+BAPMAN CREW Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 I was checking on some of my cashes today and found some plastic coins in one. They are for a website@EatStayPlay.com. It seems they want people to drop these coins in caches to advertise their website. If you drop enough of them you get a free trackable coin. I'm not yet sure how I feel about someone using my cache as an advertisement. At this point I'm not vary comfortable with it. It also seems that I heard or read that your not to use a cache to promote a business. Has anyone else seen these? Are they against GC policies? Quote Link to comment
+Bergie Bunch Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 IMHO, It is no different than dropping a business card, at least this one gets you something in the end. I have found several in my caches, I have not seen the coin yet, but, if it bothers you, take them out of your caches. Quote Link to comment
+hukilaulau Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Take them out if you want to, but really, why bother? Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 I treat them like any other trash I find in a cache. Quote Link to comment
+BAPMAN CREW Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 I'm sure a business card would bother me. In fact that would just plain piss-me-off if it had nothing to do with Geocaching. If someone wants to advertise, let them pay for a billboard. Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I'm sure a business card would bother me. In fact that would just plain piss-me-off if it had nothing to do with Geocaching. If someone wants to advertise, let them pay for a billboard. If it is a card for Joe's body and paint shop it is trash. If it is a card from Joe Cacher and his wife that's cool. Many cachers have made up "business" cards. Quote Link to comment
+FreeBird65 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I found one yesterday. The joke is that you push out 50 coins of advertising (you pay $4.50 for shipping) and then provide the GC codes of the caches you placed them in and your "free" coin is on its way. Seems like I could have just purchased a trackable coin for $4.50? Quote Link to comment
+andGuest Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I have a gallon size ziplock bag that I has about 50-60 that I have removed from caches I find them in. I hope to fill it up. Quote Link to comment
+bflentje Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I was checking on some of my cashes today and found some plastic coins in one. They are for a website@EatStayPlay.com. It seems they want people to drop these coins in caches to advertise their website. If you drop enough of them you get a free trackable coin. I'm not yet sure how I feel about someone using my cache as an advertisement. At this point I'm not vary comfortable with it. It also seems that I heard or read that your not to use a cache to promote a business. Has anyone else seen these? Are they against GC policies? OMG, stop worrying about silly things and worry about real issues like.. nails in trees, illegally placed skirt lifters, and other issues hot to the geocaching world. Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I was checking on some of my cashes today and found some plastic coins in one. They are for a website@EatStayPlay.com. It seems they want people to drop these coins in caches to advertise their website. If you drop enough of them you get a free trackable coin. I'm not yet sure how I feel about someone using my cache as an advertisement. At this point I'm not vary comfortable with it. It also seems that I heard or read that your not to use a cache to promote a business. Has anyone else seen these? Are they against GC policies? Are they against GC.com policies? Probably not. I remember the "coin quest game" started in about 2006 or so. I still occasionally see cache pages where cache owners threaten to delete logs mentioning the coin quest game. I just looked, and that game still exists, although it's basically dead. I saw a few eatstayplay.com tokens, and didn't think much of it. Then a guy (who may or may not have posted to this thread) started a thread on a local forum. Right around that time, I saw 10 of them in one cache! I thought that was rather absurd. Ultimately, I think about 10 people in my area (Western New York) distributed them, but it seems to have died out. I'm no world traveler, but I've also seen a couple tokens in Western Pa. I have checked out the website, and it's a pretty basic HTML thing. I'd say definitely a one person home operation, and most surely a Geocacher, considering this promotion. Quote Link to comment
+WRITE SHOP ROBERT Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I was checking on some of my cashes today and found some plastic coins in one. They are for a website@EatStayPlay.com. It seems they want people to drop these coins in caches to advertise their website. If you drop enough of them you get a free trackable coin. I'm not yet sure how I feel about someone using my cache as an advertisement. At this point I'm not vary comfortable with it. It also seems that I heard or read that your not to use a cache to promote a business. Has anyone else seen these? Are they against GC policies? Writing your Cache page to advertise a business is against the rules, but these tokens fall in a loophole. There is a lenghty discussion of these in the Geocoin forums. Quote Link to comment
