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make your own travel bug?


BDSmileys

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Okay - I know this has been covered somewhere - but I want an oppinion.

 

I am planning on giving awards at an event. I really wanted to do trackable medals, but I couldnt find anything I like on multiple websites. I did find some engravable medals on a diferent site that match my needs, however they don't have tracking codes. My idea was to purchase some cheap trackables and engrave the trackable number from those over to the medals (along with the receipients geoname, and the words "trackable on geocaching.com"). After reading here I am thinging just buying a handful of TravelBug tags is the best bet. (I was orginally going to wo with Geo-Nick Sticks, since they are real cheap - but I don't want the icon to conflict with the trackable when it is discovered

 

My questions are as follows:

A) Is this acceptable as far as the rules are concerned, or am I violating the rules by not using a Groundspeak approved design?

B) Is this 'classy' - or, more specifically - would you be okay with logging 'discover it' logs for this?

 

I am only making 3 or 4 of these, so purchasing JUST codes at a minimum of 50 codes is really not cost-efective. Thoughts, suggestions?

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Okay - I know this has been covered somewhere - but I want an oppinion.

 

I am planning on giving awards at an event. I really wanted to do trackable medals, but I couldnt find anything I like on multiple websites. I did find some engravable medals on a diferent site that match my needs, however they don't have tracking codes. My idea was to purchase some cheap trackables and engrave the trackable number from those over to the medals (along with the receipients geoname, and the words "trackable on geocaching.com"). After reading here I am thinging just buying a handful of TravelBug tags is the best bet. (I was orginally going to wo with Geo-Nick Sticks, since they are real cheap - but I don't want the icon to conflict with the trackable when it is discovered

 

My questions are as follows:

A) Is this acceptable as far as the rules are concerned, or am I violating the rules by not using a Groundspeak approved design?

B) Is this 'classy' - or, more specifically - would you be okay with logging 'discover it' logs for this?

 

I am only making 3 or 4 of these, so purchasing JUST codes at a minimum of 50 codes is really not cost-efective. Thoughts, suggestions?

 

As far as I can see that is fine, Groundspeak have the money, you own the code so you can do what you like with it!

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Okay - I know this has been covered somewhere - but I want an oppinion.

 

I am planning on giving awards at an event. I really wanted to do trackable medals, but I couldnt find anything I like on multiple websites. I did find some engravable medals on a diferent site that match my needs, however they don't have tracking codes. My idea was to purchase some cheap trackables and engrave the trackable number from those over to the medals (along with the receipients geoname, and the words "trackable on geocaching.com"). After reading here I am thinging just buying a handful of TravelBug tags is the best bet. (I was orginally going to wo with Geo-Nick Sticks, since they are real cheap - but I don't want the icon to conflict with the trackable when it is discovered

 

My questions are as follows:

A) Is this acceptable as far as the rules are concerned, or am I violating the rules by not using a Groundspeak approved design?

B) Is this 'classy' - or, more specifically - would you be okay with logging 'discover it' logs for this?

 

I am only making 3 or 4 of these, so purchasing JUST codes at a minimum of 50 codes is really not cost-efective. Thoughts, suggestions?

 

As far as I can see that is fine, Groundspeak have the money, you own the code so you can do what you like with it.

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I THINK I'm beginning to understand something that I initially may have misunderstood. But I haven't found it expressed explicitly anywhere, so could someone either confirm or deny this (below) unequivocally?

 

I had gotten the impression from the geocoin policy that I could buy a minimum of 50 trackable codes and then use them on whatever trackable items I wanted to. But in reading through this thread and the geocoin policy, I am beginning to get the impression that the $1.50 each for a minimum of 50 codes is ONLY an option if I'm buying at least 50 geocoins, of a single, pre-approved design, and I have to have a purchase commitment with the coin manufacturer to be able to buy the codes this way. Is this correct?

 

I'm hoping to create and release more than 20 TBs, each with a unique mission and a unique corresponding figure attached, so if I could buy trackable codes at $1.50 each, I'd rather buy 50 codes than 20+ dog tags. But it looks like my only viable option may be to buy the 20+ dog tags instead, unless I can find some "clearance" geocoins for sale at less than $4.25 each.

