Make Your Own Travel Bugs

February 22, 2011

I was wondering if a Travel Bug or trackable item had to be something bought from an approved Geocaching supplier or if you could apply for or get a tracking code somewhere and add it to an item of your choice. Id really like to make a LEGO minifigure a trackable item so i could track it around the country. Does anyone know if this is possible?

22k · February 22, 2011

To have a traveler tracked at this site you need to purchase a gc.com tracking number. At this time you cannot buy just the number, it will include a tag, but you can put the number on your own item. (You cannot release multiple bugs into the wild with the same tracking number)

There are other sites that distribute tracking numbers but you would only be able to track them there, and not through caches. If you release an off-site traveler into a cache, people usually are not willing to sign into another to site to log them and the traveler tends to get lost easily.

Edited February 22, 2011 by BlueDeuce

6k · February 22, 2011

Nicely said young man. I for one never touch travelers that aren't from the froggie.

February 22, 2011

I just think its a shame you cant just get a GC.COM tracking number without buying a TB

8.6k · February 22, 2011

One other point to consider...

It can be confusing to many to see what you may refer to as a Travel Bug, but if it does not have the readily identifiable tag indicating such, it may well put your TB into the same boat that BD described earlier.

It is the tag that is the most recognizable identifier.

Some may know and understand, but (guessing) most will be confused.

--------------

That being said -- you aren't buying a tag, you are buying the number (and its' website support system), the tags are merely provided to you as that recognizable icon described.

6k · February 23, 2011

I just think its a shame you cant just get a GC.COM tracking number without buying a TB

By get to you mean for free?????

February 24, 2011

I just think its a shame you cant just get a GC.COM tracking number without buying a TB

By get to you mean for free?????

Why not? There would be a lot more TB's in circulation if we were able to put a tracking number on a item we want to send traveling. The cost of a TB is way over inflated. They should be .99 plus shipping. Not $4.25 plus shipping! Let's talk about the record/cd music industry. They now allow us to buy songs for .99 when we download them. So, why can't Groundspeak allow us to buy a tracking number without the expensive tags. I am sure that many of us could etch these numbers on a myriad of items that we could send traveling around the world.

6k · February 24, 2011

I just think its a shame you cant just get a GC.COM tracking number without buying a TB

By get to you mean for free?????

Why not? There would be a lot more TB's in circulation if we were able to put a tracking number on a item we want to send traveling. The cost of a TB is way over inflated. They should be .99 plus shipping. Not $4.25 plus shipping! Let's talk about the record/cd music industry. They now allow us to buy songs for .99 when we download them. So, why can't Groundspeak allow us to buy a tracking number without the expensive tags. I am sure that many of us could etch these numbers on a myriad of items that we could send traveling around the world.

Your analogy is flawed. If the record company allowed you to buy a song for 99 cents and then let you log on every time you moved it somewhere and record that for the world to see and kept stats on its movement you might have a valid argument. But then if they did that they would charge more. The money goes to support the forggie website without which there would be no reason to have a TB.

February 24, 2011

I just think its a shame you cant just get a GC.COM tracking number without buying a TB

By get to you mean for free?????

Why not? There would be a lot more TB's in circulation if we were able to put a tracking number on a item we want to send traveling. The cost of a TB is way over inflated. They should be .99 plus shipping. Not $4.25 plus shipping! Let's talk about the record/cd music industry. They now allow us to buy songs for .99 when we download them. So, why can't Groundspeak allow us to buy a tracking number without the expensive tags. I am sure that many of us could etch these numbers on a myriad of items that we could send traveling around the world.

Your analogy is flawed. If the record company allowed you to buy a song for 99 cents and then let you log on every time you moved it somewhere and record that for the world to see and kept stats on its movement you might have a valid argument. But then if they did that they would charge more. The money goes to support the forggie website without which there would be no reason to have a TB.

Surely the website gets enough revenue from membership fees and sponsorship money. I own a website myself and am able to run it without financial backing. I understand a website of this scale needs some money thrown at it, but once a system like the TB tracking system is up and running, it would take very little money to keep it going. I’m not suggesting they hand out TB tracking numbers free of charge, but just a nominal fee for a number which costs nothing to generate, isn't much to ask, is it?

For arguments sake, a tracking number would cost no more than 1c to generate, sell them for $1 and that’s 9,999% profit. If a TB costs $1 to produce and is sold for $5, that’s only 400% profit. There’s a lot more profit to be made by selling the tracking numbers on their own rather than the complete TB. I guessing more people would buy just the number than the whole TB, so potentially there’s more money to be made by selling the tracking numbers separate to the TBs.

But that's only my view!

6k · February 24, 2011

You make some false assumptions about sales price.

I can't remember the name of it from business classes so long ago but you draw a graph with rising prices matched against descending volume of sales. Where the two lines cross is your optimal price for maximum profit and that is where you price the object. The cost of production, advertising, overhead is not part of that equation. You do check that point against operating expenses to see if it is profitable. Even thought the percentage of profit is much higher would the lower sales price generate the quantum leap in sales that would be necessary to get the same monetary profit. I wouldn't think so.

