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Geocoin Question


markta

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Hello, I was wondering what the coin community thinks of this situation.

 

I had a geocoin made, I spent a long time on it (don't we all...) and it's big and epoxied on both sides and has its own icon - sorry if this sounds like it's an advertisement, I don't mean to. The point is I tried to make it NICE. I'll shut up now.

 

Whenever I give or trade this coin, I tell people DO NOT SELL it - and I include a note with the coin that says "Keep, Trade or Put in a cache, but please NEVER SELL this coin."

 

So now I see a guy is selling one on EBay! ( http://tinyurl.com/2qxt96 )

 

So my question is:

 

1. Should I activate it to punish the silly person? He even included the coin code on the scan.

2. Should I just relax because life is too short.

 

My hope was for people to enjoy finding/getting the coin, not have it be tainted by money.

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I am sure it will be difficult but I would say you should let it go. It is my personal opinion that when you give your coin away you lose ownership of that coin. It is not activated in your name and when you gave it or traded it away your intention was to lose ownership of the coin.

 

You may also want to think of the reason the person is selling the coin. That particular name does not ring a bell as one that is well known in the coin community. Perhaps they are selling it due to a financial difficulty.

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I would suggest sending that person a 'nice' e-mail. He may be unaware that the coin shouldn't be sold. He may have gotten it via a trade.

 

A nice e-mail can go a long way.

 

If he still wants to sell it then I wouldn't worry about it.

Edited by Eric K
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Definately let it go. It's very sad that the person doesn't respect the spirit of the trade as you intended it, but once you trade the coin you have to accept that it is no longer in your control. If you really wanted to limit/precent sales, then you should have activated all your coins under your name. That is no sure way to prevent this though.

 

My personal thought is that once traded, the coin is really gone from me. While I would never sell a coin that I traded with a cacher for - some folks will. There is no way to really control this.

 

I suppose you could always sell the coin they traded you as a way of protest.

 

Mostly - you should let it go. Life really is too short.

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Correct me if i'm wrong, yet this geocoin is one of the only geocoins in his (?) ebay store. This suggests to me that they may have received it via a possible bulk buy/trade of military style coins and as such may not know about your wishes.

 

I would send them a nice email explaining the situation, and probably buy it back (they sound like a quasi business in any case).....it's cheap at the moment :anibad:

 

mm

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Def. try sending an email, offer to buy it back (if it's not the original person).

 

If that doesn't work, then it falls under the "some people just suck" batch and if you kept track, black list the person you traded it to as well as the person who ebayed it. Then you let it go.

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Well, dang, Mark! That really is the pits. :wacko: I took a look at what he is selling, and yours is the only geocoin of the bunch. I don't think he really knows what it is. He makes no mention of icons, tracability, or activation status. If it were me, I'd e-mail him and explain the situation and see what he says. He just might do something about it. His rating is 100% and he may want to protect his rating from some irate cacher. :anibad: At the very least, see if he wouldn't mind obliterating the number that show in the photo.

 

In the final analysis, it is true that it is no long yours, or (at the very least) it is out of your hands. :anibad:

 

Keep us posted if you e-mail him. I'd like to know what he says.

Edited by FluteFace
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Thanks everyone for their near-unanimous suggestions. Plus, after some not-too-heavy drinking, I now am much less stressed about it.

 

And the plot thickens: After contacting the EBay seller anonymously, it appears that he inded got them directly from the mint I used in Korea and in fact he says: "Yes I bought it from Korea. I'm not sure what this coin means or where it's from. Good luck Thanks for looking. "

 

So it seems the bad guy here is: the minter in Korea. I sent the minter mail asking him to refrain from doing that.

 

It seems particularly bad because the coin has a PC code that duplicates one of my other coins.

 

Thanks again for the help and suggestions! Particularly the sleuthing by Map Monkey - many thanks.

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Thanks everyone for their near-unanimous suggestions. Plus, after some not-too-heavy drinking, I now am much less stressed about it.

 

And the plot thickens: After contacting the EBay seller anonymously, it appears that he inded got them directly from the mint I used in Korea and in fact he says: "Yes I bought it from Korea. I'm not sure what this coin means or where it's from. Good luck Thanks for looking. "

 

So it seems the bad guy here is: the minter in Korea. I sent the minter mail asking him to refrain from doing that.

 

It seems particularly bad because the coin has a PC code that duplicates one of my other coins.

 

Thanks again for the help and suggestions! Particularly the sleuthing by Map Monkey - many thanks.

Wow :blink: I wouldn't be too concerned about it being sold, rather the fact of the korean mint selling them behind your back. I can only assume this to be the case as i take it no-one would know where you necessarily had these manufactured.

 

Off topic somewhat, i would also be concerned for the other "collectables" if they aren't above board.