Edited by beauxeault
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I THINK I'm beginning to understand something that I initially may have misunderstood. But I haven't found it expressed explicitly anywhere, so could someone either confirm or deny this (below) unequivocally?

 

I had gotten the impression from the geocoin policy that I could buy a minimum of 50 trackable codes and then use them on whatever trackable items I wanted to. But in reading through this thread and the geocoin policy, I am beginning to get the impression that the $1.50 each for a minimum of 50 codes is ONLY an option if I'm buying at least 50 geocoins, of a single, pre-approved design, and I have to have a purchase commitment with the coin manufacturer to be able to buy the codes this way. Is this correct?

 

I'm hoping to create and release more than 20 TBs, each with a unique mission and a unique corresponding figure attached, so if I could buy trackable codes at $1.50 each, I'd rather buy 50 codes than 20+ dog tags. But it looks like my only viable option may be to buy the 20+ dog tags instead, unless I can find some "clearance" geocoins for sale at less than $4.25 each.

 

The support pages for trackables (https://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.printer.friendly&id=10#c68) seems to say that you can mint your own trackables, but you still need them to approve the design and order before you can get the codes to use. Since the policy is primarily aimed at resellers and special events who want to produce collectible coins, I'm not surprised there is a bit of confusion here.

 

I've been kicking around an idea (half experiment, half game) for a series of trackables that I'd want to "mint" myself as well, and am curious about how the policy would apply to TBs vs Coins. I'm tempted to just submit my rough design/plan for a tentative query as a way of providing some clarity. But my plans would probably not be an ideal example of what you want to do.

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I'm hoping to create and release more than 20 TBs, each with a unique mission and a unique corresponding figure attached, so if I could buy trackable codes at $1.50 each, I'd rather buy 50 codes than 20+ dog tags. But it looks like my only viable option may be to buy the 20+ dog tags instead, unless I can find some "clearance" geocoins for sale at less than $4.25 each.

One value of an official "Travel Bug" tag is it's instantly identifiable as a Travel Bug. A hand-made item (with the Tracking number written on it or whatever) will cause confusion.

 

I'm not suggesting that there's any difference in the life span of either style of Trackable :ph34r:. But when people visit this Forum and the question starts with "I found a thing that might be Trackable, what is it!", you know it may be difficult to answer. If it had a securely attached "The Travel Bug" tag (yes, or a discount Geocoin), that's simple.

 

Just a consideration.

Edited by kunarion
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One value of an official "Travel Bug" tag is it's instantly identifiable as a Travel Bug. A hand-made item (with the Tracking number written on it or whatever) will cause confusion.

 

I'm not suggesting that there's any difference in the life span of either style of Trackable :ph34r:. But when people visit this Forum and the question starts with "I found a thing that might be Trackable, what is it!", you know it may be difficult to answer. If it had a securely attached "The Travel Bug" tag (yes, or a discount Geocoin), that's simple.

 

Just a consideration.

 

And that's definitely something to keep in mind. If anything, it's pretty clear that whatever trackable you send out, it should be as self-explaining as possible, which the tags help with. But then folks are adding in laminated cards with the goal of the trackable as well, just so cachers know what is being asked of them without having to visit the website first after they've picked up the trackable.

 

It seems like there might be an interesting space to play here and experiment with the game aspect of things. And I'd certainly be willing to experiment with it (and deal with the losses), but having to buy tags in bulk in order to cull the codes is messy (and adds to the expense) in this case when the important text from the tags will wind up in the final item, and the goal with the final item is to make them ridiculously easy to move, but interesting to find. I could always prototype 4-5 items and just see what happens, which I might wind up doing. Especially if REI still carries TBs.

Edited by Kolenka
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I'm hoping to create and release more than 20 TBs, each with a unique mission and a unique corresponding figure attached, so if I could buy trackable codes at $1.50 each, I'd rather buy 50 codes than 20+ dog tags. But it looks like my only viable option may be to buy the 20+ dog tags instead, unless I can find some "clearance" geocoins for sale at less than $4.25 each.

