New Geocaching store in Quebec?

[LeVillageSuisse]

Hey!

 

I'm writting on behalf of the Village Suisse in Val-David, Québec. The Village Suisse, or Swiss village is a domain of chalets for rental. However, this year it's we're opening a store for after-ski activities, selling books, eco-friendly board games and brain teasers and so on. But we also like to promote outdoor activities, and apparently there are a lot of geocaches around this area (above 500 within a 50 mile radius).

 

We were thinking about opening a section for geocaching by renting gear for instance.

 

Do you geocachers think it would be worth it? If so, what gear is worth renting (rather amateur gear -the Village Suisse being a family business, funds are kinda limited).

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and feedback.

 

Le Village Suisse

[+The red-haired witch]

Hey!

 

I'm writting on behalf of the Village Suisse in Val-David, Québec. The Village Suisse, or Swiss village is a domain of chalets for rental. However, this year it's we're opening a store for after-ski activities, selling books, eco-friendly board games and brain teasers and so on. But we also like to promote outdoor activities, and apparently there are a lot of geocaches around this area (above 500 within a 50 mile radius).

 

We were thinking about opening a section for geocaching by renting gear for instance.

 

Do you geocachers think it would be worth it? If so, what gear is worth renting (rather amateur gear -the Village Suisse being a family business, funds are kinda limited).

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and feedback.

 

Le Village Suisse

 

I could see a market for renting GPS receivers (Dakota or Magellan GC maybe, not too expensive paperless)for people who want to try geocaching, but only if you also plan to offer introductory lessons in GPS use and geocaching, as anyone who knows how to use a GPS and geocache is likely to own a GPS and not need to rent one...

 

There is not much else in the way of equipment one could rent for geocaching (bikes with GPS mounts maybe... geocaching on Le p'tit train du Nord is great).

 

I don't know of any retailer in Quebec that carries the official Groundspeak line of products though, so there could be a market for those for sure. Many people would like to be able to buy the shirts, stickers, travel bug tags, etc, in a real store rather than online. I would suggest trying to contact Groundspeak

[Andronicus]

Metal detectors. Hiking poles. You could also sell the usual log books, trackables etc.

[+power69]

Metal detectors. Hiking poles. You could also sell the usual log books, trackables etc.

I wish we had something like that. we have a REI but their geocaching section is kind of on the thin side

2 different geocoins is all they have and a few tbs[i bought all they had]

[+debaere]

Hey!

 

I'm writting on behalf of the Village Suisse in Val-David, Québec. The Village Suisse, or Swiss village is a domain of chalets for rental. However, this year it's we're opening a store for after-ski activities, selling books, eco-friendly board games and brain teasers and so on. But we also like to promote outdoor activities, and apparently there are a lot of geocaches around this area (above 500 within a 50 mile radius).

 

We were thinking about opening a section for geocaching by renting gear for instance.

 

Do you geocachers think it would be worth it? If so, what gear is worth renting (rather amateur gear -the Village Suisse being a family business, funds are kinda limited).

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and feedback.

 

Le Village Suisse

 

You may want to try something like this idea from a town in Oregon: http://thedalleschamber.com/blog/the-dalle...ocaching-sites/. The basic idea is "Complete our 12 caches and get a geocoin from the Chamber Of Commerce.

 

I recently had a chance to do the Dalles Dash and I now own a unique souvenier as a result, and I had a great time. You could do the same in your area by either placing new caches, or working with existing cache owners to give a tour of interesting places in your area, and offering a free coin if they come into your store with proof that they found all of them.

 

Note: I am not sure, being a store, if it would violate the "no commericial" rules. You should be able to do the free geocoin for completing a number of caches bit, but I don't know if you could mention "we rent GPSs if you don't have one" part. I personally don't see any issues with it as long as folks can use their own equipment to do the caches and get the prize for free, but I'd check with my reviewer before putting a lot of work into it. However if you could get it set up you would definitely increase exposure to your store, and make a cool series of caches for your area.

Edited May 19, 2010 by debaere

[+debaere]

Hey!

 

I'm writting on behalf of the Village Suisse in Val-David, Québec. The Village Suisse, or Swiss village is a domain of chalets for rental. However, this year it's we're opening a store for after-ski activities, selling books, eco-friendly board games and brain teasers and so on. But we also like to promote outdoor activities, and apparently there are a lot of geocaches around this area (above 500 within a 50 mile radius).

 

We were thinking about opening a section for geocaching by renting gear for instance.

 

Do you geocachers think it would be worth it? If so, what gear is worth renting (rather amateur gear -the Village Suisse being a family business, funds are kinda limited).

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and feedback.