 

Please take your time before making any decisions on your appropriate actions, if any. Maybe talking to some "experts" offline might be in order (not me that's for sure :blink: ) about how to tackle the situation.

 

good luck

 

mm

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I do not think that once you give a coin away or trade it that you should have any control over it anymore. This is just my opinion but it is like giving someone a sweater but telling them they can never wear it. Thats rediculous! I think once you give something to someone it is there's and they can do with it what they please.

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I do not think that once you give a coin away or trade it that you should have any control over it anymore. This is just my opinion but it is like giving someone a sweater but telling them they can never wear it. Thats rediculous! I think once you give something to someone it is there's and they can do with it what they please.

Pardon me !! But I remembering GIFTING you a geocoin for your collection, you activated it , and you turned around and sold it on EBAY. What's right about that ?? Nevermind, Don't think you would get it anyway :blink:

 

To the OP Glad auction was ended it was the right thing to do !

Edited by glennk721
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Whoa!

If the mint is selling the coin - that is bad.

If the coin has a duplicate tracking number on it - that is really, really bad!

 

In fact, Groundspeak charged you for the tracking number and that tracking number is on a legit coin. So, if they are duplicating coins and tracking numbers - we are all going to suffer at some point.

 

It is great that you have resolved the problem, but we should all remember that checking out your minters before dealing with them is very important - especially if the coin is important to you.

 

We are very lucky in this hobby to have some coin manufacturers that are really, really good. My experiences with Coins and Pins and Oakcoins has been nothing short of fantastic. Landsharkz also has been very good (I have yet to mint a coin with them, but they are really decent people). I'm sure everyone has their own success stories - we need to ensure that we share success and failures with the community to prevent just this sort of thing.

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And the plot thickens: After contacting the EBay seller anonymously, it appears that he inded got them directly from the mint I used in Korea and in fact he says: "Yes I bought it from Korea. I'm not sure what this coin means or where it's from. Good luck Thanks for looking. "

 

If the mint is selling the coin - that is bad.

If the coin has a duplicate tracking number on it - that is really, really bad!

 

In fact, Groundspeak charged you for the tracking number and that tracking number is on a legit coin. So, if they are duplicating coins and tracking numbers - we are all going to suffer at some point.

 

I agree, duplicate tracking numbers etc leads to at the very least, confusion.

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I do not think that once you give a coin away or trade it that you should have any control over it anymore. This is just my opinion but it is like giving someone a sweater but telling them they can never wear it. Thats rediculous! I think once you give something to someone it is there's and they can do with it what they please.

 

In this case, the OP didn't give the coin away or sell it. The mint that the OP had their coin minted at sold it to another person without the OPer's permission. Please read the entire thread.

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I do not think that once you give a coin away or trade it that you should have any control over it anymore. This is just my opinion but it is like giving someone a sweater but telling them they can never wear it. Thats rediculous! I think once you give something to someone it is there's and they can do with it what they please.

 

Well, using the sweater analogy -- granted - if I sold you the sweater - then I agree it's yours to do with as you please - you paid for it. However, if we traded - especially if you came to me and said "I really like that sweater. Will you trade with me for this other sweater?" Then (it's only my opinion but) I feel that the spirit of the trade was broken. I mean if the only reason you asked me to trade for my sweater was so you could sell it on ebay for a profit -- is that really in the spirit of the trade? If I had known you only wanted to trade so you could sell it - I would have just kept my sweater and said "No thanks".

 

Or how about if you said to me, "I love that sweater, I wish I had one, but I can't afford to buy one." So, feeling very charitable I said, "Here, take the sweater." Then you turned right around and sold it on ebay. Was that in the spirit of my reasons for giving it to you? I mean I gave you that sweater so you could stay warm, if I had known you only wanted it to sell on ebay - I would have kept the sweater.

 

+++++++++++++++

Disclaimer --- the use of "you" in the above examples is purely hypothetical and not meant to resemble any person or persons, living or dead, real or fictitious. :D

+++++++++++++++

 

Windrose

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Hmmm.... seems that more is happening here than meets the eye.

 

and... being opinionated! Here I go!

 

If someone gives someone a gift, I always think it is just plain rude to accept it and then sell it off. Especially in the case of the gift being given with the intention that the person enjoy it. In fact, accepting a gift that you don't want (as evidenced by selling it) - is rather shallow in my opinion.

 

If someone trades you for something, then the something you traded is now theirs, and the something you got is now yours. If I trade you a coin for a coin - we each have a new coin. If I trade the bookstore $24.95 for a book - they now have $24.95 and I have a book.

 

However....

 

What are geocoins? Personally, I really do believe they are signature items that are intended to add a dimension of fun and personality to the activity we enjoy. Once I trade a coin with another cacher - the coin I have is not going anywhere. They are free to do what they want with the one I gave them. In fact, several of my coins have been placed on eBay - I simply don't mind.

 

As for my own eBay activities (I sell geocoins on eBay fairly regularly) - I only sell "commercial" coins. These would be ones that were available for sale. If I am so inclined to buy several, I do so with the intentions of:

keeping, caching, trading.

 

Sometimes I have to trade for money (via eBay) and then turn around and buy more. Trust me...add up all my eBay sales and add-up what I have spent on coins. eBay is a suppliment.

 

However, I have also recieved coins in trade and as gifts. Selling any of *these* coins would be ungrateful to say the least - and I am very, very grateful for the trades and gifts - these ones stay with me.

 

Now....why go into all this? Well....everyone is different. Choose your friends and your caching buddies wisely. You may occassionally get burnt by bad behaviour, but in the end you will have a surplus of friends and pleasant memories to offset the suffering at the hands of fools.

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I don't have time, nor do I care to keep track of any restrictions, rules, regulations, and provisions on coins that I trade for or am given. Thus I would not honor any after the fact request to "not trade or sell".

 

If stated up front I'd not do the trade.

 

That said, if it was important to me to not have my coin sold or traded I'd only give or trade it to folks who are not likely to do that and then I'd not worry about it. If I leave a coin in a cache, it's a gift. It does not come with a shrink wrap licence or a Terms of Use. It belongs 100'% to it's new owner. That's what giving is. That's what trading is.

 

If you do need to put rules and restrictions on a coin, are you really giving or trading it?

Edited by Renegade Knight
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If the minter in Korea is indeed the one selling your coin, with it's images of your design, without your permission, I ASK YOU TO OUT THEM HERE AND NOW.

 

If/when I get around to designing a coin, I would certainly NEVER consider a mint that would do that. Also, designs should be trademarked before providing them to any other party.

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If the minter in Korea is indeed the one selling your coin, with it's images of your design, without your permission, I ASK YOU TO OUT THEM HERE AND NOW.

 

If/when I get around to designing a coin, I would certainly NEVER consider a mint that would do that. Also, designs should be trademarked before providing them to any other party.

Now, I may be wrong, but it seems that this is almost a form of theft IF The Minter is selling someone else's hard work. Maybe there is "fine print" that states that they are allowed to do this. It still is Shameful!!! :D

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The coin maker was Song's Coin in Seoul S. Korea. They were at songscoin.com. No matter how you slice it, it seems what they did was wrong in my opinion. I am very satisfied with the coin, but this experience has made me decide to go with another minter for future coins.

 

Here's what the coin looks like (even more embarrassing, it has my picture on it...)

http://snipurl.com/1c7pg

 

thanks again for all your help

--Mark (of team markta)

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The coin maker was Song's Coin in Seoul S. Korea. They were at songscoin.com. No matter how you slice it, it seems what they did was wrong in my opinion. I am very satisfied with the coin, but this experience has made me decide to go with another minter for future coins.

...

 

That does go against the spirit of using a coin maker.

 

In looking into a lot of the US companies that interface with the overseas coin makers I found more than a couple of the US companies did not like doing business with the South Korean makers. They found the Chinese coin makers much more reputable. I can't point at any one company since no specific company was mentioned. However I'm glad you did.

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The coin maker was Song's Coin in Seoul S. Korea. They were at songscoin.com. No matter how you slice it, it seems what they did was wrong in my opinion. I am very satisfied with the coin, but this experience has made me decide to go with another minter for future coins.

 

I have had experience with Songs Coins. In fact, I started a coin with Mr. Song right before he took ill. This coin took 9 months to complete and I think it was all due to his ill health. Mr. Song died in the middle of this coin production and his son, Mr. Hong, took over the business.

 

As far as Mr. Hong goes I don't think he has a clue about the family business, coins, customer service or how tracking numbers work. It may be a simple case of Mr. Hong know knowing what the H-E-double hockey sticks he's doing.

 

Once Mr. Song died I cut all ties with this manufacturing company.

Edited by Shop99er
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Shop99er - just because the person in question doesn't come to these boards, please remember to keep posts within the guidelines:

Personal Attacks and Flames will not be tolerated. If you want to praise or criticize, give examples as to why it is good or bad, general attacks on a person or idea will not be tolerated.

 

I'll ask you to go back and edit your post providing examples of ..........well just examples. :P

 

- Sketti

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Note to Markta,

If you did activate this coin, and he has posted the tracking number in the photo, it will only result in bogus logs by unscrupulous people, and getting the coin locked permanently, so please do not activate it and cause that to happen.

As others have said, once that coin was given away, you could no longer control what happens to it. Yes, we can always ask "Please do not sell this coin" but we cannot control people. People are like snowflakes. No two are alike. Not even twins! Get out, go caching, enjoy yourself, and don't let it get to you.

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