To Track or Not to Track

[+Suzyfishn]

Just looking for feedback about geocoins and whether the folks out there who like to collect prefer them to have a geocaching tracking number or not ?? I'm considering a personal geocoin ... but, of course, if I want them trackable it costs more.

 

Thanks for any input!

[+Team JSAM]

I only buy a coin that is trackable w/icon, if its a personal that is non trackable I may trade for it if I like the design. But if you are wanting to sell the coin you will do better if its trackable with icon.

Edited September 5, 2006 by Team Jsam

[Aushiker]

I only buy a coin that is trackable w/icon, if its a personal that is non trackable I may trade for it if I like the design. But if you are wanting to sell the coin you will do better if its trackable with icon.

 

I agree. I am now only interested in coins that are at least trackable and will now only purcase coins that are both trackable with their own icon.

 

Andrew

[+501_Gang]

Our coin is a 'for trade only' coin and we trade for non-sold coins only. Trackable and icon is not as important as the design.

 

If it's a personal coin, than make it reflect you and don't worry about tracking it.

[+CachingCoins]

I only buy trackable w/icon, unless it is something extra special. I don't have anything to trade.

[+AtlantaGal]

Trackable or non-trackable. Makes no bit of difference to me. I buy/trade coins

[+pdxmarathonman]

Many of the newer collectors only buy icons that have a coin associated with them.

 

That keeps them from ever owning a coin that was produced over a year ago

[+Team JSAM]

That keeps them from ever owning a coin that was produced over a year ago

 

Not true, I collect non-trackables but I only buy the ones with the icons.

[+GBOTS]

Tracking codes are a waste of money

[+Suzyfishn]

I only buy a coin that is trackable w/icon, if its a personal that is non trackable I may trade for it if I like the design. But if you are wanting to sell the coin you will do better if its trackable with icon.

 

I'm a real geocoin newbie...what does the "w/icon" or "with their own icon" actually mean?? Is it referring to the use of the geocaching.com logo??

[+Shop99er]

I only buy a coin that is trackable w/icon, if its a personal that is non trackable I may trade for it if I like the design. But if you are wanting to sell the coin you will do better if its trackable with icon.

 

I'm a real geocoin newbie...what does the "w/icon" or "with their own icon" actually mean?? Is it referring to the use of the geocaching.com logo??

 

Nope. This means an icon unique to the coin. The icon would show up in the owner's/finder's Trackables page on their profile.

 

I'm not anti-icon, look at my page if you want proof of that. But, whether or not the coin has an icon means nothing when I decide if I want the coin.

 

None of my coins are trackable.

[+AtlantaGal]

None of my coins are trackable.

 

You got to admit it tho... the shirt would be a way cool icon

[Rupert2]

Tracking codes are a waste of money

DITTO!

 

Our coin is a 'for trade only' coin and we trade for non-sold coins only. Trackable and icon is not as important as the design.

 

If it's a personal coin, than make it reflect you and don't worry about tracking it.

DITTO!

Edited September 5, 2006 by Rupert2

[+Hula Bum]

If you're going to sell them here, then they have to be trackable, just food for thought.

[+Shop99er]

None of my coins are trackable.

 

You got to admit it tho... the shirt would be a way cool icon

 

It would, but I'm not gonna pay that kind of $$.

[+nscaler]

My coins are not GC.com trackable, but are tracked elsewhere(same place as shop99 I believe). I still get to track them (one has been to Belgium, and is now is in England). So I get to track them still. They don't show up on cache pages as dropped (a plus against the "thieves").

I got the first batch (100) for about $3.75 each and the second batch (100) for $2.50 each - no die charge. I can order more for 2007 and still use the same die. The numbers have the year in it.

I don't sell any. Just trade and place in caches. I even gave about ten away at a recent event.

Check my coin collection (link below) and I post all my trades there. Got some pretty cool coins with those trades. And I have never bought any coin (yet) from that E site.

[+nscaler]

Well, shop99 did have his first coin (round) on the same tracking site.

I checked.

[+ScoutingWV]

Doesn't matter to me. I'm more interested in the coin than the icon. Sure, I'll log coins for icons like many of us do (I just got back from a cache I went to specifically to log the coin - a rare one in my area), but tracking is not a controlling factor for me when looking for a coin to own.

 

Recently I've become more interested in personal signature items than coins. The common thread is whether or not I have actually made a direct trade with the owner or somehow met them through geocaching or another activity (even virtually through the site).

 

The social aspect of the game is more interesting to me than the material.

[+tiki]

Okey Dokey, here comes the Tiki-2-cents!

 

I feel that if you make a coin trackable, then the coin is meant to travel in and out of caches (I know, I know, this isn't always the case ), If you find a trackable coin in a cache, you have to move it along. I made my coins non-trackable because I want the lucky cacher who finds it to be able to keep it guilt-free. How do you want your coins used? As caching "trophies" or as travel bugs?

 

PS - I just found my first Geocoin in a cache!

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.as...65-39afd95b07b2

 

Sadly, is is trackable, so I am gonna move it along like a good little Tiki. Very fun to finally find one tho! (Ms. Tiki found a geocoin a few months ago - so she was rather blase about the whole affair...)

 

Tiki

[danoshimano]

The coin design is far more important to me than having it trackable. I have traded trackable coins for ones that are not trackable and don't really care.

 

And if it *is* trackable, I don't care whether it has its own icon or not. I think there are too many icons as it is.

 

There are other avenues to sell non-trackable coins. You are not limited to this heavily moderated forum. You can post your non-trackable coin here for trades, though.

[+graylling]

I almost prefer non-trackable to trackable coins. I feel if you make a personal coin it should be just that. A personal coin. Not one made for profit. If you sell it then it loses a lot of it's 'personal' meaning. My personal coins aren't trackable and aren't for sale but I still have many people willing to trade for them. As has been said above, if you want a personal coin then make it your own coin. Don't worry about trackability unless your planning on selling it. In which case it isn't really a personal coin is it?

[Aushiker]

I almost prefer non-trackable to trackable coins. I feel if you make a personal coin it should be just that. A personal coin. Not one made for profit. If you sell it then it loses a lot of it's 'personal' meaning.

 

Hi

 

I think that view is fine IF you have thespare dollars to make your own coins for trading only. 250 coins is over US$1000 according to my quotes. Believe it or not some people can't afford that and in fairness shouldn't in my view have their personal coins considered less of a personal coin just because they don't have money. Surley just because someone say needs to sell some of their coins to offset the costs doesn't make it less of a coin?

 

Regards

Andrew

Edited September 6, 2006 by Aushiker

[+Shop99er]

Well, shop99 did have his first coin (round) on the same tracking site.

I checked.

 

Quite true, I did. But, I believe the subject of this thread is GC trackabilty.

 

In any event, that was the first and most likely the last trackable coin, on any site, that I'll do.

 

BTW, that's Shop99er, if you please.

[+nscaler]

 

BTW, that's Shop99er, if you please.

I sit corrected (cause I'm not standing).

You wanna trade coins?

[+geoSquid]

Tracking codes are a waste of money

 

I see lots of people saying that, but I've often wondered why people think that.

 

For me, I have released lots of coins to travel and I find the cost of tracking codes + coin substantially better than the cost of a travel bug dog tag + item to travel.

 

I suppose if all you want to do is stockpile coins, then paying extra for a trackable coin would be a waste. Is that what people are getting at?

[+SunshineGang]

We like trackable coins.

 

If you can swing the money I would say make them trackable

 

BTW

 

We buy and trade most any coin. We could care less if you sell it or trade only.

[Not So Lost Puppies]

 

I think that view is fine IF you have thespare dollars to make your own coins for trading only. 250 coins is over US$1000 according to my quotes. Believe it or not some people can't afford that and in fairness shouldn't in my view have their personal coins considered less of a personal coin just because they don't have money. Surley just because someone say needs to sell some of their coins to offset the costs doesn't make it less of a coin?

 

Regards

Andrew

 

250 standard coins (1.5" 3mm, up to 4 colors) is under $700. until you add tracking into it ($1.50 per coin)

 

100 standard coins are about $400 (not trackable)

 

There are alot of collectors that will not buy personal coins. And if you are looking to use them for trade, you will lose out on trades if the owners you want to trade with bought your coin.

 

I don't buy personal coins.

 

My personal opinion on the matter is this... If you can't afford to make a geocoin signature item, then don't make it. I'm just as happy to find hand made signature items. In fact, I generally prefer them, because I would be more likely to find one sometime since they don't cost $5. While we have a geocoin, I still am creating other signature items to leave behind as well, and since they don't cost much I can leave them in many many more caches than I could coins.

 

I don't collect geocoins because they are trackable, or have their own icon. (Except for our mileage tracker, the only activated coins in our list are ones that we released into the wild.) I also don't log coins in peoples collections, our 'found' list is only coins we have found in the wild, or a cachers 'met them' tracker.

[+GBOTS]

Tracking codes are a waste of money

 

I see lots of people saying that, but I've often wondered why people think that.

 

For me, I have released lots of coins to travel and I find the cost of tracking codes + coin substantially better than the cost of a travel bug dog tag + item to travel.

 

I suppose if all you want to do is stockpile coins, then paying extra for a trackable coin would be a waste. Is that what people are getting at?

 

Not me I just see no need to further enrich TPTB

[+chaosmanor]

While we prefer coins that are trackable and that have an icon, a good design won't prevent us from buying it if it is not one or the other, or even both. To be honest, a non-trackable coin that has an icon is almost pointless; how do you log it to get an icon if you can't log it?!?!?

 

Anyway, if the design is good, we'll buy the coin, even if it isn't trackable, or even if it is trackable, but has no icon. An example of a non-trackable that we've bought is the Goblin Valley, Utah coin, and we are considering buying some of the Orange, CA non-trackables as swag items; they have translucent enamel, and just look really nice. And we've bought a couple of the John Harrison chronometer trackable-but-no-icon geocoin; it is a good design, and the topic appeals to me (Jim: half of the team)

 

We've never done any trading, for several reason: no personal coin, we don't buy many extras for trading, yadda, yadda, yadda...

 

Thus, if you put out a good coin that appeals to us, we might buy a couple-three, even if it isn't trackable and/or doesn't have an icon. The only way to see if your design "has legs" is to show it to cachers. Because you can't offer non-trackable coins for sale on this forum, you'll at least want to either offer trackability, or have it trade only to get it on this forum.

 

As for TPtB, if giving them a buck-and-a-half each time I buy a geocoin keeps the Premium Membership cost from rising, I'm very cool with that. It's been $30 since we signed up, almost from Day One of when they offered memberships; that's damned good in today's inflated economy. If you are debating with yourself, I would recommend at least offering the tracking; most people will pay for it, and it's really a good deal, when you consider that a coin will be trackable until it gets muggled, stolen, winds up back in your hands, or people stop geocaching and the site folds. Not a bad deal for a $1.50, really

[+nscaler]

But what is the difference in how it is tracked? GC.com - $1.50 each or another site (listed on the coin itself) that costs nothing? Either one, you get an e-mail telling of your coin's "adventure". Now sure, it is a little bit harder to log the non GC coin, but it still works.

 

I agree with most of you. If you want (need) a personal coin to use for trading, it does not have to be trackable - anywhere. Adding laser engraved numbers adds cost too. I have traded my coins for all three types.

1) GC.com trackable

2) trackable somewhere else.

3) non trackable.

 

As long as someone likes it and is willing to trade - who cares?

[+macpacfam]

OK. I am lost on the subject. So I go and have a coin made that is trackable, but someone decides tat they like it, and so they keep it. Then it ends up on eBay a while later for sale. So why would I buy a coin then? Why does someone collect them? This is where is get confused. I have passed on coins before since I thought the owner wanted them to move on. Help???

[+nscaler]

OK. I am lost on the subject. So I go and have a coin made that is trackable, but someone decides tat they like it, and so they keep it. Then it ends up on eBay a while later for sale. So why would I buy a coin then? Why does someone collect them? This is where is get confused. I have passed on coins before since I thought the owner wanted them to move on. Help???

Ahhh Weedhopper!

You seek answers from a whacky group!

The coins started out as a signature item. When I first started geocaching, I put an american flag sticker I found at the store in each cache I found. They were cheap. People took them. They were trade items. Then someone made a "geocoin". It was a signature item that was a step up. It was personal. It had your name on it You liked it, you traded for it. You could start a collection of signature items. Some people still do.

Now only Travel Bugs were trackable at the time. Then someone wanted to make their signature item trackable too. Several sites came up (and still exist) places to track their signature items. A lot of State Organizations started it first.

The history continues....

Basically, signature items can be kept (traded). What geocaching started out as and most people still do.

A geocoin is another version of a Travel Bug. You trade for it, but don't keep it. And don't sell on the E site.

There are two kinds of geocoins out there.

1) Activated

Unactivated

 

The activated coin is owned. You should not keep or sell others possessions, correct?

Unactivated coins are sometimes placed as First To Find (FTF) prizes. The findee is free to do what they want with the coin. It is not owned, correct?

 

A seller sells you a coin. Yours to do with as you please - simple transaction.

 

Then it gets kind of technical...

Another collector trades a coin with you. If it is a purchased coin that is traded, the new owner could do what they want with the coin.

A traded personal coin still belongs to the original creator. It was not sold to the first holder of the coin, just traded. The new owner should understand that the personal - not paid for coin - is not theirs.

I, along with others, do not want others to sell our personal coins.

 

You are tired of your collection? Sell me back my coin. Or at least ask me if I want to buy it.

 

I think this should help you to slightly understand that....

 

 

No one knows what the heck is going on and the geocoin collecting mania is Whacky.

Because I sure am whacky!

[+macpacfam]

OK. I am lost on the subject. So I go and have a coin made that is trackable, but someone decides tat they like it, and so they keep it. Then it ends up on eBay a while later for sale. So why would I buy a coin then? Why does someone collect them? This is where is get confused. I have passed on coins before since I thought the owner wanted them to move on. Help???

Ahhh Weedhopper!

You seek answers from a whacky group!

The coins started out as a signature item. When I first started geocaching, I put an american flag sticker I found at the store in each cache I found. They were cheap. People took them. They were trade items. Then someone made a "geocoin". It was a signature item that was a step up. It was personal. It had your name on it You liked it, you traded for it. You could start a collection of signature items. Some people still do.

Now only Travel Bugs were trackable at the time. Then someone wanted to make their signature item trackable too. Several sites came up (and still exist) places to track their signature items. A lot of State Organizations started it first.

The history continues....

Basically, signature items can be kept (traded). What geocaching started out as and most people still do.

A geocoin is another version of a Travel Bug. You trade for it, but don't keep it. And don't sell on the E site.

There are two kinds of geocoins out there.

1) Activated

Unactivated

 

The activated coin is owned. You should not keep or sell others possessions, correct?

Unactivated coins are sometimes placed as First To Find (FTF) prizes. The findee is free to do what they want with the coin. It is not owned, correct?

 

A seller sells you a coin. Yours to do with as you please - simple transaction.

 

Then it gets kind of technical...

Another collector trades a coin with you. If it is a purchased coin that is traded, the new owner could do what they want with the coin.

A traded personal coin still belongs to the original creator. It was not sold to the first holder of the coin, just traded. The new owner should understand that the personal - not paid for coin - is not theirs.

I, along with others, do not want others to sell our personal coins.

 

You are tired of your collection? Sell me back my coin. Or at least ask me if I want to buy it.

 

I think this should help you to slightly understand that....

 

 

No one knows what the heck is going on and the geocoin collecting mania is Whacky.

Because I sure am whacky!

 

Thanks a million for setting me straight nscaler! I will obey as your numba wun sun. I thought something was wrong when I saw a bunch of activated coins on Ebay a while back, but apparabtly they were for someone who has fallen on hard times. Still I did not think it was correct being activaed coins and all.

[+Bhob]

Definitions for folks new to geocoins

 

Trackable - having a place where the movements of an item can be registered

Most often an internet site

There are sites that offer tracking other than GeoCaching.com

Here, we are only concerned with GC.com trackable items

Note that there are trackable items other than geocoins - eg travel bugs and yellow/white/green Jeeps

They all work exactly the same on GC.com

 

Icon - a little picture meant to represent a trackable item

They show in many places on GC.com - search results list, cache page, user homepage, trackable page, etc

Every trackable on GC.com has an icon

In this thread, "with icon" more accurately means "with a unique icon"

Geocoins with no unique icon are lumped together with a "generic" icon that looks like a coin with a cent sign

 

Activated - the trackable item has been registered at GC.com

A trackable cannot be tracked until it has been activated

Some trackable items have already been activated - eg Moun10Bike geocoins and Yellow/white/green Jeeps

 

Combinations -

Trackable, no icon - not possible

Not trackable, icon - not possible

Trackable, icon, unactivated - brand new

Trackable, icon, activated - able to have it's movements tracked

[+nscaler]

Geocaches, activated coins and Travel Bugs, with the previous owners permission, can be adopted.

In other words - transfer of ownership.

I have adopted some caches. Relinquished other caches to others.

Any trackable item can have ownership transferred.

 

And yes, I forgot this was about GC.com trackable coins.

Just trying give a little extra information.

"Track (GC.com) or Not to Track"

I was dealing with the latter.

[+baelrati]

[...]

 

A traded personal coin still belongs to the original creator. It was not sold to the first holder of the coin, just traded. The new owner should understand that the personal - not paid for coin - is not theirs.

I, along with others, do not want others to sell our personal coins.

 

You are tired of your collection? Sell me back my coin. Or at least ask me if I want to buy it.

 

[...]

 

A trade is an transfer of ownership, even a sale is a trade, it involves money being traded for a geocoin in this case. Money is only a trade item that is of value (nearly) everywhere and to (most) people. And you seem to agree that the ownership passed as you offered to buy your personal geocoin back? Or why would you offer to pay money for something you own?

 

BTW, you referenced the person receiving the personal coin as new owner. I don't see how you could own something, but that something would not belong to you?

 

However if the same code of conduct applies to coins from sales or trades is a different question, personally I think that the wishes of the creator of the personal geocoin should be respected and honored, however those wishes should be made clear before the trade is finished.

[+graylling]

I almost prefer non-trackable to trackable coins. I feel if you make a personal coin it should be just that. A personal coin. Not one made for profit. If you sell it then it loses a lot of it's 'personal' meaning.

 

Hi

 

I think that view is fine IF you have thespare dollars to make your own coins for trading only. 250 coins is over US$1000 according to my quotes. Believe it or not some people can't afford that and in fairness shouldn't in my view have their personal coins considered less of a personal coin just because they don't have money. Surley just because someone say needs to sell some of their coins to offset the costs doesn't make it less of a coin?

 

Regards

Andrew

 

It is true that if you dont' sell your coin you end up absorbing the total cost. BUT.. The vast majority of people here who sell coins also collect them. It is costing me 650 bucks to make my coins. The average coin being sold today is about 8 bucks plus shipping and handling. If I buy 100 coins at about 8 bucks a piece then it's costing me 800 bucks. If I trade 100 of my coins then it costs me 650 bucks and I still have 50 coins that I can put in caches or give to friends or whatever I want. The money that I would have spent on buying those 100 coins went into making my own and I saved about 150 bucks in doing it.

 

If you are just looking to make and sell a coin and aren't interested in collecting coins then ignore everything I've said. But if you are into collecting coins too then sit down an do a bit of math and see which way works out better.

[Aushiker]

 

It is true that if you dont' sell your coin you end up absorbing the total cost. BUT.. The vast majority of people here who sell coins also collect them. It is costing me 650 bucks to make my coins. The average coin being sold today is about 8 bucks plus shipping and handling. If I buy 100 coins at about 8 bucks a piece then it's costing me 800 bucks. If I trade 100 of my coins then it costs me 650 bucks and I still have 50 coins that I can put in caches or give to friends or whatever I want. The money that I would have spent on buying those 100 coins went into making my own and I saved about 150 bucks in doing it.

 

I am sorry but with due respect, you pay out $800 in your example period. Trading does NOT get you back the $150 as you suggest. You paid out the $800 in the first instance. All trading does IF you trade for higher value coins increase the nominal value of your collection. That is assuming you trade for coins of higher value of course or coins which have a higher value on the market. Untill you actually sell those coins for at least the $800 plus p&p or a higher amount you have not saved anything nor have you go your money back. Trading does not generate a financial return in the first instance. Selling does.

 

But if you are into collecting coins too then sit down an do a bit of math and see which way works out better.

 

I am sorry but I have done the maths. Irrespective of that, you have missed my point. My point was that your comment implied that someone selling their coins was in effect "making less of a personal coin" which I considered unfair as it a comment based on whether one has money to do this or not. Even in your example one must have $800 to make the coins. With due respect not everyone can afford that. Therefore in your logic their coins are not as good as someone who can afford the $800. I just don't feel that is fair take.

 

Regards

Andrew

[Not So Lost Puppies]

Actually in the example...

 

$800 for 100 of other peoples coins

$650 for 150 personal coins.

it did not cost him $800 for the 150 coins, only $650.

 

Trading 100 of those personal coins equates to having spent $150 less for the collection of 100 coins, and still having 50 more coins to do something else with.

 

You will have an extremely difficult time buying geocoins for less than $6.50 from others (or if your coin is more basic, less than the base $4/coin cost: look at oakcoins, they have a interactive price page to show shipped to your door costs for making a coin)

Edited September 8, 2006 by Not So Lost Puppies

[+fox-and-the-hound]

[...]

 

A traded personal coin still belongs to the original creator. It was not sold to the first holder of the coin, just traded. The new owner should understand that the personal - not paid for coin - is not theirs.

I, along with others, do not want others to sell our personal coins.

 

You are tired of your collection? Sell me back my coin. Or at least ask me if I want to buy it.

 

[...]

 

A trade is an transfer of ownership, even a sale is a trade, it involves money being traded for a geocoin in this case. Money is only a trade item that is of value (nearly) everywhere and to (most) people. And you seem to agree that the ownership passed as you offered to buy your personal geocoin back? Or why would you offer to pay money for something you own?

 

BTW, you referenced the person receiving the personal coin as new owner. I don't see how you could own something, but that something would not belong to you?

 

However if the same code of conduct applies to coins from sales or trades is a different question, personally I think that the wishes of the creator of the personal geocoin should be respected and honored, however those wishes should be made clear before the trade is finished.

 

Well said! The word personal is being used where "activated" should probably be instead. Sadly, I think this is point where many have gotten confused and upset. Our "personal" coin has been bought, traded and bartered all over. It's still our personal coin (it was not made and sold for a company, it was made for us "personally") even if we didn't strike the mints ourselves.

 

Now if one of our coins is "activated" (whether it be our personal coin or another we have bought, bartered or traded for) and taken while being out traveling, we would definitely be a little upset. Luckily, all of our activated coins are still traveling (last one as of today) and none have been snatched so we count ourselves lucky so far.