Let's remember that Jeremy was in a business before he started this one.

To keep it short the price of an object is what the market will pay.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Walts Hunting

8.6k · February 24, 2011

The argument of cost really is an aside (IMHO)...

For the setup and support of an activity that so many enjoy (I must say, for next to nothing), what is point?

Groundspeak is a business; geocaching (as we know and use it) is an arm/part of that business. The costs to you or I for the services they provide is minuscule when you compare it to just about any other type of activity -- especially one related to recreation.

Sorry, I just do not grasp where the argument exists.

February 25, 2011

Obviously, there is "cost" for generating the number, and supporting not just the server, but the staff infrastructure needed to maintain the site. TB is just one revenue stream.

The OP was referring to the cost of the TB# and his comparison to the music industry is a valid one when looking at the business model. Look at the success of I-Tunes versus the CD stores. Where I am at, the brick-n-mortar store was crushed by the internet store.

Now, compare the cost of the TB against the cost of a coin. The tracking number for a coin is 1.50. But to get the same "number", someone has to pay 4.50 to get that same number on a tag.

Now look at the Geocoin... because of the cost, and the increasing number of muggle/noob/thieves, less and less coins are put into play. Sure, 4.50 is a lot less than 10-15$ for a coin, but what if the TB# was sold "as is"? (now, maybe buying a single TB number would be too cumbersome, but what if you could buy a smaller block? Coins have a minimum, what if Groundspeak sold TBs in smaller blocks as well? Say 20 #s for $30?)

The previous poster who stated there would be an increase in the number of TB # sold if the price was reduced is correct. Volume sales is what allowed WalMart to outpace Sears and JC Penny. And where are those stores today? They are no longer the economic giants they were 40 years ago.

Personally, I would favor that which not only lowers the economic cost, but increases the number of TBs out in the wild.

March 1, 2011

I just think its a shame you cant just get a GC.COM tracking number without buying a TB

By get to you mean for free?????

Why not? There would be a lot more TB's in circulation if we were able to put a tracking number on a item we want to send traveling. The cost of a TB is way over inflated. They should be .99 plus shipping. Not $4.25 plus shipping! Let's talk about the record/cd music industry. They now allow us to buy songs for .99 when we download them. So, why can't Groundspeak allow us to buy a tracking number without the expensive tags. I am sure that many of us could etch these numbers on a myriad of items that we could send traveling around the world.

I don't think this is a good idea. Imagine how hard it would be to figure out if an item in a cache were a TB without a tag? You would have to scrutinize every HotWheels car and stuffed toy in a cache to see if anyone had scribbled a tracking code on them. No thanks. (I suppose people can do this now, but since they get an aluminum tag, most attach the tag to the traveller.)

On the other hand, I do wish that the price for TB Tags were lower.

3.3k · March 2, 2011

After one of my TB went AWOL, I made a wooden nickle using the tracking number. I just reliesed it, and no one has found the cache since, so not sure how it will work out.

Sorry, no pics (forgot to get a pic I guess). But I included the works "Trackable On Geocaching.com" on the wooden nickle, and the tracking number.

March 3, 2011

After one of my TB went AWOL, I made a wooden nickle using the tracking number. I just reliesed it, and no one has found the cache since, so not sure how it will work out.

Sorry, no pics (forgot to get a pic I guess). But I included the works "Trackable On Geocaching.com" on the wooden nickle, and the tracking number.

So all the logs for your wooden nickel will be on the page of your former TB? How do you like that? Just wondering.

March 3, 2011

I just think its a shame you cant just get a GC.COM tracking number without buying a TB

By get to you mean for free?????

Why not? There would be a lot more TB's in circulation if we were able to put a tracking number on a item we want to send traveling. The cost of a TB is way over inflated. They should be .99 plus shipping. Not $4.25 plus shipping! Let's talk about the record/cd music industry. They now allow us to buy songs for .99 when we download them. So, why can't Groundspeak allow us to buy a tracking number without the expensive tags. I am sure that many of us could etch these numbers on a myriad of items that we could send traveling around the world.

Your analogy is flawed. If the record company allowed you to buy a song for 99 cents and then let you log on every time you moved it somewhere and record that for the world to see and kept stats on its movement you might have a valid argument. But then if they did that they would charge more. The money goes to support the forggie website without which there would be no reason to have a TB.

Surely the website gets enough revenue from membership fees and sponsorship money. I own a website myself and am able to run it without financial backing. I understand a website of this scale needs some money thrown at it, but once a system like the TB tracking system is up and running, it would take very little money to keep it going. I’m not suggesting they hand out TB tracking numbers free of charge, but just a nominal fee for a number which costs nothing to generate, isn't much to ask, is it?

For arguments sake, a tracking number would cost no more than 1c to generate, sell them for $1 and that’s 9,999% profit. If a TB costs $1 to produce and is sold for $5, that’s only 400% profit. There’s a lot more profit to be made by selling the tracking numbers on their own rather than the complete TB. I guessing more people would buy just the number than the whole TB, so potentially there’s more money to be made by selling the tracking numbers separate to the TBs.

But that's only my view!

I tend to agree with another poster on this, that the current price is what the market will bear. Groundspeak doesn't have a patent or monopoly on these things - anyone is free to set up their own TB and track it on their own site.

I believe that caches are allowed to be logged for free for two reasons:

1. They are for the benefit of seekers

2. They are at the core of geocaching - no caches, no geocaching.

TBs, on the other hand, are primarily for the benefit of the TB owner, and are not core to geocaching. And for these reasons, I'm not sure that a proliferation of TBs would be a good thing - I dislike the concept of finding a cache that contains 18 TBs - I now have to choose - do I want to carry all this away and bring to other caches? And log it all? Probably not, and I kind of like TBs. And that's why (I believe) there's such a thing as "too many".

The price, if you wished to buy many trackables, can get outrageous quickly - but that is the point. The price for one (or four, or 10) is well within the reach of anyone with internet access. That doesn't mean it is appropriate to make the price for 100 within reach for most.

I've posted elsewhere my thoughts on how the tracking of the TBs could be improved, but all the while I'm thinking of limited TBs and only those sanctioned by Groundspeak. Open access as proposed heere could make a currently less-than-ideal TB tracking situation much worse, and ultimately have a negative impact on geocaching overall.

8.8k · March 3, 2011

I just think its a shame you cant just get a GC.COM tracking number without buying a TB

You're not just buying the tag. You're buying the ability to set up the traveler page and track it on this website. You get to use the services of geocaching.com, while supporting the site.

Edit to add: when the mosquitos and gnats and flies are buzzing around my ears, I'm not going to be spending time looking at every item in the cache to see if someone scrawled a tracking number on it. If the cost is too high for you, then please don't go over your budget. I think it's a fair price for the tag, and the services provided with it.

Edited March 3, 2011 by Eartha

March 6, 2011

A TB is more than just the number associated with it. The tag is a common thread that tells me that the particular item is a game piece and not just some beat-up golf ball or movie ticket stub. The tag tells folks how to use the game piece.

If you could buy a TB number without the tags, nobody would identify their TB items the same way. Some folks would make their own tags, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. But some folks would scrawl the tracking number directly onto the item with a dremel tool...with varying levels of readability. Some folks would write the number on with a sharpie or some other writing utensil that will wear off over time rendering the item untrackable and unidentifiable.

No thanks. I'll gladly pay $5 for a set of tags...assuming people actually move the TB. Nowadays, meh. I enjoy moving them myself, but there's a big disincentive for me to release more of my own into the wild. Not a single one of mine has been logged within the past year.

March 9, 2011

I actually ran into one of these geocoins that was not from Groundspeak today. It annoyed me when I had to log into another site that wouldn't track it through the official site. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the coin wasn't actually a trackable. It was a collectible that the owner paid to pass on. This is actually a really cool thing to do that doesn't go against Groundspeak. I agree that actual travel bugs are bad from other sites, but collectibles are a positive thing as long as they are differentiated. It added to my great day seeing one that I liked that I could actually keep.

Edited March 9, 2011 by geomantis33

March 10, 2011

No thanks. I'll gladly pay $5 for a set of tags...assuming people actually move the TB. Nowadays, meh. I enjoy moving them myself, but there's a big disincentive for me to release more of my own into the wild. Not a single one of mine has been logged within the past year.

That sucks.

I just released my first TB and within 3 days it went from the east coast to the west coast. In the two weeks total it has been in the wild, it has been in 12 other caches. The item is just a bolt with a few washers and a nut on it, so no big expense or emotional attachment. At this point, I'm already happy with it and if it went missing tomorrow I'd be still consider the experience a positive one.

March 10, 2011

I would gladly pay $1 just to get the code. I want to make my own travel bugs by etching into copper or casting my own coins. I don't think the codes should be free, but they should be available for people who want to make thier own items.

I could still make my own, but I don't want to buy premade items just to get the numbers then let the premade ones go to waste.

I want to try making my own with instructions to just email me the cache and location where they are being replaced... But I think that ends up being too much trouble for people. :-(

8.8k · March 10, 2011

I would gladly pay $1 just to get the code. I want to make my own travel bugs by etching into copper or casting my own coins. I don't think the codes should be free, but they should be available for people who want to make thier own items.

I could still make my own, but I don't want to buy premade items just to get the numbers then let the premade ones go to waste.

I want to try making my own with instructions to just email me the cache and location where they are being replaced... But I think that ends up being too much trouble for people. :-(

You can do that, but it's not $1.00 per tracking number. It's $1.50, but each design has to go through Groundspeak approval, if you want it tracked on their website. Please read the Current Coin Tracking Policy for more information. It would be a trackable, and not a Travel Bug.

Make Your Own Travel Bugs

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