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Why Do Folks Sell There Personal Coins?


Pepper

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When did it change and I wonder why?

 

I just don't get it and I'm so finished buying personal coins!

 

When it went from buying and paying for your own personal coin to HEA lets let the nice cachers out there pay for our personal coins that's when I said hmmmm...I wonder why they do that?

 

I did get caught up in thinking I just had one of eveything, but with time and tons of money spent I wondered what the heck I was doing and stopped.

 

I use to be fun, now in my opinion it's more about making money than the love of caching and having a nice sig item to leave in a cache.

 

Just a few things I've been thinking about for a while and thought I'd ask y'all cause I guess I just don't understand how it all changed and why.

 

Two years ago it was fun and easy to trade personal coins and back in the day if you wanted a nice personal coin you paid for it yourself and did a few trades.

 

Confused Pepper (what's new)

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Perhaps the reason it has changed is because people don't have the money to make a personal coin. When die fees are $75 a side and you don't even have a coin in hand, it gets expensive. I personally don't have a problem with it. Why shouldn't people have the opportunity to have their own coins made. If there is a market for them than everyone wins, the cacher for having his own coin made and the public for being able to purchase the coin. I do have a problem, however, for making them specifically for ebay.

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I know how you feel Pepper. I think that at some point, there were enough avid collectors to make it viable to sell a portion of a geocoin minting to cover the costs of having some to put out in local caches. Some people have no other way to afford minting the coin. I minted mine specifically for trades and local caches.

 

If there is a market for something, someone will step up and fulfill the market demand. I don't really have an issue with it being a geocacher doing so. I think everyone is now fairly aware of how much it ccosts to mint a coin now, so you can estimate roughly how much profit is being made on each coin.

 

I think you are doing the right thing, which is if you aren't having fun with it, then just stop. I'm guessing that the market will eventually go back to being about sigitems left in caches. :)

 

--Marky

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I wonder the same thing myself.

I will be doing a personal coin, and I will not be selling them to pay for my costs for it. I did think about it for abit, but then decided that it didn't make sense. If someone wants to collect it, then they will have to put some effort into it, primarily by finding it in a cache that I drop them into. I will probably make afew trades for coins that have personal interest to us though.

 

I will only buy a personal coin if I have a personal interest in it. Actually that applies to most all my purchases. I do have a personal interest in collecting state/country/region/org coins, especially places that I've cached.

 

There are many other ways that someone can make personal signature items without spending alot of money on a coin. One very easy way is using the shrinking plastic (remember shrinky dinks?) which they make that you can run through your inkjet printer. (I have some of those as well) I can get 4 tokens that end up being about milk cap diameter per page, in full color! They will also be the basis for our coin design.

 

I don't know why or when it changed, I've only been participating in the forums for a few months, and I think it had already started then.

 

I know that contrary to what others say, many DO make money with the coins. I consider the 'deals' where someone sells 400 of your coin for you and you get 100 coins to be making money since you get 100 coins no payment, at $3 cost per coin min that is equivelant to getting $300+.

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For me, its an option for people. So I do both. Those who want to buy it can while others who want to trade can. For example, on my last one, I made the following:

 

10 Black Nickel - reserved

50 Nickel - Trade only

300 Gold - Trade/Sell

 

I havent turned down any trades (metal for metal) unless I already had that version and have traded most if not all of my nickel versions.

 

So for me, it was an option to give people.

 

nielsenc

Edited by nielsenc
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If there is a market for them than everyone wins, the cacher for having his own coin made and the public for being able to purchase the coin.  I do have a problem, however, for making them specifically for ebay.

This is slightly contradictory. Ebay is a market for things, just like the gc.com forums seems to be. I've never sold anything on ebay, but I don't see why it isn't as acceptable. There is obviously a market for it, and if the goal is for you to end up with some coins to put in caches and to trade, then it seems like going the ebay route would result in more coins in your hand to trade and put in caches.

