Second in Bird Series Geocoin Dangers of Night Caching

[+roboknight]

This is the second in the series of Bird Geocoins. ( produced by Team Roboknight) The Dangers of Night Caching Geocoin.

In the front displays a European Starling singing and protecting his babies. On the back shows a cacher reaching in to try and retrieve the cache container that was so conveniently placed in a bird nest . The starling protecting his eggs surprises the cacher with a few pecks. ( this idea taken from a few true stories that have been told of night caching). The moon and geocaching symbol on the container glow-in-the-dark.

 

Specs:

1.5" coins - 3.5mm thickness - 2D/2D - soft enamel color both sides - laser engraving - antique silver finish, glow-in-the-dark features & trackable on gc.com

There will only be 50 minted to start off with unless their is a great demand for this coin.

 

The coin is still being produced and I should recieve the sample coin in a few weeks. This is a preorder and if you would like to put your name down for the coin send me an e-mail with this info and I will send an invoice once I have the coins in hand in about 3 or 4 weeks. Please e-mail orders to: robomaiden at comcast dot net

 

Cache name:

 

Real Name:

 

Address:

 

Qty:

 

Paypal address:

 

The coin will be 9.75 each, plus shipping & handling:

2.50 Canada and US

4.00 international shipping

.50 for each additional coin

 

Once again this is a preorder. I will not have the coins in hand for at least 3 or 4 weeks.. Will post an update as soon as I hear anything new.. Thanks so much!

 

Robomaiden ( Team Roboknight )

 

<FSM: Edited per the OP's request>

Edited May 17, 2007 by Flying Spaghetti Monster

[+Rockin Roddy]

Wow...just left a thread charging $5 for shipping...OUCH! I sure hope this isn't the way shipping is going...

 

Nice coin but gotta pass....too steep for my pocket!

[+S&G.Davison]

That one made me smile email sent.

 

Sue

[+nolefan9399]

Shipping is indeed going up, but not that much... I too will pass.

[+Crowesfeat30]

Wow...just left a thread charging $5 for shipping...OUCH! I sure hope this isn't the way shipping is going...

 

Nice coin but gotta pass....too steep for my pocket!

A bit over priced on the shipping. I just got back from the post office. One coin mailed in a bubble mailer to Georgia was $1.30. One coin sent in a bubble mailer to Australia - $1.80. One coin sent to The Netherlands in a bubble mailer - also $1.80. Unless you are providing insurance $4.00 shipping for one coin is way, way too much.

CF30

[+Hula Bum]

And here I've been charging less than $10 shipped, what was I thinking? Seriously though, it's going to be interesting to see if this is where the market is headed.

 

Not wild about a coin that shows a micro being put in a bird nest either.

 

Passing.

 

edit for grammer

Edited May 16, 2007 by Hula Bum

[+Marky]

There will only be 50 minted to start off with unless their is a great demand for this coin.

Minting a small number is always going to be a bit expensive, so the $9.75 price for the coin is not out of line (I checked the available price calculator and came up with around $8 per coin to mint 50). Will you drop the price if there are enough pre-orders to mint more? (For example, minting 100 dropped the per coin minting price to around $5.50)

 

Also, what is your justification for the $4 shipping & handling? Is seems uncalled for. Just because everyone else is doing it isn't a good justification to me.

 

--Marky

[+S&G.Davison]

actually I thought shipping was cheap :-) having experienced seriously overpriced international shipping in the past.

 

Some of the recent discussions about the real cost of postage have been enlightening - granted there's the cost of the packing material to add on to that.

 

Sue

[ParentsofSAM]

The shipping is a bit high....

 

I certainly hope this is not the future of shipping costs.

[+tom4props]

I've got the first coin in the series and I like this second coin too (although I've got to agree with Hula Bum about the micro in the bird nest ... not to wild about that).

The charge for the shipping seems extremely high. Postage for coins shipped in bubble mailers throughout the continental US has typically cost between $0.87 and $1.35 before the postage increase. When taking into account the small increase in postage, the cost of a bubble mailer, your time and gas, $2.00 or maybe even $2.50 seems like a more reasonable rate.

[+Rockin Roddy]

I was thinking the same thing about the bird's nest....

[+Rubiconlwb]

I'll pass as well, for all the reasons mentioned. It looks like people selling geocoins are going the way of the e-place, pay for the item then get butchered by the shipping. I've said it before and I will say it again here. Unjustified high prices will be the demise of geocoin collecting and it is not if but when.

[+Rubiconlwb]

I'll pass as well, for all the reasons mentioned. It looks like people selling geocoins are going the way of the e-place, pay for the item then get butchered by the shipping. I've said it before and I will say it again here. Unjustified high prices will be the demise of geocoin collecting and it is not if but when.