+GrateBear Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I don't think it's worth getting your knickers in a twist over. If you don't approve of them, take them out. It's not like geocaching policies are "legal" dictates. They enforce what's placed, but beyond that, it's pretty much open. I enjoy the hunt for caches because it gets me outside, I sometimes see interesting places, and it's fun. Too many people seem to get a bit too serious about what others do. Quote Link to comment
+Bergie Bunch Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 (edited) Edited January 30, 2010 by Bergie Bunch Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I was checking on some of my cashes today and found some plastic coins in one. They are for a website@EatStayPlay.com. It seems they want people to drop these coins in caches to advertise their website. If you drop enough of them you get a free trackable coin. I'm not yet sure how I feel about someone using my cache as an advertisement. At this point I'm not vary comfortable with it. It also seems that I heard or read that your not to use a cache to promote a business. Has anyone else seen these? Are they against GC policies? Writing your Cache page to advertise a business is against the rules, but these tokens fall in a loophole. There is a lenghty discussion of these in the Geocoin forums. I should have figured that. And started in August 2009. You mean this discussion? Interesting, but not really that lively. There's quite a few coin ho's in that thread who went for it. Pretty much Eartha the Moderator says the coin design was approved by Groundspeak, but the promotion absolutely was not. Eartha seems to imply that if the whole promotion got out of hand, Groundspeak would step in. Eatstayplay also appears to be a one person home operation as I theorized, so it's not some huge corporate promotion. The username Eatstayplay has posted to that thread a couple of times. So perhaps they will get wind of this thread, and post here too. Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 TWU, I can't imagine who you are talking about that started a thread locally. I still think it is a sad thing that someone has come up with a way to spam geocaches. If the same folks sent a similar offer to our email through our profiles we would be screaming for GS to do something. I have a gallon size ziplock bag that I has about 50-60 that I have removed from caches I find them in. I hope to fill it up. What are you saving them for? Put 'em in the trash where they belong. Quote Link to comment
+goosefraba1 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I must admit.... I was one of the first to start adding these into to caches. Let the Gods forgive me... I only added about 20. Realized that the Coin that they would send was actually ugly. Then, I gave up and threw the rest of the tokens away. Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I must admit.... I was one of the first to start adding these into to caches. Let the Gods forgive me... I only added about 20. Realized that the Coin that they would send was actually ugly. Then, I gave up and threw the rest of the tokens away. I see you were the thread starter. Naw, don't worry about it. Who doesn't like free stuff? I know most of the people in my area who distributed the tokens have no regrets. I wonder if they'll post here? Ok, that is entirely too many smileys in one post. Ultimately, I think this will die out pretty fast. They should have asked permission from Groundspeak, but it sounds like it's really not that big of a deal. Quote Link to comment
+goosefraba1 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I must admit.... I was one of the first to start adding these into to caches. Let the Gods forgive me... I only added about 20. Realized that the Coin that they would send was actually ugly. Then, I gave up and threw the rest of the tokens away. I see you were the thread starter. Naw, don't worry about it. Who doesn't like free stuff? I know most of the people in my area who distributed the tokens have no regrets. I wonder if they'll post here? Ok, that is entirely too many smileys in one post. Ultimately, I think this will die out pretty fast. They should have asked permission from Groundspeak, but it sounds like it's really not that big of a deal. I love free stuff... plus I had a little less cache experience then (not that I have much now... lol). Quote Link to comment
ThomasFamily102 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 We have found swag items that have websites listed on them. Like can coozies with the name of a company or even pathtags. Pathtags say pathtags.com. Thats promoting a website also. Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I must admit.... I was one of the first to start adding these into to caches. Let the Gods forgive me... I only added about 20. Realized that the Coin that they would send was actually ugly. Then, I gave up and threw the rest of the tokens away. I see you were the thread starter. Naw, don't worry about it. Who doesn't like free stuff? I know most of the people in my area who distributed the tokens have no regrets. I wonder if they'll post here? Ok, that is entirely too many smileys in one post. Ultimately, I think this will die out pretty fast. They should have asked permission from Groundspeak, but it sounds like it's really not that big of a deal. What gives GS the authority to allow or disallow the use of our caches as an advertising medium? I still say this kind of thing is a form of spam and I will throw out any I come across. I do agree though that it probably wont last long. I just hope nobody else starts doing it. Three or four people start doing it and caches will be stuffed with add thrash. Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 We have found swag items that have websites listed on them. Like can coozies with the name of a company or even pathtags. Pathtags say pathtags.com. Thats promoting a website also. Most of those things are legit swag. A banks logo printed on a can coozie was not targeted at our caches and they have at least some useful purpose. Doesn't do to have your beer get warm. Path tags ten to have a collectible quality to them. These plastic slugs are only good for one thing, advertising. Perhaps if they had put the web addy on can coozies or golf pencils it would have been less distasteful. Quote Link to comment
+Cache O'Plenty Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 We've had these show up in a number of caches around here, mostly before Christmas. Not so much now. Not a big deal finding such swag, it's better than some of junk being placed lately. Oh, one correction to a previous post: there is no charge to the cacher to participate. There isn't a $4.50 shipping charge. The only task for the cacher is to place the coins in caches (no more than 5 coins per cache), include a statement in their found log and then submit the 10 (or so) cache ID codes so they can verify the statement. It's pretty much died out now. Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I did find 15 of them in one cache. I placed them all in the proper receptacle on my way out of the park. Quote Link to comment
ThomasFamily102 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 We have found swag items that have websites listed on them. Like can coozies with the name of a company or even pathtags. Pathtags say pathtags.com. Thats promoting a website also. Most of those things are legit swag. A banks logo printed on a can coozie was not targeted at our caches and they have at least some useful purpose. Doesn't do to have your beer get warm. Path tags ten to have a collectible quality to them. These plastic slugs are only good for one thing, advertising. Perhaps if they had put the web addy on can coozies or golf pencils it would have been less distasteful. I just don't see why it is any different than an expired coupon or one playing card that is placed in a cache Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 We have found swag items that have websites listed on them. Like can coozies with the name of a company or even pathtags. Pathtags say pathtags.com. Thats promoting a website also. Most of those things are legit swag. A banks logo printed on a can coozie was not targeted at our caches and they have at least some useful purpose. Doesn't do to have your beer get warm. Path tags ten to have a collectible quality to them. These plastic slugs are only good for one thing, advertising. Perhaps if they had put the web addy on can coozies or golf pencils it would have been less distasteful. I just don't see why it is any different than an expired coupon or one playing card that is placed in a cache In the end it isn't much different with the exception of the intent. They all end up it the trash can and I don't feel any compulsion to trade for 'em. Zero value is an even trade for noth'n. Quote Link to comment
+BAPMAN CREW Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 I agree with the reference to spam, which I consider one of the great evils in the world. Just like telemarketing. I have found cacher ID cards, like business cards and enjoy those but have not seen a real BUSINESS card in a cache. I will throw the spam coins out. Hey, maybe I just started a new phrase " Spam Coins". Hope this don't encourage more people to make them now that they have a name. Quote Link to comment
AZcachemeister Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I treat them like any other trash I find in a cache. I'm sure a business card would bother me. In fact that would just plain piss-me-off if it had nothing to do with Geocaching. If someone wants to advertise, let them pay for a billboard. I have a gallon size ziplock bag that I has about 50-60 that I have removed from caches I find them in. I hope to fill it up. They make pretty good 'giant tiddly-winks'. If snapped properly, they will go a good six feet or more! Quote Link to comment
+MallycatInk Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Check this out cool cats, here is the skinny from MallycatInk: a) the person who came up with this "free coin" idea was clever, so we can't fault him or her for the good capitalistic spirit those of you who fell for it should be smarter next time and not play into someone's entrepreneurial ploy; and you should probably not read letter "f" below c) those of you who get all "why do you care about this" should ask yourselves, "why am I spending time reading a thread that I don't care about?" and be more frugal with your free time d) those of you who collect this stuff to get it out of circulation have a fun and laudable solution, which I may adopt e) everyone should take note that, whatever the medium: letters, email, telephones, or clay tablets, people will try to get you to be their servant while you think you are getting a good deal. This one has you delivering advertisements and you don't even get minimum wage f) anyone who wants to have me work to create a task force to stop these coins, should send me $4.50 and we will actively collect, destroy, and recycle the aforementioned coins; of course, there is also a $2.95 service and handling surcharge MCI out. Quote Link to comment