 

Le Village Suisse

 

As far as which gear, you'd want something on the cheaper side, but rugged. Renters are not easy on things they rent so the likely hood of damage is high. I'd probably see if I could find some used Garmin 60CSx's on ebay and rent those.

 

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

You can also start small and only get one or two GPSs and see if you get takers. This will keep your costs down initially.

 

Personally I would buy the GPS I would want to use and rent that. This gives you the advantage that if the geocaching side of your business doesn't work out, you still have devices that you would use yourself. Think of it as a free upgrade

[+debaere]

Hey!

 

I'm writting on behalf of the Village Suisse in Val-David, Québec. The Village Suisse, or Swiss village is a domain of chalets for rental. However, this year it's we're opening a store for after-ski activities, selling books, eco-friendly board games and brain teasers and so on. But we also like to promote outdoor activities, and apparently there are a lot of geocaches around this area (above 500 within a 50 mile radius).

 

We were thinking about opening a section for geocaching by renting gear for instance.

 

Do you geocachers think it would be worth it? If so, what gear is worth renting (rather amateur gear -the Village Suisse being a family business, funds are kinda limited).

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and feedback.

 

Le Village Suisse

 

As far as which gear, you'd want something on the cheaper side, but rugged. Renters are not easy on things they rent so the likely hood of damage is high. I'd probably see if I could find some used Garmin 60CSx's on ebay and rent those.

 

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

You can also start small and only get one or two GPSs and see if you get takers. This will keep your costs down initially.

 

Personally I would buy the GPS I would want to use and rent that. This gives you the advantage that if the geocaching side of your business doesn't work out, you still have devices that you would use yourself. Think of it as a free upgrade

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

Wouldn't that be against the Terms of Agreement, to provide premium features to non-premium cachers, or to provide such information to non-cachers?

 

EDIT: Outside of the above, I think it is a GREAT idea!

Edited May 19, 2010 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+debaere]

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

Wouldn't that be against the Terms of Agreement, to provide premium features to non-premium cachers, or to provide such information to non-cachers?

 

EDIT: Outside of the above, I think it is a GREAT idea!

 

I hadn't considered that. Could they perhaps preload the GPSr with non-premium level caches? I would think the sticky point would be providing premium caches to non-premium members, not running a PQ on their behalf (really they would be completely agnostic as to how the caches are loaded - they would just be there).

 

You could also require a basic membership to geocaching.com (sign em up right in store when they rent), to cover the "don't provide info to non-cachers" bit.

 

I would highly reccomend discussing all of this with your reviewer to see if its OK or not before proceeding.

Edited May 20, 2010 by debaere

[LeVillageSuisse]

Hi! Thanks for such complete answers, we really appreciate the advice.

 

Being new to the activity (I've just recently heard of geocaching, I thought caches were public. They are owned by people/entities in charge of maintaining them, etc. ?

 

We don't mean to commercialize geocaching, we aim to promote it (as underground as it is ^^) and bring people to our store. Geocaching is a great way to discover the area, it ads up to the activities our renters (for the chalets) can do around our area.

 

Whatever we do, we aim to beginners generally. Experts know everything about geocaching already and own the gear. Geocaching would only be a section of our store so for now, what we would offer mainly is GPS rentals, maps, guides to beginners, etc. : the basic needs of a geocacher. We're still keeping in mind the idea of providing Groundspeak stuff though, if the demand presents itself.

 

Again, thank you all very much for you responses

 

Le Village Suisse

[+tekkguy]

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

Wouldn't that be against the Terms of Agreement, to provide premium features to non-premium cachers, or to provide such information to non-cachers?

 

EDIT: Outside of the above, I think it is a GREAT idea!

 

Why not rent out Geomate Jr's then?

[LeVillageSuisse]

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

Wouldn't that be against the Terms of Agreement, to provide premium features to non-premium cachers, or to provide such information to non-cachers?

 

EDIT: Outside of the above, I think it is a GREAT idea!

 

Why not rent out Geomate Jr's then?

 

Well from what I've seen the Geomate Jr will surely get the job done but it's really basic. It's advertised as a kids' GPS as well. I'm thinking most of the potential customers we would have will be 18 and above.

 

The-red-haired-witch, if we won't be giving in-depth lessons on geocaching (we're not even geocachers ourselves, we have to get started! ), we will explain the basics naturally, perhaps with a hidden cache around our area just so they get the feel of it, and we will sell starter guides/kits.

 

Debaere, I like the idea of buying and renting second hand Garmin 60CSx. They're pretty advanced though, but would you recommend that as THE ideal GPS -not basic, not expert? Or is there something in-between which is very good as well?

 

Again, thank you all for your help.

 

Le Village Suisse

[LeVillageSuisse]

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

Wouldn't that be against the Terms of Agreement, to provide premium features to non-premium cachers, or to provide such information to non-cachers?

 

EDIT: Outside of the above, I think it is a GREAT idea!

 

I hadn't considered that. Could they perhaps preload the GPSr with non-premium level caches? I would think the sticky point would be providing premium caches to non-premium members, not running a PQ on their behalf (really they would be completely agnostic as to how the caches are loaded - they would just be there).

 

You could also require a basic membership to geocaching.com (sign em up right in store when they rent), to cover the "don't provide info to non-cachers" bit.

 

I would highly reccomend discussing all of this with your reviewer to see if its OK or not before proceeding.

 

Also, I'm confused between premium/non-premium level caches, and premium/non-premium geocachers. What is this about exactly? I've browsed through the glossary, nothing's on it.

 

Thanks!

 

Le Village Suisse

[+power69]

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

Wouldn't that be against the Terms of Agreement, to provide premium features to non-premium cachers, or to provide such information to non-cachers?

 

EDIT: Outside of the above, I think it is a GREAT idea!

 

I hadn't considered that. Could they perhaps preload the GPSr with non-premium level caches? I would think the sticky point would be providing premium caches to non-premium members, not running a PQ on their behalf (really they would be completely agnostic as to how the caches are loaded - they would just be there).

 

You could also require a basic membership to geocaching.com (sign em up right in store when they rent), to cover the "don't provide info to non-cachers" bit.

 

I would highly reccomend discussing all of this with your reviewer to see if its OK or not before proceeding.

 

Also, I'm confused between premium/non-premium level caches, and premium/non-premium geocachers. What is this about exactly? I've browsed through the glossary, nothing's on it.

 

Thanks!

those that paid the money to the site.

[LeVillageSuisse]

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

Wouldn't that be against the Terms of Agreement, to provide premium features to non-premium cachers, or to provide such information to non-cachers?

 

EDIT: Outside of the above, I think it is a GREAT idea!

 

I hadn't considered that. Could they perhaps preload the GPSr with non-premium level caches? I would think the sticky point would be providing premium caches to non-premium members, not running a PQ on their behalf (really they would be completely agnostic as to how the caches are loaded - they would just be there).

 

You could also require a basic membership to geocaching.com (sign em up right in store when they rent), to cover the "don't provide info to non-cachers" bit.

 

I would highly reccomend discussing all of this with your reviewer to see if its OK or not before proceeding.

 

Also, I'm confused between premium/non-premium level caches, and premium/non-premium geocachers. What is this about exactly? I've browsed through the glossary, nothing's on it.

 

Thanks!

those that paid the money to the site.

 

Thank you, but what about premium level caches?

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

You could sweeten the deal by pre-loading the GPSs with the caches in the area (say by running a PQ with the 100 closest caches), and loading up detailed maps into it.

 

Wouldn't that be against the Terms of Agreement, to provide premium features to non-premium cachers, or to provide such information to non-cachers?

 

EDIT: Outside of the above, I think it is a GREAT idea!

 

I hadn't considered that. Could they perhaps preload the GPSr with non-premium level caches? I would think the sticky point would be providing premium caches to non-premium members, not running a PQ on their behalf (really they would be completely agnostic as to how the caches are loaded - they would just be there).

 

You could also require a basic membership to geocaching.com (sign em up right in store when they rent), to cover the "don't provide info to non-cachers" bit.

 

I would highly reccomend discussing all of this with your reviewer to see if its OK or not before proceeding.

 

Also, I'm confused between premium/non-premium level caches, and premium/non-premium geocachers. What is this about exactly? I've browsed through the glossary, nothing's on it.

 

Thanks!

those that paid the money to the site.

 

Thank you, but what about premium level caches?

Not "premium level" per se, it's called Premium Members Only cache listings, commonly called PMO.

 

When you buy a premium membership (as opposed to a free membership) you get several benefits.

 

One of them is the ability to list your caches as PMO, meaning that only members who have purchased a premium membership can see those listings online.

Edited June 1, 2010 by TheAlabamaRambler

[LeVillageSuisse]

Thanks AlabamaRambler.

 

In that case, it would be acceptable for us to only rent GPSs with non-premium level caches right? Those are open to public. As of the terms of use, we can make customers sign a paper accepting not to disclose any information to other geocachers.

 

I don't think we will rent the GPSs preloaded with all the caches inside. We'd like it to be educational, so we would show them how it works a bit, a really basic lesson.

 

Is all this acceptable?

 

Thank you all.

 

Le Village Suisse