 

Maybe it's just the minted for ebay and none for trade or in caches model you are against. There have been some coins sold elsewhere that fit that description as well. What is it about selling on ebay that makes it so dishonorable? I'm not trying to justify it, I'm just trying to figure out why people think it's different from selling a coin for profit elsewhere.

 

--Marky

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There are a few reasons that I can think of:

 

First to be able to afford having a personal coin to begin with. When you spread the fees over more people each coin becomes more affordable. The die fee tends to be fixed.

 

Second is to get your name and coin out there and known. The more popular your coin the more 'successful' you are as a cacher.

 

Third, for the fun of it. Some people get a kick out of making a coin.

 

Fourth. $

 

For the most part I've quit buying personal coins myself. It's too hard to tell which one is a true signature coin and which one is a made for the masses and for trades coin that really isn't what I think of when I think of a signature coin.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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What is it about selling on ebay that makes it so dishonorable?  I'm not trying to justify it, I'm just trying to figure out why people think it's different from selling a coin for profit elsewhere.

 

--Marky

I can answer that one. Because ebay is the ONLY way to obtain one unless you kiss a particular person's hind end, lol. You can get them in trade, sure, but typicaly those folks purchased them on ebay originally and then trade them. The trades don't come from the original source often.

Edited by AtlantaGal
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Second is to get your name and coin out there and known. The more popular your coin the more 'successful' you are as a cacher.

I don't understand that one... How is sitting at home and selling a coin being a 'successful' cacher? Isn't having signed a ton of log books and moving alot of TBs/coins being a successful cacher? Having a coin that sold well is being a successful marketter, not cacher. And with the number of coin addicts here, there isn't any challenge in being a good marketer.

 

I could come here as a complete stranger that has never seen a cache, and still be able to sell at least 300 coins in under an hour. (provided I didn't price it too high) over 500 if I made it trackable with a personal icon.

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You are right, my views do conflict. I don't have a problem with people selling coins on ebay but I do have a problem with creating coins specifically for ebay. Is a coin really a geocoin if it is made specifically for ebay or is it just another coin?

 

I enjoy buying other cacher's coins who have put a lot of time and effort into creating a coin that represents who they are. One of my favorite coins isn't even a state coin, it belongs to JeeperMTJ. Another coin I like is Seventhson's coin because it is different and isn't your typical coin. I like the creative side of personal coins and that is a big reason why I don't belong to a club where coins are produced each month, sounds like a fruit of the month club. This is just my personal viewpoint and what makes this hobby so much fun.

Edited by LadeBear68
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I have no problem with selling coins what ever method.

 

What I dislike is personal coins that can't be traded for only bought. These are the cachers that are only in it for the money.

 

So far I have spent over $1600 for other cachers/groups coins. This not counting the $$$ I spent having the Buffalo Wings and Team Sand Dollar coins made. Luckly I've been able to sell off enough of our coins to reduce my out of pocket expenses.

 

I guess I prefer the happy medium where you can always trade for the personal coins but they are available for purchase for those who have nothing to trade.

 

Team Sand Dollar

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I'm not sure why for everyone else, but the F&tH coin is being put together right now only because the minter is putting their own money forward for production and is going to sell the majority and let us keep a few to put out in the field. A lot of cachers have expressed concern over where the profit margin is going, but for us it's going into a very special project that will go out into caches wherever we travel. So in the end it will still cost us more money just not as much without the minters help. Of course we will still be building our sigitems by hand as well to put out for others to scoop up. We're not worried about "success" as much as rewarding our fellow cachers for their hard work in placing caches to begin with. If it weren't for all your hard work, we wouldn't have caches to put coins in at all. So thank you again. :)

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:) What? Why should it matter that how many finds you have before producing your own coin? Since when do stats grant rights? Just because you've only just begun it doesn't mean you're any less enthusiastic about leaving your mark and trading coins with others. :lol: Until just recently it appears that only the wealthy could afford to make coins. Edited by fox-and-the-hound
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I guess I prefer the happy medium where you can always trade for the personal coins but they are available for purchase for those who have nothing to trade.

