. Wasn't putting geocoins in caches why they were originally made? If it were mathematically possible, I would agree 150% -- so I'll settle for 100% agreement -- but a SOLID 100% Quote Link to comment
+DancesWithMoose Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I would have to agree that limiting the amounts of coins that people can purchase is a great idea. I mean how many coins does 1 person really need. Obviously not emotionally involved with coins! Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.