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Is Groundspeak Inc. getting very rich from this outdoor hobby?

silvershadelynx
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The_Incredibles_

+The_Incredibles_

Posted
Posted

The reason for creating this topic / questioning about getting rich is probably because to me it feels a little contradictory: nature is "free", placing the geocaches and finding and reviewing them is also "free", but there's one company that owns the database of all these caches and is asking money for it. (but I do understand that they can't do it for free and I'm not saying this is wrong)

 

You're right. They should stop making money and turn geocaching.com into a charity. Cause everything in life should be free, ya know?

 

While we're at it, we should be ranting about all the other companies that make a profit. It's outrageous, really, that they get rewarded for their hard work.

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Roman!

+Roman!

Posted
Posted

hi everyone,

 

thanks for all your replies. I find this an interesting topic. I have been an outdoor freak since I was a small kid, and I exclusively drive my bicycle and I don't have a car. So I'm already familiar with outdoor activity and discovering new places, although walking (geocaching) introduces me to new places that I couldn't have found by bicycle which is a very good thing.

 

The reason for creating this topic / questioning about getting rich is probably because to me it feels a little contradictory: nature is "free", placing the geocaches and finding and reviewing them is also "free", but there's one company that owns the database of all these caches and is asking money for it. (but I do understand that they can't do it for free and I'm not saying this is wrong)

 

You've found 5 caches and come on here spouting off that Ground Speak is making money for providing a service. What exactly gives you the right?

 

If you don't like it there are free sites or better yet start your own. People's sense of entitlement is stupidly amazing.

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Roman!

+Roman!

Posted
Posted

hi,

 

thanks for your replies.

 

I forgot to mention that this website looks really nice and well-made. But I was just curious about opinions of other members about membership cost and whether or not Groundspeak would make a lot of profit from this business.

 

(I suppose geocache-related quesions will soon follow after I have some more experience :grin: )

 

Frankly how much they make is none of your business as they are a private company and I don't understand what difference it makes to your enjoyment of the activity.

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knowschad

knowschad

Posted
Posted

hi everyone,

 

thanks for all your replies. I find this an interesting topic. I have been an outdoor freak since I was a small kid, and I exclusively drive my bicycle and I don't have a car. So I'm already familiar with outdoor activity and discovering new places, although walking (geocaching) introduces me to new places that I couldn't have found by bicycle which is a very good thing.

 

The reason for creating this topic / questioning about getting rich is probably because to me it feels a little contradictory: nature is "free", placing the geocaches and finding and reviewing them is also "free", but there's one company that owns the database of all these caches and is asking money for it. (but I do understand that they can't do it for free and I'm not saying this is wrong)

 

You've found 5 caches and come on here spouting off that Ground Speak is making money for providing a service. What exactly gives you the right?

 

If you don't like it there are free sites or better yet start your own. People's sense of entitlement is stupidly amazing.

 

Wow!!! You sense of entitlement to insult your fellow geocachers seems pretty strong too, there, bud.

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Danbike_Lizbike

+Danbike_Lizbike

Posted
Posted

If you really want to know, find someone with a D&B account and have them run a report for you.

 

Here is what is out there on public sites.

 

Contact: Jeremy Irish Est. Total Employees: 29

Contact 2: Elias Alvord Year Established: 2000

State of Inc: WA Est. Total Sales: $ 3,300,000.00

 

 

Hi all,

 

I'm new to geocaching and I'm really enjoying it. I did only 2 caches. I read about the membership and the restrictions for a non-member. Membership is 30 dollar per member per year. I don't know the number of premium members but it seems that a lot of people here are premium member. (forum statistics show 800071 members and I suppose > 50 pct are premium members)

 

Personally I would think 30 dollar is a lot (too much) of money for webhosting and an online database. So my question is: is Groundspeak Inc. getting very rich from this business? It seems they are earning millions of dollars from this activity if my very rough calculations are correct. What are your ideas about this? It seems most people find the price very reasonable and think they do a good job paying the membership cost.

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Mr.Yuck

Mr.Yuck

Posted
Posted

If you really want to know, find someone with a D&B account and have them run a report for you.

 

Here is what is out there on public sites.

 

Contact: Jeremy Irish Est. Total Employees: 29

Contact 2: Elias Alvord Year Established: 2000

State of Inc: WA Est. Total Sales: $ 3,300,000.00

 

Sounds like a seriously old "public site" to me. I count 66 Lackey's in the picture on this page

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BlueDeuce

+BlueDeuce

Posted
Posted

I love these forums.

 

Hey, paying customers can ask. Wait a minute, never mind. Well, maybe he's trying to decide whether or not to become a paying customer. :ph34r:

 

Honestly, I was having a heartfelt moment.

 

Completely sincere.

 

I think tomorrow will be Forum Poster day. Why not.

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SwineFlew

+SwineFlew

Posted
Posted

hi everyone,

 

thanks for all your replies. I find this an interesting topic. I have been an outdoor freak since I was a small kid, and I exclusively drive my bicycle and I don't have a car. So I'm already familiar with outdoor activity and discovering new places, although walking (geocaching) introduces me to new places that I couldn't have found by bicycle which is a very good thing.

 

The reason for creating this topic / questioning about getting rich is probably because to me it feels a little contradictory: nature is "free", placing the geocaches and finding and reviewing them is also "free", but there's one company that owns the database of all these caches and is asking money for it. (but I do understand that they can't do it for free and I'm not saying this is wrong)

 

You've found 5 caches and come on here spouting off that Ground Speak is making money for providing a service. What exactly gives you the right?

 

If you don't like it there are free sites or better yet start your own. People's sense of entitlement is stupidly amazing.

