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Masonic Geocoins


msdt165

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For anyone interested I have just produced through Oak Coins the Coolest (LOL ok my opinion) and most detailed Masonic Geocoin to date. I am not in business to sell gocoins but selling these on Ebay to pay for the prodject and using the other for my family and Mason friends.

 

My user name on ebay is : msdt165

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250814678220&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

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Nice coin. But I think you are going to have a hard time selling them at that price especially when you add in the shipping cost. I only add insurance to the ones I sell that get to close to $50 and over. $7.51 is way to much $$ to send out one coin.

 

Shipping for me would be $9.98 - plus the cost of the coin, that would cost me over $30 for the one coin. :unsure:

 

It is beautiful though, congrats on the stunning piece. :)

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Nice geocoin, especially with the royal? blue! Stunning. :)

 

Unfortunately, the cost also rules me out. :(

 

FYI - Most coins being sold to support a cause usually only have a few dollars extra built into the price, so you will likely fing most people here will balk at paying that much for it. But then, maybe we are not your main market...

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Well once you pay shipping, insurance, Ebay fees, and Paypal fees (all now REQUIRED by Ebay now) it does make the shipping cost go up, Some of you said it would be $50 only if it is international priority mail most would only pay $7 to $9 on shipping if selecting first class mail. Of course I want real geocachers to buy the coin but it also cant be compaired to cheep stamped out tags.

 

I respect that not everyone is willing to pay $25 to $30 for a geocoin.

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A LOT of 'real' geocoins are produced and sold through this forum, including some from the vendor that you mentioned. Even the nicest ones don't sell for the price you are asking. $10 - $15 is a reasonable price for coins around here, and shipping is usually in the $2.50 range.

 

Also, I really avoid buying coins from eBay. So even if I like this coin, it is probable that I will not get one.

 

If you want to, you could offer them for sale directly through the forums here - then you can reduce the ebay/paypal/insurance fees.

 

Either way, good luck to you on your coin and sales.

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Well once you pay shipping, insurance, Ebay fees, and Paypal fees (all now REQUIRED by Ebay now) it does make the shipping cost go up, Some of you said it would be $50 only if it is international priority mail most would only pay $7 to $9 on shipping if selecting first class mail. Of course I want real geocachers to buy the coin but it also cant be compaired to cheep stamped out tags.

 

I respect that not everyone is willing to pay $25 to $30 for a geocoin.

 

From the USA, I have only ever paid $3.50-$4.50 for shipping at best, and that's from Ebay as well, and paid with paypal. I would have to agree that $10 for shipping is way out there.

 

Also, selling here on the forums is a great idea :)

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This is a nice looking coin and I would agree that it is one of the best Masonic coins that has been put up for sale. Please keep in mind that I always want new coin designers to do well, so what I offer is constructive criticism. You should also take what I say with a grain of salt because what works for one person, might not work for another.

 

Price - Everyone so far that has posted agrees that it is too high. Some people can get away with charging $50.00 for a coin, but that is extremely rare and it is only because they have created a "brand" in some way. They have done something that makes people really like them, or their designs. It is like Coke versus generic cola. Coke really does not taste better than other less expensive drinks, but through advertising, their history, and doing all sorts of good deeds. They have created a good feeling among customers so that people just feel good buying a Coke. I don't believe that you have done this yet, so you probably cannot charge much above what other coins cost.

 

Shipping - Most of the people on this forum know how much shipping costs and many know EXACTLY how much it costs. Your general Ebay customer also knows how much shipping usually costs. My experience is that anyone who charges above the accepted price range will be seen as gouging the customer. For a single coin shipped domestically, you will have a hard time charging more than $4.00 and the way to build good will is to charge $3.00 or less. Personally, I have never charged anyone more than $3.00 for domestic shipping and I often ship for free. People don't like to feel that you are tricking them by adding on hidden fees; they want to know exactly how much they are paying up front. Even though your shipping is listed clearly, many people will still feel that this as a tricky way to boost prices.