+Odie442 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I myself picked up a token at an event near me and decided "Hey, why not its a free coin." I then got the 50 tokens and placed them around. I would only place 1-3 in a cache and even put them in my own on a maintence run. I got the coin very quickly and that was it. The website itself is an outdoors place that is sort of like Tripadvisor for outdoor facilities and activities. The person who owns it is also a geocacher so don't fault them for trying to add to the game. I have since gotten a 2nd coin that another cacher sent to me. You do get a special icon for finding the coins. My daughter uses the one token I got from the event as a POG slammer, so they are also good for something. Odie Quote Link to comment
+secretagentbill Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I am going to get some! And then I will leave in every cache an Eat Stay Play token, a golf ball, a religious pamphlet, a happy meal toy, a bottle cap, and random loose change. Then everybody will be happy. Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I am going to get some! And then I will leave in every cache an Eat Stay Play token, a golf ball, a religious pamphlet, a happy meal toy, a bottle cap, and random loose change. Then everybody will be happy. That should be a broken McToy. Sheesh! Still a rookie. Quote Link to comment
+secretagentbill Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Yep. haha Quote Link to comment
+fritts22 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Found a EATSTAYPLAY.com coin today and took it only to investigate what it was. Nope, not going to participate in their ruse. On the other hand, twice I've come across caches out of paper and used the only paper available (a business card) to supplement the log, scribbling my GEO-name in the back and assuming others would as well. I'm sorry if that ticked people off but I was just trying to continue the log, not advertize....which makes sense as the log stays in the cache and is then retained by the maintainer. Would be just about the worst advertizing possible! Now I carry extra logs but as a newbie I didn't think to do that! Quote Link to comment
+Shaved Ewok Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Found a EATSTAYPLAY.com coin today and took it only to investigate what it was. Nope, not going to participate in their ruse. On the other hand, twice I've come across caches out of paper and used the only paper available (a business card) to supplement the log, scribbling my GEO-name in the back and assuming others would as well. I'm sorry if that ticked people off but I was just trying to continue the log, not advertize....which makes sense as the log stays in the cache and is then retained by the maintainer. Would be just about the worst advertizing possible! Now I carry extra logs but as a newbie I didn't think to do that! Not to worry that promotion ended several years ago. Those plastic coins are actually getting kinda rare these days, which is a shame as they make great free shooting targets. Quote Link to comment
AZcachemeister Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Found a EATSTAYPLAY.com coin today and took it only to investigate what it was. Nope, not going to participate in their ruse. On the other hand, twice I've come across caches out of paper and used the only paper available (a business card) to supplement the log, scribbling my GEO-name in the back and assuming others would as well. I'm sorry if that ticked people off but I was just trying to continue the log, not advertize....which makes sense as the log stays in the cache and is then retained by the maintainer. Would be just about the worst advertizing possible! Now I carry extra logs but as a newbie I didn't think to do that! Not to worry that promotion ended several years ago. Those plastic coins are actually getting kinda rare these days, which is a shame as they make great free shooting targets. I sand off the original printing and make TUITs out of them. Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Found a EATSTAYPLAY.com coin today and took it only to investigate what it was. Nope, not going to participate in their ruse. On the other hand, twice I've come across caches out of paper and used the only paper available (a business card) to supplement the log, scribbling my GEO-name in the back and assuming others would as well. I'm sorry if that ticked people off but I was just trying to continue the log, not advertize....which makes sense as the log stays in the cache and is then retained by the maintainer. Would be just about the worst advertizing possible! Now I carry extra logs but as a newbie I didn't think to do that! Not to worry that promotion ended several years ago. Those plastic coins are actually getting kinda rare these days, which is a shame as they make great free shooting targets. Sorry, I don't have any great stories of what to do with them, and I do have a couple in my desk at work of all places. I must have been lunch hour caching. Yes, the promotion is long since ended, and it was unauthorized, and the owner of the website got a very mild slap on the wrist from Groundspeak. No big deal at all. Isn't the URL given on the plastic coin a dead link on her website anyways? Quote Link to comment