That's how I feel. When I recently started collecting, I had nothing to trade so was glad that there were a few available to purchase. I have a personal coin coming out in a couple of weeks that I wanted for trade and placing in caches but I decided to have a just a few more minted to sell at cost to anyone that was in my position a couple of months ago. My finances are tight, as always, and it was a hard decision to make to even go ahead with our own, but I have always wanted to have one ever since I saw some of the beautiful coins in someone's collection about a year ago, before this craze hit.

 

I don't feel the need to collect/trade for everything that comes out either, it's getting a bit crazy to say the least. I prefer personal or organizational coins that still reflect caching in some way but sometimes a beautiful coin has to be added even if doesn't mention anything about caching, it's my collection and I reserve the right to be flexible and/or change my mind. :)

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How anyone else does it is up to them. However personally my opinion is:

 

1. Personal Coins are for Trading, not selling (I have purchased a few and I somewhat regret doing so). I have not had one made yet because of the cost, and wouldn't feel right selling them to recoup that. (Someday I may change my mind but for now....)

 

2. Event Coins are purchased, but should be limited to people that actually ATTENDED the event! Trading after the event is a different matter.

 

3. Regional (IE State) coins, should be produced by a recognized Geocaching organization for the region in question and obviously are purchased.

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2. Event Coins are purchased, but should be limited to people that actually ATTENDED the event!  Trading after the event is a different matter.

That works fine if you estimated EXACTLY how many people would show up for your event and would like to purcahse a coin. But if you want to make sure that there are enough for attendees, you'll probably have some left over. What do you do with them if you can't sell them? Throw them away? :)

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I'm not telling anyone NOT to make a coin, go ahead make any coin you want, but don't expect me to pay for you to have it made, and to end up paying for all the coins you get for free.

 

I guess my reasoning is something like this... I don't expect that all of you cachers out there will give me geoswag and cache containers so that I can place caches if I can't afford it. So why expect the other geocachers to directly fund a personal coin if I can't afford to have it made myself?

 

There are plenty of other signature items you can make and trade, wooden nickels, poker chips, shrinky dinks (which I make for us) etc.

 

I don't have any problems with trading coins, I may be abit selective about it though. I collect things I have an interest in, and I don't have a generic interest in personal coins. Certain personal coins I have had interest in, and have traded other coins for already, and even bought a couple from the cacher.

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Make what you want, sell what you want, buy what you want. That about sums it up for me. If you're not buying, why would you care? If you ARE buying, they're obviously supplying something you want.

 

On the other hand. I prefer to own coins that are not sold, but only traded. If prices on ebay are an idication, that's a widely held opinion. (By that I mean that coins that have been distributed by trades tend to bring much higher prices than those that have been sold). Part of it is that the sold ones tend to have larger mintings, of course.

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If you make up a personal coin and sell it you may recoup your expenses but your collection won't be any further ahead. If you make up a personal coin for trade only you will end up with a lot more coins in your collection, many of which you would not be able to get except thru a trade. (unless you have a lot more money than I do and haunt ebay)

 

I think there was a thread a while back for people who only had their coins for trade and not for sale. Gonna have to find that. :grin:

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1.> Different people do it for different reasons. If you know the whole story on a case by case basis, you might have ALOT more understanding of why. It's not to get rich quick and make as many different coins as possible. Not for me anyway.

 

2.> Without going into too much detail, any profits I make from selling coins, cache containers, or even doing odd jobs here and there when I'm not doing my normal job all goes to support my family. With medical issues and court costs, attorneys, and my 3 year olds well being, she comes first. We have had numerous trajedies in our family this past 2 and a half years. I will do what it takes to put a "cushion" on the pain we've endured.

 

3.> Geocachers used to be one big happy family. Now they are getting grouped into different categories. One persons point of view seems to right and ethical, while the others are wrong. Just another example of judging a book by it's cover. Just because I might be ugly, doesn't mean I'm not a nice and caring person. You don't know my history, as I don't know yours.

 

4.> I think this whole thread should be moved HERE.

Edited by Chaos A.D./aka Arlsdaddy
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Would you trade with someone who sold their coins?

For me it's an easy decision. If you sell your coin there's a 95% chance I wont trade personals with you. The same goes for personal coins that had a huge number minted. I generally don't like common things that everyone else has, despite how they look.

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Would you trade with someone who sold their coins?

For me it's an easy decision. If you sell your coin there's a 95% chance I wont trade personals with you. The same goes for personal coins that had a huge number minted. I generally don't like common things that everyone else has, despite how they look.

Ditto

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:grin: What? Why should it matter that how many finds you have before producing your own coin? Since when do stats grant rights? Just because you've only just begun it doesn't mean you're any less enthusiastic about leaving your mark and trading coins with others. :lol: Until just recently it appears that only the wealthy could afford to make coins.

Anyone can make a coin at any time for any reason. However if I'm going to buy your coin as a signature coin I'd like to know you are a cacher who is going to stick in the game and not find one cache and then dissapear. Cachers who have been in the game for awhile are not better people but they are people you know better by virtue of their logs, posts, signature items, meeting them at events and the like. It's as simple as that.

 

I'd rather have a Lapaglia Coin than a Joe Cacher coin because Lap has been around awhile and has a history in this game. One I can appreciate.

 

Meanwhile Joe Cacher will make his own history in time and is free to make a coin if he wants. It's just not something I'm going to buy until he's been around a bit. Now if I find it in a cache, that's just cool.

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Our personal coin is coming soon.. There is only one reason why I'm doing that coin: Moun10bike geocoin. Since there is no other way to get that coin I have to make my own personal coin which I can trade with moun10bike. I don't collect coins for myself I only place them in caches. That is the reason why I sell my coins not trade to other personals. Well I guess there is not many people like me but this is my reason.

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When did it change and I wonder why?

 

I just don't get it and I'm so finished buying personal coins!

 

When it went from buying and paying for your own personal coin to HEA lets let the nice cachers out there pay for our personal coins that's when I said hmmmm...I wonder why they do that?

 

I did get caught up in thinking I just had one of eveything, but with time and tons of money spent I wondered what the heck I was doing and stopped.

 

I use to be fun, now in my opinion it's more about making money than the love of caching and having a nice sig item to leave in a cache.

 

Just a few things I've been thinking about for a while and thought I'd ask y'all cause I guess I just don't understand how it all changed and why.

 

Two years ago it was fun and easy to trade personal coins and back in the day if you wanted a nice personal coin you paid for it yourself and did a few trades.

 

Confused Pepper (what's new)

Pepper, thanks for being a gracious guide and dropping off your personal Geocoins for us when we made the trek to the Project APE cache last May.

 

One can argue "if you can't afford to make 'em, don't mint 'em" in the same spirit as "if you can't afford 'em, don't buy 'em."

 

I have no problems if people sell them to cover their costs, as not everyone is expected to be Super-Generous like yourself or Moun10Bike. I wouldn't mind if they made a little profit - but in that case, we haven't thanked enough to those who are taking losses on minting them.

 

When I buy or obtain a personal Geocoin, I expect a unique association to that cacher - it's no fun when that aspect is missing.

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Everyone is different. Everyone has a different "read" on this stuff. I've bought a lot of coins on Ebay. Some personal and some not. I bought them because I couldn't get ANYONE to trade with me. I eventually went ahead and had my own coin made (should be in my hands in a couple of weeks), ONLY to trade and put in caches. I won't be selling any, unless I opt to sell a couple for cancer research. All that is just my feelings on Geocoins. It doesn't have anything to do with me and my caching.

 

I love the Geocoins, but I really love caching. I've got 2400+ caches found and that's what I enjoy the most.

 

So, does anyone care about my feelings on Geocoins, or Geocaching? Probably not, but my point is that everyone is different. As long as people aren't being hurt, or forced to do something, then it's all good.

 

Buy what you want and pass on what you don't want. Why bad mouth someone because their feelings, or take on something is different than yours? Remember... Geocaching is a game. Collecting Geocoins is supposed to be a fun thing too.

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