 

XLE - I have argued many times that there is no official distinction of what makes something a limited versus regular edition except that some predetermined limit has been set. That being said, I have never seen a run of 100 coins described as XLE. Some people might see your description as misleading.

 

Thickness - you describe 3mm as thick. Indeed 3mm is thicker than the 2mm thick tags that we all know and love. However, those tags also have a diameter less than 1 inch and are very reasonably priced. Most people recognize that 3mm is the standard size for a 1.75 inch coin and that making a tag 3mm thick could look silly. You need to be careful about thickness in general, because a coin that is too thick is also a turn-off. In general, I stick to commonly used thickness or just a bit thicker, unless I have a good reason to make the coin extra heavy.

 

Pre-sale - I participate (buy) in pre-sales on a regular basis, but to me and many other people they are a turn-off. We all recognize why some people feel the need for them and we are all sympathetic, but at the end of the day, we don't like paying for something that has not yet been made. You can get away with it, but it will definitely reduce the number of coins that you will sell. People that are successful at it have usually already created trust with their customers.

 

Design - you have a good solid design that is appealing. 2-tone coins cost a little more to produce and many customers recognize this and see this as a premium feature. These are your strongest points. On the other hand, you are using soft enamel, which costs less. The 2-tone and soft enamel sort of cancel each other out.

 

Brand recognition - The Masonic organizations are well known and you have made one of the better coins. This creates the potential for the coin to do well, although I really do not know the market for these coins.

 

My advice - making money off of geocoins is very difficult and requires a lot of hard work, so I would say that very few people can do it. You should do one of two things: figure out exactly what all of your costs will be and charge only that, or research what other people are charging for similar coins and try to stick close to their prices and fees. Everyone would like to get away with charging $100.00 per coin, but the market sets the price. At this point, your coins are a commodity, meaning that customers see them as equivalent to all of the other coins out there. The only way for you to charge more than that is to build a brand, which is difficult and this is the reason that good advertisers makes lots of money. They have a rare skill.

 

About Ebay, yes it is EXPENSIVE for everyone. I use them mostly to advertise since they have a huge customer base, so when a coin is on Ebay, it is seen by many. One weakness of Ebay is that so many other geocoins are just a click away and price comparison is easier. Always keep in mind that the coins that sell for a lot have something that makes them different than all of the others. Will being a good looking Masonic coin be enough to set your coin apart? We can all guess, but the only way to know is to wait until the sale is over. At that point, you will have a pretty good idea of what your coin is worth. My guess is that your coin is worth $8-$10 off of Ebay and $10-$14 on Ebay. Your task is to prove me wrong and if you do, I will count it as a learning experience for me.

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Well once you pay shipping, insurance, Ebay fees, and Paypal fees (all now REQUIRED by Ebay now) it does make the shipping cost go up, Some of you said it would be $50 only if it is international priority mail most would only pay $7 to $9 on shipping if selecting first class mail. Of course I want real geocachers to buy the coin but it also cant be compaired to cheep stamped out tags.

 

I respect that not everyone is willing to pay $25 to $30 for a geocoin.

 

Keep in mind too when posting to a public forum. Ebay policy strictly prohibits charging Ebay fees OR Paypal fees in your shipping rate. That is a penalty you are burdened with by using their service. Shipping insurance is still optional, but you as the seller are responsible for any loss or damage, so it appears you choose to insure them.

 

If you're interested, I had over 1000 Ebay geocoin transactions last year as a seller. And I lost ZERO domestic packages in the USA. I do add delivery confirmation to all my packages, but your loss rate should be small. If you care to remove insurance from your auctions, and replace it with D/C.

 

You are allowed to recover postage, insurance, and handling in your shipping fee. Handling means the mailer, bubble wrap, labels, gas for your car, etc. If you are reported for charging fees in your shipping rate, you will have your auctions canceled at a minimum.

 

Another note to remember is Paypal's policy on pre-sales. Without looking it up, I think you have to deliver product within 14 days of receipt of payment? Otherwise you can be reported and your Paypal account locked. I'm sure you've already researched that, but something to keep in mind for anyone else watching.

 

TMA

Side note -- From the Ebay photos, it appears your coin is stamped too :P

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Well once you pay shipping, insurance, Ebay fees, and Paypal fees (all now REQUIRED by Ebay now) it does make the shipping cost go up, Some of you said it would be $50 only if it is international priority mail most would only pay $7 to $9 on shipping if selecting first class mail. Of course I want real geocachers to buy the coin but it also cant be compaired to cheep stamped out tags.

 

I respect that not everyone is willing to pay $25 to $30 for a geocoin.

What you probably don't know is that geocoins cost between $8-$13, new, from the vendour sites. So yes, many coiners are not willing to fork out 3x that much for a single coin from an unknown source, especially on pre-sale. You may respect that but it would serve you better to understand why. Good luck.

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Um ok WOW. I started Geocaching with my nephews because they like it and It is some thing we all enjoy, then I wanted to make a coin that was special to me. I was hoping to make the extra coins pay for the prodject and it looks like the only way to do that is invest thousands to order way more than 100 to get the price down to what you guys are talking about.

 

Looks like everyone wants me to sell them for less than they cost to make, ya $8 and not include any other costs to sell them would be way less than they cost to make.

 

I am really disapointed that every one wants me to give them away for less than production cost, I guess I have learned my leason, Just let the mass produciton guys make coins.

 

Thanks for all your input, I will not be participating in this again.

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Um ok WOW. I started Geocaching with my nephews because they like it and It is some thing we all enjoy, then I wanted to make a coin that was special to me. I was hoping to make the extra coins pay for the prodject and it looks like the only way to do that is invest thousands to order way more than 100 to get the price down to what you guys are talking about.

 

Looks like everyone wants me to sell them for less than they cost to make, ya $8 and not include any other costs to sell them would be way less than they cost to make.

 

I am really disapointed that every one wants me to give them away for less than production cost, I guess I have learned my leason, Just let the mass produciton guys make coins.

 

Thanks for all your input, I will not be participating in this again.

 

I agree with my fellow geocachers in saying that is the best looking Masonic Geocoin that I have seen produced. However, I fear that you have misunderstood what else is being said here. No one has dictated your selling price or even suggested that your coin is only worth $8. They have been however trying to politely pointing out that it might sell better at a lower price that the $20 asking price on the eplace. Most of the avid coiners here on the forums know about the actual costs involved in pretty much all aspects of the coin making/selling process and at least one of the people who have posted is president of a well known minting company for geocoins. If you are saying that the coins cost you upwards of $1500 to mint the hundred coins you are producing in that quantity, size and weight, I will have to say that you probably didn't do any sort of price comparisons between the different companies. As for the shipping cost, I sell geocoins here and there on the eplace and shipping in the US is rarely more than $2.00 with Delivery Confirmation included leaving quite a bit of recovery costs for gas, mailers, etc. even if you charged $3-$4 for US shipping. As for overseas shipping, First Class mail is still the best way to go with an average cost of $3-$5 depending on the country. I have only lost two shipments in the hundreds that I have sent overseas and that was because I used a paper bubble mailer rather than the more durable plastic bubble mailers. I probably would enjoy owning on of these coins but like others have said $27 is a bit steep for a coin of this nature ($15 + $3-4 for shipping and handling maybe). One of the other things you might consider is that the fees that are being charged to you for selling on that site are including the shipping price, so the higher the shipping fee that you charge the customer, the fee that you are being charged by Paypal and Ebay will be accordingly higher as well.

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Um ok WOW. I started Geocaching with my nephews because they like it and It is some thing we all enjoy, then I wanted to make a coin that was special to me. I was hoping to make the extra coins pay for the prodject and it looks like the only way to do that is invest thousands to order way more than 100 to get the price down to what you guys are talking about.

 

Looks like everyone wants me to sell them for less than they cost to make, ya $8 and not include any other costs to sell them would be way less than they cost to make.

 

I am really disapointed that every one wants me to give them away for less than production cost, I guess I have learned my leason, Just let the mass produciton guys make coins.

 

Thanks for all your input, I will not be participating in this again.

 

You might not want to give up so fast, because making coins is a lot of fun. However, is it fair to expect a bunch of strangers to subsidize your coin making hobby? It costs about a $1000 to make 100 coins, so you should expect that they will be $10 each. This is a ballpark estimate and prices will vary. If you were to sell all of them, you would just about break even. You should expect that each coin you keep for your own purposes will be paid by you. The reason that the market works this way is because making coins is a lot of fun and many people are willing to sell their coins as break-even point or even a slight loss. The average buyer will ignore overly expensive coins and flock to cheaper coins thus setting the market price.

 

I think you should make your coins and if you remain humble and kind, you will be able to sell 100 coins. You will want to keep some for yourself and while each one will set you back $10, they will be yours and you will have a real sense of pride holding them and giving them away to your loved ones. The other cool thing about coins, is that you can easily expect them to be passed on to your great grandchildren. Coins are durable, universally loved, and when other things get thrown out, coins are small enough to be kept in a tiny box. This is why coins last for 100s of years.

 

By the way, I said that it is important to remain humble and kind, because people buy from you when they like you, or at least are not annoyed by you. The forum has seen several people make coins and act like jerks. These people are then surprised when no one buys from them. Right now, people like your design and they see you as someone who is new and just learning about this business. As things stand, if you charge $10 for your coin, I will buy one from you and I expect that a lot of other people will too.

 

Remember, your design is good and people are fascinated by everything Masonic.

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I do appreciate all of your input. I am fairly new to geocaching and completely new to designing coins. I have heard and understand all of your concerns especially about the shipping charges. As a result I have taken out the extra charges that I had included to cover the fees and insurance and absorbed them into the list price and charged only actual cost for the shipping and envelope. I hope this will encourage people and get this really COOL coin (LOL ok I might be a little bias) out there.

 

You all have been very helpful in this matter as this is all very new for me. I think I got overzealous in getting these out for sell and had high hopes to do two more runs one in Gold and one in copper to make a set of three.

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I have a doubt, ...as you say that you know recently the world of geocoins -and to find out for sure- I guess you know that "Limited Edition" (LE or XLE)geocoin mean that will never be minted in the same combination of colors and metals :)

 

Yes I looked that up in the forums and My goal is to make 100 each in Antique Silver, 100 in antique Gold, and 100 in antique Copper. I will not be minting any more than 100 in each finish. As of right now the 100 in antique Silver are the only ones that have been minted and there will be no more made in antique silver.

 

Thanks for the Q and allowing me to clarify that

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Coin received, ...really is beautiful in hands!

 

BTW, what mean 2BLASK1, in the front of coin?

 

I'll jump in here ... that is not an L it is a 1 ...

Now read it aloud ...

 

That is how you too can become a mason.

 

(To be one, ask one)

 

Oh yeah, ...I understand now. Thanks!

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Coin received, ...really is beautiful in hands!

 

BTW, what mean 2BLASK1, in the front of coin?

 

I'll jump in here ... that is not an L it is a 1 ...

Now read it aloud ...

 

That is how you too can become a mason.

 

(To be one, ask one)

Thanks Fuzziebear

 

That is one of the first requirements to be a Mason. No man can be asked to join He must ask.

 

Almost an entire generation of men missed out or joined much later in life because they all were waiting for their Fathers and Grandfathers to ask them to join the fraternity. The tragedy was that they had to ask of their own free will to be made a Mason and did not know that. So was born the fraise Too Be One Ask One, shortened to 2B1ASK1.

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