+Shaved Ewok Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Found a EATSTAYPLAY.com coin today and took it only to investigate what it was. Nope, not going to participate in their ruse. On the other hand, twice I've come across caches out of paper and used the only paper available (a business card) to supplement the log, scribbling my GEO-name in the back and assuming others would as well. I'm sorry if that ticked people off but I was just trying to continue the log, not advertize....which makes sense as the log stays in the cache and is then retained by the maintainer. Would be just about the worst advertizing possible! Now I carry extra logs but as a newbie I didn't think to do that! Not to worry that promotion ended several years ago. Those plastic coins are actually getting kinda rare these days, which is a shame as they make great free shooting targets. Sorry, I don't have any great stories of what to do with them, and I do have a couple in my desk at work of all places. I must have been lunch hour caching. Yes, the promotion is long since ended, and it was unauthorized, and the owner of the website got a very mild slap on the wrist from Groundspeak. No big deal at all. Isn't the URL given on the plastic coin a dead link on her website anyways? Last I checked it still took you to her website where she is running some other promotion involving campground reports and free coins. Tried doing it myself but never got anything for my effort. Quote Link to comment
+SwineFlew Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Found a EATSTAYPLAY.com coin today and took it only to investigate what it was. Nope, not going to participate in their ruse. On the other hand, twice I've come across caches out of paper and used the only paper available (a business card) to supplement the log, scribbling my GEO-name in the back and assuming others would as well. I'm sorry if that ticked people off but I was just trying to continue the log, not advertize....which makes sense as the log stays in the cache and is then retained by the maintainer. Would be just about the worst advertizing possible! Now I carry extra logs but as a newbie I didn't think to do that! Not to worry that promotion ended several years ago. Those plastic coins are actually getting kinda rare these days, which is a shame as they make great free shooting targets. Thats what I did. U got anymore that I can shoot up? Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Found a EATSTAYPLAY.com coin today and took it only to investigate what it was. Nope, not going to participate in their ruse. On the other hand, twice I've come across caches out of paper and used the only paper available (a business card) to supplement the log, scribbling my GEO-name in the back and assuming others would as well. I'm sorry if that ticked people off but I was just trying to continue the log, not advertize....which makes sense as the log stays in the cache and is then retained by the maintainer. Would be just about the worst advertizing possible! Now I carry extra logs but as a newbie I didn't think to do that! Not to worry that promotion ended several years ago. Those plastic coins are actually getting kinda rare these days, which is a shame as they make great free shooting targets. Sorry, I don't have any great stories of what to do with them, and I do have a couple in my desk at work of all places. I must have been lunch hour caching. Yes, the promotion is long since ended, and it was unauthorized, and the owner of the website got a very mild slap on the wrist from Groundspeak. No big deal at all. Isn't the URL given on the plastic coin a dead link on her website anyways? Last I checked it still took you to her website where she is running some other promotion involving campground reports and free coins. Tried doing it myself but never got anything for my effort. My bad, it's still there for helping with "reports" to help her complete the website. Doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon. Her blogging and Newsletters are somewhat erratic also. Hey, people get busy, it happens. Quote Link to comment
+UMainah Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I wonder how large of an investment it took to make all the plastic coins and trackable geocoins and if the return was actually worth it? Quote Link to comment
+Ericles Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 The coins are still out there in older caches. I found a few yesterday in New Jersey. The website has since gone white. Not dark... just a white page with no content. No posts on the business blog since 2011 and none on her personal blog since 2013. I took out one of the coins and will drop it in another old cache just for the memories. 1 Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 21 hours ago, Ericles said: The coins are still out there in older caches. What?! You mean @MallycatInk's task force hasn't eradicated them all? Quote Link to comment
neepers Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 I found one of the eatstayplay coin, its says a free trackable geocoin to visit and well it leads me to this thread :). confused on this.I have a pink one. Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 It's been a while since I've seen either one of those coins, or this particular thread. Lots of names I haven't seen in a while. Quote Link to comment
+fuzziebear3 Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 Oh boy, those are from a long time ago. I dont think that business exists anymore. Quote Link to comment
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