One value of an official "Travel Bug" tag is it's instantly identifiable as a Travel Bug. A hand-made item (with the Tracking number written on it or whatever) will cause confusion.

 

I'm not suggesting that there's any difference in the life span of either style of Trackable :ph34r:. But when people visit this Forum and the question starts with "I found a thing that might be Trackable, what is it!", you know it may be difficult to answer. If it had a securely attached "The Travel Bug" tag (yes, or a discount Geocoin), that's simple.

 

Just a consideration.

 

That IS a good point, and it's the main reason I opted with Groundspeak TBs at $4.25 each, rather than pursuing any possibility of 50 codes at $1.50, or any of the other options.

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I've actually had very good luck with SwagTags from swagtags.etsy.com They come with a label on which you can put your own tracking info so you can track it however you want through an email account, a blog, or whatever. I've heard back from more of these than I have from TBs.

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I've actually had very good luck with SwagTags from swagtags.etsy.com They come with a label on which you can put your own tracking info so you can track it however you want through an email account, a blog, or whatever. I've heard back from more of these than I have from TBs.

You use cardboard "shipping labels"? How long have yours been in play?

 

I have seen email style "tracked" card once in a cache. It was cardboard, a handcrafted card. The cache container was dry inside.

Edited by kunarion
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I've actually had very good luck with SwagTags from swagtags.etsy.com They come with a label on which you can put your own tracking info so you can track it however you want through an email account, a blog, or whatever. I've heard back from more of these than I have from TBs.

Hmmm, interesting. I have 6,000+ sheets of shrinky dink paper (long story), and aside from sig tags or coin proxies haven't thought of what to do with it all. I might have to send out a couple of "track by emailing me" tags and see what happens.

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I've actually had very good luck with SwagTags from swagtags.etsy.com They come with a label on which you can put your own tracking info so you can track it however you want through an email account, a blog, or whatever. I've heard back from more of these than I have from TBs.

Hmmm, interesting. I have 6,000+ sheets of shrinky dink paper (long story), and aside from sig tags or coin proxies haven't thought of what to do with it all. I might have to send out a couple of "track by emailing me" tags and see what happens.

The referenced "etsy" item "tags" (the part where you are to write the contact information for "tracking") are cardboard. The surprise to me is that cardboard was said to be better than TBs for getting communication about discoveries/moves. The "shrinky dink" attachment is probably not too bad.

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I've actually had very good luck with SwagTags from swagtags.etsy.com They come with a label on which you can put your own tracking info so you can track it however you want through an email account, a blog, or whatever. I've heard back from more of these than I have from TBs.

You use cardboard "shipping labels"? How long have yours been in play?

 

I have seen email style "tracked" card once in a cache. It was cardboard, a handcrafted card. The cache container was dry inside.

 

I've been using them for a couple of years and have had them go from Missouri to Minnesota, Texas and Louisiana. One happened to follow me out to Wyoming once!

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I've actually had very good luck with SwagTags from swagtags.etsy.com They come with a label on which you can put your own tracking info so you can track it however you want through an email account, a blog, or whatever. I've heard back from more of these than I have from TBs.

Hmmm, interesting. I have 6,000+ sheets of shrinky dink paper (long story), and aside from sig tags or coin proxies haven't thought of what to do with it all. I might have to send out a couple of "track by emailing me" tags and see what happens.

The referenced "etsy" item "tags" (the part where you are to write the contact information for "tracking") are cardboard. The surprise to me is that cardboard was said to be better than TBs for getting communication about discoveries/moves. The "shrinky dink" attachment is probably not too bad.

 

I think the ease of the attached tag on these is that the finder instantly sees what he/she is supposed to do with the trackable...no mystery website to navigate.

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The referenced "etsy" item "tags" (the part where you are to write the contact information for "tracking") are cardboard. The surprise to me is that cardboard was said to be better than TBs for getting communication about discoveries/moves. The "shrinky dink" attachment is probably not too bad.

 

Oh. Surprised that holds up. I could see a tag like a TB made of shrinky dink lasting a good while. I've used a regular old computer printer with my sig tags, and they're really durable.

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