 

I always enjoy reading your posts but today, I was surprise by your post here. Dont worry, we all say things that sound pretty hash in the past. Just dont make a habit of it.

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terrkan78

+terrkan78

Posted
Posted

I'm only in my 2nd month of geocaching but I will add my $0.02.

 

I became a PM after 2 finds and didn't really give it a 2nd thought. I would estimate thus far the kids and I have gotten about 100 hours of entertainment. Of all the expenses associated with this hobby, the cost of the PM is the least of my concern. Even the cost of the GPSr (bought new at Cabella's) is fairly insignificant considering the periodicity of such a purchase. The real expense that I've found to be the hardest to digest is the freaking fuel. I still have a pretty good amount of caches within a 5 mile radius of my home and I'm still getting 1-2 days less out of a tank of gas. I can't imagine the fuel cost of those with thousands of finds.

 

If anybody is getting rich from geocaching, it's Exxon.

:D Very true!

 

The $30 membership? Meh. The $250 GPS? Meh - lot cheaper than a smart phone plan. But the gas...I like caches out in the boonies and it adds up.

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SwineFlew

+SwineFlew

Posted
Posted

I'm only in my 2nd month of geocaching but I will add my $0.02.

 

I became a PM after 2 finds and didn't really give it a 2nd thought. I would estimate thus far the kids and I have gotten about 100 hours of entertainment. Of all the expenses associated with this hobby, the cost of the PM is the least of my concern. Even the cost of the GPSr (bought new at Cabella's) is fairly insignificant considering the periodicity of such a purchase. The real expense that I've found to be the hardest to digest is the freaking fuel. I still have a pretty good amount of caches within a 5 mile radius of my home and I'm still getting 1-2 days less out of a tank of gas. I can't imagine the fuel cost of those with thousands of finds.

 

If anybody is getting rich from geocaching, it's Exxon.

:D Very true!

 

The $30 membership? Meh. The $250 GPS? Meh - lot cheaper than a smart phone plan. But the gas...I like caches out in the boonies and it adds up.

Dont get me started about gas prices. Lets just blame it on the refiner fire in cal. :ph34r:

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The A-Team

+The A-Team

Posted
Posted

If you really want to know, find someone with a D&B account and have them run a report for you.

 

Here is what is out there on public sites.

 

Contact: Jeremy Irish Est. Total Employees: 29

Contact 2: Elias Alvord Year Established: 2000

State of Inc: WA Est. Total Sales: $ 3,300,000.00

 

Sounds like a seriously old "public site" to me. I count 66 Lackey's in the picture on this page

Here's the public site. Notice that they still list the old GSHQ address. Who knows how old that information is, but based on the Lackey count, it's pretty old.

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briansnat

+briansnat

Posted
Posted (edited)

If they are getting rich they have my best wishes. I'm not privy to the finances of Groundspeak but all I really know is that every year I see the "Groundspeak Lackey" geocoin and the first one only a few years ago had about 10 people on it. The latest they issued, I have no idea how they were able to fit all of those Lackeys on the coin, there must be 60 or 70 of them. That tells me that most of their income goes back into the business.

 

That and I've met the principles on a number of occasions and rather than seeing limousines, I saw car pooling and instead of Gucci I saw Levis. Heck I'd have no problem if they traveled in limousines and wore Gucci, it's their business and if it does well that is their right and none of my darn business as long as I get the services they promised for my measly $30.

Edited by briansnat
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Student Camper

+Student Camper

Posted
Posted (edited)

To echo a previous post, GS is a privately held company and what they make, or don't make, is none of your business any more than what I make which is also none of yours or anyone else's business except maybe the IRS.

I have a computer at a reasonable cost much to the vision of Bill Gates, what do I care how much he makes.

I get a lot of enjoyment from both Groundspeak and my computer, How much money Groundspeak or Bill Gates make are the least of my concerns.

Edited by Student Camper
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WRASTRO

+WRASTRO

Posted
Posted

Maybe if Facebook had premium members their stock would be doing better?

:unsure:

 

Wow! Just twelve words and one emoticon. Simply amazing and amazingly simple! :P

I like that. :laughing: straight to the point.

 

click on the emoticon.

Very sneaky! How/why did you manage to figure that out?

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SwineFlew

+SwineFlew

Posted
Posted (edited)

Maybe if Facebook had premium members their stock would be doing better?

:unsure:

 

Wow! Just twelve words and one emoticon. Simply amazing and amazingly simple! :P

I like that. :laughing: straight to the point.

 

click on the emoticon.

Very sneaky! How/why did you manage to figure that out?

 

Easy...when you hit reply, it shows the URL to that emoticon and it wasnt a GS URL and got my attention. Mousing over the emoticon is another way I figured things out, but wasnt in this case.

Edited by SwineFlew
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cezanne

cezanne

Posted
Posted

To echo a previous post, GS is a privately held company and what they make, or don't make, is none of your business any more than what I make which is also none of yours or anyone else's business except maybe the IRS.

 

I guess there exist cultural differences with regard to such questions. In Europe one can ask a question like the OP asked also without questioning the company itself. I have seen similar questions asked my many PMs who would have no issue to pay a considerably higher PM fee. So arguing that 30$ is cheap is not really related to the asked question.

 

Cezanne

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cezanne

cezanne

Posted
Posted

The latest they issued, I have no idea how they were able to fit all of those Lackeys on the coin, there must be 60 or 70 of them. That tells me that most of their income goes back into the business.

 

You might be right. I just feel that in recent years they added a lot of staff who is not contributing at all to what I regard important for a geocaching data base, namely the technical functionality which is a weak point of gc.com. If GSAK did not exist, they would run in some serious problem due to the weak technical performance which is disappointing. