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New Geocoin Policy


Keystone

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I see this as the beginning to the end of coins. This is nothing more than attempt for GC to control everything.

 

This web site was suppose to remain free to use from the beginning of time. Slowly but surely they have started to milk us from our dough $1.50 at a time. It is all about the money now not just the promoting of the sport.

 

Another step in the wrong direction :blink: !

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I agree with several of the posts here. I'm looking at creating a coin for sale/trade. I don't really want to put a GC trackable number on it as it just raises the cost. But if it's the only way that I can get the word out here is to make them trackable, I may do it. I don't really know. It has always seemed like a lot of money for the ability to track something that will not actually be placed in a cache (or if it is, it won't be put in many before it's snagged and "collected").

 

There are other places out there that allow full posting of where you have your coin for sale. I have a prefered one, though it's very small right now, but there are currently people listing coins (myself included) that are either currently for sale or will be. These posts will be added to when the coin is for sale with a link of where to buy from with no fear of reprocussion.

 

If you want the site info, let me know as (as it has been stated before) I'm sure if I post it openly, it will get deleted.

 

Best of luck to GC.com, but I think the greed is really getting the better of them. I enjoy the sport, but at some point you have to step back and take a look at the big picture again.

 

-Haughton - Haughton's Hunters

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My coins are in production right now, but if I'm not even allowed to show people who want them where they can get them, maybe I should just cancel that order right now. Not to mention all the money it's costing me for custom icons and gc trackable numbers. I think we all deserve a bit more definitive statement on the new guidelines. The contradictions in the current guidelines make no sense at all other than "we want our cut". :blink:

If your coin is trackable, you can post it.

 

First paragraph: This forum may be used for selling, trading or giving away of geocoins which are trackable on Geocaching.com. This includes any trackable coin produced by an individual, business or geocaching organization. Non-trackable coins may be posted for trade by individual coin owners. The proceeds from a permitted coin sale can be used for any purpose, such as personal profit, support of a geocaching organization, or to benefit a charitable cause.

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I am not sure what to think of the new policy. On one hand it is their site and they should be able to do with it what they want but they would not even have a site if not for us. I pay my $3 a month to them. They would not be able to rake in $750 min. for tracking if not for us. Some people are very turned off by this policy and I am sure they new that would happen. I doubt this will shut down the geocoin forum but it is excluding a lot of people.

 

The policy has some already pointed out obvious flaws, that they say they are working on. I hope that now that they have some feedback on it they will go back and not just talk about the things that need clairification but also the blanket policy of "No gc.com numbers, then no selling".

 

What next will they start charging another $1.50 per coin for logo use?

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[Content removed by moderator -- see above]

 

Are you serious..... :):):blink: That is taking it too far.

 

Did you post anywhere on THESE forums about your alterative forum? Did they tell you why you were no longer needed as a volunteer?

 

Big business practices are good for no one.....and in the end will only hurt Groundspeak and Geocaching! I hope they understand this.

Edited by Keystone
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For this to work there needs to be 1 forum that coin folks can go to or else new coins won't get sold in the quanities necessary to keep making coins, (i.e. Break-Even). This is not an Anti-Groundspeak post (I like these forums, personally), I am just saying that if we want to keep the geocoin hobby alive, and people are not going to use Groundspeak's forums to post their coins, then we all need to agree on where we are going to go to find and post the information about this hobby. We just need a way to tell everyone where that place is... that's the hard part.

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Thanks Eartha, but I understood that part. What I'm suggesting is that the police should be more specific. If I make a number of trackables and non-trackables at the same time can the coinmaker/distributor be listed? I realize you don't want every coinmaker and upstart wannabe token builder taking over our forums to push their profits, but people obviously need a place to trade the non-tracking tokens and coins. If you drive them away from your site to do that, you risk driving them away for alternative caching sites as well. Or worst of all, driving them away from an activity they love. I like this sight and these people. I don't mind paying you to track my tokens (a sometimes thankless service). I don't mind paying you for custom icons (you must have bought whole new servers just for the new capacity requirements). These things cost money for you and I support your system. I just don't want to see it ruined like so many other activities have been with a focus on profit margins dictating rules.

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I will make this short and sweet.

 

If another forum(s) are to be made off this site then somebody make a list and put it on a site (not this site) so people can find it easy.

 

Please email me at ladygeocacherATyahoo.com (you know what to replace) with the new forum(s), although I only think one is needed.

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So, is this obvious outrage by so many people going to effect Groundspeak in re-revising their guidelines? Only time will tell. When I look at all the edited post above I really can't help but shake my head. I know the mods are just doing their jobs, but this is just amazing. I have never, in my entire life, seen a forum as strict as this one.

 

Oh, and if everyone is going to be using another forum, someone please email me which one it is, too. :ph34r:

Edited by Vargseld? ™
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As I have said all along, I think all coins, tokens or wooden nickles should be allowed to be traded and sold in these forums regardless of whether they are trackable, not trackable, auction listed or store-front sold. Please reconsider amending the new guidelines to include this philosophy. As a coin collector it is my choice to buy or not and I appreciate having all the information available in ONE location, perferably HERE. Thank you.

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Personally I only trade and buy trackable coins on GC.com...

Love the new guidelines, it looks like they were made just for folks like me in mind.

GeoCoins Trackable on GeoCaching.com are

displayed on GeoCaching.com GeoCaches pages,

making it easy to know it's there, so it can be retrieved,

and then dropped within 2 weeks.

Non Trackable Coins are not.

 

GeoCoins Trackable on GeoCaching.com are meant to travel through caches.

Coins that are meant to remain in private collections are not GeoCoins.

 

GeoCaching.com seems to want's to encourage

GeoCoins Trackable on their site.

 

Geocoins Trackable on other sites,

or Non Trackable Coins can be sold elsewhere.

 

Isn't there a generic non-proprietary Coin site with forums out there?

If not, don't Coins manufacturers have forums and other methods

for people to share trading and selling information?

 

Limiting traffic to GeoCoins Trackable on GeoCaching.com

in this forum is not a bad thing, in my opinion.

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O.K. so even if you can't post a link to a store that is selling your coin, you would be able to say the following in a thread:

 

My new coin -- trackable on GC.com with it's own icon -- available through the geocoinstore.

 

Correct? It's not a link just a name. (all of us have all of the places (the caching place, geocoinstore, etc) bookmarked anyway :ph34r: ).

 

Please note that I have no plans for a trackable coin. Just trying to define the new rules in my own mind.

 

Windrose

I never saw a reponse to Windroses question but would be interested in the response.

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As I have said all along, I think all coins, tokens or wooden nickles should be allowed to be traded and sold in these forums regardless of whether they are trackable, not trackable, auction listed or store-front sold. Please reconsider amending the new guidelines to include this philosophy. As a coin collector it is my choice to buy or not and I appreciate having all the information available in ONE location, perferably HERE. Thank you.

I completely agree! This hobby started here and it should stay here. What exactly was it hurting to have everything listed here anyway?

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[solicitation for another forum removed by moderator.]

Hey it's an interesting sight, one admin (Keystone) censoring out the entire post of another admin (Cach-U-Nuts ... actually the Groundspeak may have just kicked Cach-U-Nuts out of the admin ranks for dissenting on the coin forum controversy :ph34r: ).

 

Sounds like a lot of flack flying for the sake of a buck-fifty. Best of luck to you, esteemed geocachers and geocoin collectors.

Edited by GeoPooch Sobachka
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I see this as the beginning to the end of coins. This is nothing more than attempt for GC to control everything.

 

This web site was suppose to remain free to use from the beginning of time. Slowly but surely they have started to milk us from our dough $1.50 at a time. It is all about the money now not just the promoting of the sport.

 

Another step in the wrong direction :ph34r: !

A few thoughts here:

 

First, it's not the beginning of the end for geocoins. It is the beginning of other sites that will allow the coins to be discussed. In my book that's a good thing.

 

My plans for several coins have not changed. My sig coin will still be my sig coin. The friend of caching series will still come about. The RK1K coin is still in the pipeline and so on. Wherever people land, that's where I'll announce.

 

This site, nor any other is free. They are all subsidized by someone willing to pay. The question is who will pay? Groundspeak has always been very clear that they are a business. Sometimes it's just a heck of a lot more evident than others.

 

Don't get me wrong I think we agree on a lot of key things, we just have a different angle on looking at them.

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I'm not sure how I feel about the new policy (and it is def. going to affect our canine coins in the future as they have never been trackable, and I don't see us changing that).

 

That being said.

 

I'm not sure why posting an alternate site for people to go to for the non GC coins is being deleted by the mods. After all, if they are not allowed here, then the other site would not be competing and why not be so kind as to allow a post so that people know where to go for the new taboo coins? A simple "you can sell non GC coins at blah blah.com" would help a lot and I don't see how it would hurt GC, might even make them look understanding.

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[Content removed by moderator. This is a Q&A thread to discuss the new geocoin policy. It is not a thread to solicit support for other sites' forums. Please remain on-topic and post in compliance with the forum guidelines.]

So if we start a NEW thread that is about another forum that will allow the sale of ALL geocoins will it be shut down....

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Wow, such an uproar.

 

So only coins that are GC trackable can be sold here - it is thier site.

 

Maybe this will actaully HELP get coins back into caches.

If you have a non-trackable coin maybe the only way to get it to other people will be to leave it in caches (heaven forbid).

 

I really don't understnad the mentality of "we should be able to post anything that we want here".

 

Just my $0.02.

 

Why don't we all wait and see what happens with some of the clarifications before rounding up the torches.

 

Just got back from a long trip and have some work to do today. I'll be back tonight to see who's been tarred and feathered.

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Can't even mention another forum?? I didn't make a link!

Email me with your new place.

 

It's interesting because there are already two coins listed somewhere else, and one is a state coin.

Someone email me with the new place too!

 

I might just start a thread and post the links here. :ph34r:

Edited by ParentsofSAM
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I love this. I really do.

 

Okay, picture that I hadn't yet created the SC coin when these new guidelines had gone into place. I then created the coin and it's not trackable on gc.com. Someone pipes up and asks if there is an SC coin. Folks can answer in the affirmative, but can't point anyone to where they may be purchased, traded, or tracked. It would be as if it didn't exist.

 

Do I have this right? I think I do.

 

Good job, Groundspeak.

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Hello,

 

This is a Question and Answer thread about the new Geocoins Policy. We are happy to address your questions, and I've just finished discussing all the unanswered questions with Groundspeak.

 

It is getting hard to wade through the posts saying "send me a message about the other forums" in order to spot the legitimate questions. So, please stop doing that. Go ahead and send each other messages, but please only use this forum, and this thread, for its intended purpose. Thanks.

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Playing Devil's Advocate from the point of view of the consumer here...

 

One aspect I look at here is that maybe Groundspeak needed to establish firm business connections with coin makers and distributors. With the free-for-all frenzy that was occuring here, they really needed to set some standards of accountability, trust and quality...for OUR protection. I mean, ANYONE could have come on these forums, take our cash in pre-orders and ran off to Australia. Heck, legally, GC might have had to cover that angle as well.

 

Let's face it, we've all put a whole lot of trust in one another here, and a BIG amount of money has exchanged hands. Maybe Groundspeak wants a piece of that, but these are their forums. But more importantly, as this collectible hobby grows we could eventually see schemers trying to take advantage of our trust. It's just my two cents, but having to seek GC's permission goes a long way towards preventing a disaster.

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As I have said all along, I think all coins, tokens or wooden nickles should be allowed to be traded and sold in these forums regardless of whether they are trackable, not trackable, auction listed or store-front sold. Please reconsider amending the new guidelines to include this philosophy. As a coin collector it is my choice to buy or not and I appreciate having all the information available in ONE location, perferably HERE. Thank you.

Come on Keystone, can y'all please think about this with regards to a specific coin being bought, traded or sold?

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