[+roboknight]

Hello everyone,

Well the cost of the shipping does include all fees and packaging material. The shipping was a mistake I usually do charge around 2.50 for the shipping for the US and Canada. International shipping flutuates from country to country usually. So the 4.00$ is for international shipping. That is how I usually charge for coins that I have sold in the past. That was my fault I should have read over my post again before logging it. I do apologize.

 

For the price of the coin. I would go down in the price of the coin if I do see that a lot of people are going to buy the coin. I was not sure if anyone would like the coin so that is why it is costing more to make the coin with die fees artist fees etc.

 

The nest idea actually came from a geocache that I saw at one time was being sold on ebay. Someone was selling a fake bird nest as a geocache. It was a micro and this coin illistrates that the bird might have thought this is a premade nest let me go ahead and use this one. The bird pecking the hand comes from some experiences that cachers have had at night caching in woods and brush and scaring a bird. The one cacher had a bird peck him on the head the other cacher had one flutter all around him.

 

So anyway The shipping was incorrect and apologize for that it will be 2.50 for the us and canada and 4.00 international as you can see the cost from my other post of coins I have had up for sale.

 

Sorry to have caused such an uproar for a typo.

 

Robomaiden ( from Team Roboknight)

Edited May 17, 2007 by roboknight

[+roboknight]

Here is the link for the geocache container . Just so you know their are caches like that out there..

http://cgi.ebay.com/Geocaching-BIRD-NEST-W...1QQcmdZViewItem

[+Rockin Roddy]

Good job Roboknight! Good luck on the sales.

 

FTR...I have found a few of these nest caches...all were empty of course, but it was also the wrong time of the year...

[+roboknight]

There will only be 50 minted to start off with unless their is a great demand for this coin.

Minting a small number is always going to be a bit expensive, so the $9.75 price for the coin is not out of line (I checked the available price calculator and came up with around $8 per coin to mint 50). Will you drop the price if there are enough pre-orders to mint more? (For example, minting 100 dropped the per coin minting price to around $5.50)

 

Also, what is your justification for the $4 shipping & handling? Is seems uncalled for. Just because everyone else is doing it isn't a good justification to me.

 

--Marky

 

1) Artwork for coins isn't free unless you are talented (we aren't), so coin calculators don't include this in the "per coin" cost.

2) Depending on who you use you get different things for different prices. CoinsandPins is actually a more expensive house (assuming you used their calculator) because after a smaller number of colors they charge per color. The people we use give you more colors for free, so our coins, depending on subject can usually be more colorful (This particular one wasn't as colorful).

3) The shipping & handling cost includes other fees incurred, typically by accepting Paypal, packaging, and a little time to actually ship it. Other people charging actual shipping lose a little money meaning they eventually won't be able to make coins. $2.50 domestic and $4.00 international usually just covers those costs. The original $4.00 domestic was unintentional. It should have read $2.50.

4) Sure minting more coins is cheaper per coin. This particular subject for us didn't merit minting several coins because some people just don't like Starlings and find them more of a nuisance bird. My wife and I happen to and so do some people overseas. So we made this one, just in smaller numbers. Demand is always a factor here. Unfortunately it is a catch-22 because smaller #s of coins mean higher prices.

5) Extra features cost money too. Trackable coins for example add an extra $1.50/coin straight to GC... We could make them untrackable, but people seem to not prefer that.

 

We'd like to be able to give away our coins for free, but if we did that, we wouldn't be able to design anymore coins. Neither would some of the other folks. There are a few people out there who have designed coins and hosed themselves in the process because they either made too many coins, didn't charge enough or didn't think it through. Coins may seem expensive, but if you got the coins you really wanted to pay for, you wouldn't get much. We try to keep our coin costs in line with actual costs and added features. If we had to live on any "extra money" we got from selling our coin designs, we'd probably starve.

 

I'm sure other people have their ideas about what you should and shouldn't charge when you design and sell coins, but many of those people have either never tried to make a coin, or only plan to make one. There are also a few really nice coins out there that aren't as expensive. Whether or not their designers can keep it that way is a question you should put to them.

 

Finally, this discussion has come up numerous times in the gc.com coin forums. While the forums should always be a place for free speech, even gc.com agrees that it isn't appropriate to come into a coin designers forum and slam prices. If you feel a coin is overpriced, don't buy it. Simple. While we would like everyone to buy our coins, we understand that not everyone CAN. We know that going in. Whether or not we are able to sell a coin to you isn't cause to "be outraged". People have different coins in their collections. That is the point of trading them. And that is how we expect some people will get our coins, through trade with others. And we encourage those that can afford an extra trading coin to buy one and pass it along for someone else. We trade some of the coins we make, but we try not to do that too often to allow other people who have purchased our coins to trade them. That is where the value comes from. If everyone could afford it, and everyone had it, it would have little value in your collection (not couting sentimental value, which you can't put a price on).

