How To Get Free Geocoins

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

Hello all,

I have seen a way folks can start a geocoin collection for FREE!

 

1) Design a geocoin -- most companies will take your ideas and send you a proof sheet

 

The cost to make the coin will be around $3.25 each for a simple coin and $4.75 if you want tracable coins -- it will depend on how many you have made - there is a big price-break at 500

 

2) Pre-sell the coin for $6 each (or maybe $5.50, or maybe $6.50)

 

You will "pocket" about $1.50 - $2.50 per coin. This means that for each 3 coins you sell, you can order a 4th coin -- FREE to you!

 

3) If you sell 300 coins in advance, then you will have 100 left-over to trade and build your collection up -- all at no cost to you!

 

The demand is high! The supply is low! Act as soon as you can!

 

(it would be incorrect to state that the above post is sarcastic -- that would imply that I am somehow bitter or malicious. However, I think that folks selling personal coins should do so at cost and not at a profit. This is one reason I will rarely, if ever, buy personal coins. Part of me just wants to make folks aware that this can be done.

 

What do others think?

[magellan315]

We live in a market economy, anyone remember the Pet Rock?

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

We live in a market economy, anyone remember the Pet Rock?

True -- "A fool and his money are soon parted" -- I have been said fool many times

 

I think selling coins is a great service to those that cannot trade for them or otherwise acquire them -- so there is the argument that the market will bear what the market will pay.

 

Still....a little knowledge never hurt anyone: seller or consumer.

[+Shop99er]

 

2) Pre-sell the coin for $6 each (or maybe $5.50, or maybe $6.50)

 

You will "pocket" about $1.50 - $2.50 per coin.  This means that for each 3 coins you sell, you can order a 4th coin -- FREE to you!

Don't forget to subtract the 15 or 25 cents for a padded mailer, maybe some bubble wrap or foam wrap to make sure the coin is cushioned. Think you can get a roll of that for around $5 so that's maybe 5 or 10 cents a coin....

 

Then postage is about 70 cents if you round up and another 55 cents for Delivery Confirmation in you add that in.

 

Tape. Don't forget packing tape. And printed address labels if you go 'high tech'. Maybe a Sharpie or two....

 

Lets see....what else. Well, gas money if you have to make a long trip to the post office.

 

Hummmm. I don't think you can even factor in the time sitting at the computer creating a coin. If you did I think most of us would make less than a third world 7 year old making sneakers.

 

You know, with all the money in making coins......I can see that villa in the south of France right around the corner with the next coin I make.

 

*sniff* *sniff*...can you smell that? That's sarcasm!

 

And with the new ground rules on the forums about selling coins..... it's a moot point.

[Not So Lost Puppies]

If you are selling using paypal for payment... then most all the shipping process is done for you... print the shipping label, attach it to the mailer, request a pickup (FREE) No address labels, sharpie, post office trip required. And the delivery conf is only .14 (though it is required)

 

All what time sitting at the computer creating a coin? what would you be doing with that time othewise? I doubt earning any money so that 'time' is NOT a cost.

 

I don't think any of the coins I have received have been additionaly wrapped in bubble wrap. Most are just dropped in the padded mailer, some dont even have any additional mailing tape to ensure a good seal of the flap.

 

Also, who hasn't ADDED shipping and handling to the orders being sold lately? I used to be that you saw a coin sold here for 7.50 and that price INCLUDED shipping, but not anymore, now it is $7.50 + 1.50 (or more) for shipping and handling, I think that is where you deduct the cost of the mailer, etc.

 

Or why not just help out one of the other coin sellers get rich? Let them pre-sell 400 coins at $8 + shipping + order fee, and give you the remaining 100? they'll get around $4 per coin sold even after all the shipping supplies.

 

capitalism at its best.

 

I agree with LFD about buying personals... it is very rarely that I will do it. Probably never after I get my personal made (NOT for sale BTW)

[Rupert2]

Hello all,

I have seen a way folks can start a geocoin collection for FREE!

 

1) Design a geocoin -- most companies will take your ideas and send you a proof sheet

 

The cost to make the coin will be around $3.25 each for a simple coin and $4.75 if you want tracable coins -- it will depend on how many you have made - there is a big price-break at 500

 

2) Pre-sell the coin for $6 each (or maybe $5.50, or maybe $6.50)

 

You will "pocket" about $1.50 - $2.50 per coin. This means that for each 3 coins you sell, you can order a 4th coin -- FREE to you!

 

3) If you sell 300 coins in advance, then you will have 100 left-over to trade and build your collection up -- all at no cost to you!

 

The demand is high! The supply is low! Act as soon as you can!

 

(it would be incorrect to state that the above post is sarcastic -- that would imply that I am somehow bitter or malicious. However, I think that folks selling personal coins should do so at cost and not at a profit. This is one reason I will rarely, if ever, buy personal coins. Part of me just wants to make folks aware that this can be done.

 

What do others think?

I agree with you 100%. Some of this stuff coming out is just plain stooped (the misspelling is to dumb down the word even more) . To top it off the sellers on insisting on us paying $4+ to ship it.

 

I am drawing the line on what I buy now.

[+D@nim@l]

We live in a market economy, anyone remember the Pet Rock?

Awesome Idea...mind if I steal it ?

 

Dang it, Where's AtlantaGal, when you need her?

Edited January 26, 2006 by D@nim@l

[+AtlantaGal]

I actually had one of those Pet Rocks, lol.

[+Jan and the Percey Boys]

some say I married one!

 

Bob

[+Big JohnP]

some say I married one!

 

Bob

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

haha! The Pet Rock geocoin is perfect! Geo-beanie would be good too!

 

Yes....I assume that postage WILL be extra. As for getting RICH selling coins -- that was not the point. The point is to get your portion of the coin minting for "free" (or at only the cost of your time to print labels and stuff envelopes).

 

What is rich? Let's say ONE MILLION DOLLARS! Selling geocoins? I don't think so. However, I think my scheme will generate just enough extra cash to generate free coins for the maker -- as long as there are buyers that are either unaware or unconcerned that they are paying $1 - $3 more than the actual minting cost.

 

That's why I posted -- just to see what the reaction would be. To see what folks think. What is the market value that folks will pay for a new issue coin? I think at $6 a coin will sell about 200 -- no matter what it is. A cool coin would sell 400-600. At $8 the demand would drop etc, etc. Bottom line -- anything over minting cost generates a surplus -- not a "get rich" surplus, but one none the less. That may be cash or that may be coins. Hence the ability to get free coins! It's magic! Magic!!!!

 

I also do not believe that the new guidelines prevent folks from selling coins at a profit -- they just cannot re-direct the buyers to a site that does the order processing etc.

[Not So Lost Puppies]

I also do not believe that the new guidelines prevent folks from selling coins at a profit -- they just cannot re-direct the buyers to a site that does the order processing etc

 

As long as you are sending them to a link that is only for the one specific coin it is just fine, even if it is an order processing site. You cant send them to a link that has others coins available on that same page though. The page you send them to can have a link back a home page or coin list page, etc.

[SCP-173]

I'd like to see people have coins with an edition of 100 or less, rather than 500.

Edited January 26, 2006 by Vargseld? ™

[+IceCreamMan]

I've sworn off buying these types of coins. Especially if they aren't trackable. A lower minting when some are sold to bring down the percoin cost is one thing, but for personal coins, I'm gonna try to keep to those that are for trade only, unless they are unique in some way.

[+501_Gang]

At 6.00 a coin + shipping you may not make much, but there is rarely a 6.00 coin any more. Now they are selling for 8.50 to 10.00 + shipping for a 3.50 to 4.50 coin. Even with the bubblers, postage etc, money is being made. Just keep an eye out on who is making the coins. It's pretty much the same people. If they are losing money, they wouldn't be making all those coins.

[+Marky]

Just keep an eye out on who is making the coins. It's pretty much the same people. If they are losing money, they wouldn't be making all those coins.

That is probably a true statement.

[Not So Lost Puppies]

I'd like to see people have coins with an edition of 100 or less, rather than 500.

 

I would like to see that too. I am also avoiding most all of the personal coin sales. I don't think it is 'personal' anymore if you are selling 400 of them just to get your 100 free.

There are many other alternatives for personal signature items if you can't afford to make a coin. Shrink plastic (think "shrinky dinks") for inkjet printers comes to mind... Many of those that I've been trading with lately have been getting them as a bonus.

 

  At 6.00 a coin + shipping you may not make much, but there is rarely a 6.00 coin any more. Now they are selling for 8.50 to 10.00 + shipping for a 3.50 to 4.50 coin. Even with the bubblers, postage etc, money is being made. Just keep an eye out on who is making the coins. It's pretty much the same people. dry.gif If they are losing money, they wouldn't be making all those coins.

 

Yes, that is true... no matter how much they claim they aren't making money.

 

Now I know there will be afew new low cost trackable (non personal) coins coming out of the pipeline soon. (in that $6 and less range)

[+wavector]

The numbers for the geocoin I am making are very similar to the ones that LFD has posted, a few changes though, trackability and an icon bring the coin cost to just over $5.00. Paypal charges are determined on a per order basis and could put a sale into the red quite easily. I intend to generate a profit of coins from this sale, there will be 500 coins sold, I will be getting 125 coins.

 

Every coin I receive will be placed in geocaches in Alberta South, the area for which the coin is being created.

 

I will place the coins, unactivated, into caches I have already found, I will not make a note when I leave a coin. I will enlist the aid of other geocachers to do this. This coin does not contain my name or handle anywhere at all, there will be no special "LE just for me" version, the coins will be unactivated when given away. I hope this geocoin will create excitement and make more people come caching in this area, that will cause more hides, more finds, more fun !

I am not really being altruisitic, I am being realistic. I am not a geocoin collector or trader, I will not be trading this coin, but I do know how exciting it is to find a geocoin that you can keep, it makes a fun experience memorable and it will create enduring excitement. This type of coin, unactivated, representing the area where the cache was found will help create new geocachers who keep geocaching.

 

So when people are buying this coin they are not really contributing to my coin collection in any way, I have four coins, I have found every one of those coins in a cache. The greatest impression was made by a coin placed by Jim Brown of the Texas Geocaching Association, I hope you don't mind Jim. It came in an airtite, with a little note saying that I could keep or trade the coin, I did both, I traded the coin out and I kept it, it is one of my favourite coins. When I found Jim's coin and note it cemented my resolve to try and make a coin for my area to do the same thing, to promote geocaching, to create enduring excitement.

I really don't mind paying money to geocaching.com. I can tell you for sure that I don't need PQ's. I have found every cache in every direction for a long distance. I have a bias, when I talk to non-geocachers about geocaching I find myself referring to "our" international listing site, n'est pas ? I registered Jim's coin on the Texas Geocaching Association website but when I wanted to make a coin for my area I had no interest in making a non-trackable coin, none whatsoever, you could say I am numistmatically(sp?) challenged.

 

I completely agree with your sarcastic opening post and I think the bubble will break soon but I also see the great good that geocoin enthusiasts bring to the table . The number of geocachers who could make a personal geocoin that I would pay for is quite limited. I do and would buy coins intended to promote organizations or geocaching.com directly. (CITO, Signal, I purchased the initial Calgary Coin).

[+EdgeMonks]

I like the DogBone and Red Handed coins that you have made, LFD. I'm also interested in the coins that you are having made, wavector - I hadn't heard about them before.

 

Off topic - my sister used to live in The Hat, but we haven't been out there in years, nor could we make it to your event today.

 

But back to the coins, and I'd like to make a comparison to the Disney pins.

 

We have been to a few of the Disney theme parks, and they mint thousands of pins. Not just a few, but thousands. We bought a few several years ago, but there are people who were obsessed with trying to build their collections. I see that Disney now sells them for $12.95US/pin on their website, so it is likely that is the price at their parks as well. Is there a market to resell these pins? On Ebay, it looks like you can resell a pin for about $4-$5. So the market has been overwhelmed with pins, and the value has been diminished.

 

I can see the same thing happening to the GeoCoins. My son and I like finding them, logging them, photographing them, and then releasing them again. We take them home to show my wife and daughter since they don't cache with us very often, and they like seeing them as well. If the number of coins keeps growing exponentially, the value of the coins will drop, unless the number of GeoCachers also keeps growing exponentially...

 

We buy 15 or so coins of each of the issues minted around Calgary (put me down for 15 of yours, wavector) to help defray the cost of the minting. We might keep 1 or 2 of them, but the rest go out into caches for others to find. We hope, like wavector, that when children find these it increases their interest in the game. We especially like placing coins, or other Calgary memorabilia, in caches far from home for other cachers to pick up. Whether they are trackable or not really doesn't matter to us - the coins are kept by the next cachers anyway.

 

As for minting coins to make money, I'll leave that for Disney.

[+wavector]

Hi Edgemonks

One of the things that I had to decide when I went ahead with this coin was the method of sale and distribution. I made the decision to market this coin using a well know commerical coin provider, this gives a clear edge to the enthusiasts when it comes to buying the coin. I did decide to make a presale for Alberta South cachers and have already indicated I will be passing the presale code to Calgary cachers who are interested. I will also be passing the presale code out to people who have a connection to The Gas City, I have already had a request from a PA cacher who has a sister in law who caches here in the Hat. The coin will be available through the store sometime in the next few weeks, the coin order has already been made. The presale code does not guarantee anything, people still have to go through the store process and I understand that it can be difficult. I am not making any guarantees to anyone that they will be able to buy the coin as the primary purpose of the the whole effort is to place a hundred plus coins in Alberta South caches and if I can achieve that end I will be satisifed. I may end up with a small amount of actual cash after all is said and done, this would be much better than a small amount of debt. If I do end up with any cash it will go directly back in to the activity of geocaching. There is a thread for the new coin here

I didn't mean to sidetrack LFD's thread and I am glad to see he is raising the profile of the personal coin for profit issue. The profit from my coin will be realized as geocoins which will be given away. It is a personal coin which contains no personal references at all. I recently saw a coin being sold as a geographic coin that had a cachers personal geocaching handle on the coin.

[CopperChick]

I get the point here... people are making coins and making a profit off of them. I don't like paying more for stuff than I have to than the rest of them... I like a good buy... and I like pretty coins... Here's something to consider:

 

1) I bought a geocoin thinking it was trackable on this site, but it isn't. To put it out there, others will have to go to a seperate site to log it, and probably won't! At this point I'm willing to buy a trackable coin for the sake of having my own out there.

 

2) If a geo-cacher doesn't make profit off of selling his/her coin, the manufacture certainly will. Or should I say already is and with the prices/demand going up, they will be willing to make that extra profit themselves.

 

3) It is nice to see all these different personalized geocoins out there. But to keep the cost down, the fellow geocacher needs to buy in bulk and probably doesn't want to keep all of them. so what else is s/he going to do with all these extra coins than sell them?

 

4) Is there really much harm in giving that person (who took that out of pocket risk, bought several of save on cost/coin, and took the time to create something cool) an extra buck?

 

When you keep that in mind, maybe the extra buck isn't bad... and you get another cute icon beside you name...

 

I have't come across many coins yet. I see them on websites and think they are quite a creatice idea... I like the idea of making new geocoins and would like to see it encouraged...

 

For those who took the time to make a coin, Thanks!!!! It makes the sport more fun and interesting... And if you wish to sell one, contact me. I want to see what it looks like and your price. If reasonable, I'll probably buy it! Thanks!

 

CopperChick