Edited May 19, 2007 by roboknight

[+roboknight]

I've got the first coin in the series and I like this second coin too (although I've got to agree with Hula Bum about the micro in the bird nest ... not to wild about that).

The charge for the shipping seems extremely high. Postage for coins shipped in bubble mailers throughout the continental US has typically cost between $0.87 and $1.35 before the postage increase. When taking into account the small increase in postage, the cost of a bubble mailer, your time and gas, $2.00 or maybe even $2.50 seems like a more reasonable rate.

 

$4.00 domestic was a mistake. It is $2.50.

[+roboknight]

Wow...just left a thread charging $5 for shipping...OUCH! I sure hope this isn't the way shipping is going...

 

Nice coin but gotta pass....too steep for my pocket!

A bit over priced on the shipping. I just got back from the post office. One coin mailed in a bubble mailer to Georgia was $1.30. One coin sent in a bubble mailer to Australia - $1.80. One coin sent to The Netherlands in a bubble mailer - also $1.80. Unless you are providing insurance $4.00 shipping for one coin is way, way too much.

CF30

 

See the post below to Marky. The $4.00 domestic was an error. It should have read $2.50.

[+tom4props]

$4.00 domestic was a mistake. It is $2.50.

Thanks Margherita & Brandon. Pre-order email has already been sent.

[+roboknight]

Here is the updated grahics for the coin there were a few changes but mostly color changes..

 

Now we are just waiting for the sample coins to come in from the mint and then the mint will produce the coins.. Thanks to all of you who have already preordered!

 

Team Roboknight

[+The Herd]

If it were accurate I'd be interested. Starlings are cavity nesters, they do not build stick/grass nests!

[+roboknight]

Update on coin:

 

The coin is at mint and I should have them in about a week or so . As soon as I get them I will invoice those who have preordered them. If anyone would like to be added to the list let me know.

 

Thanks

 

Team Roboknight

[+roboknight]

Hi,

Were it is true they do like to build in cavities they also do build in trees and use grasses and sticks.

Here is a page od types of nests and materials they use to build their nests..

 

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/starling.htm

 

"The male builds the nest from grass in a hole in a wall, tree or building, but the female lines it with feathers, wool and moss. The male may decorate the nest with leaves and petals in order to deter parasites and improve his chances of attracting a mate. "

 

Just so you know the coin is not incorrect and they do build in other places but buildings etc.

 

 

If it were accurate I'd be interested. Starlings are cavity nesters, they do not build stick/grass nests!

Edited June 5, 2007 by roboknight

[+gojimdandy]

Very Cute !! I like it !

[Pokagon Nature Center]

Hi,

Were it is true they do like to build in cavities they also do build in trees and use grasses and sticks.

Here is a page od types of nests and materials they use to build their nests..

 

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/starling.htm

 

"The male builds the nest from grass in a hole in a wall, tree or building, but the female lines it with feathers, wool and moss. The male may decorate the nest with leaves and petals in order to deter parasites and improve his chances of attracting a mate. "

 

Just so you know the coin is not incorrect and they do build in other places but buildings etc.

 

Read it again. They are cavity nesters... whether in a wall, tree or building!

I don't need the site though, take it from me, I have a degree in ornithology.

 

P.S. Off all the birds in the US, why the starling?

[+roboknight]

Hello,

 

I just happen to like starlings and I know many people dont like starlings but they are very beautiful birds. The iridescent colors and all.

 

Robomaiden

Hi,

Were it is true they do like to build in cavities they also do build in trees and use grasses and sticks.

Here is a page od types of nests and materials they use to build their nests..

 

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/starling.htm

 

"The male builds the nest from grass in a hole in a wall, tree or building, but the female lines it with feathers, wool and moss. The male may decorate the nest with leaves and petals in order to deter parasites and improve his chances of attracting a mate. "

 

Just so you know the coin is not incorrect and they do build in other places but buildings etc.

 

Read it again. They are cavity nesters... whether in a wall, tree or building!

I don't need the site though, take it from me, I have a degree in ornithology.

 

P.S. Off all the birds in the US, why the starling?

[+roboknight]

Hi Everyone Coins are in hand and those who have paid they will ship out this weekend or first of the week. If anyone else would like one of the coins please let me know ASAP not many left .. Thanks so much.. Have a great weekend!

 

Robomaiden

[delta123]

Starlings arrived savely in a OPEN envelope but both coins were inside. Pfew... am i glad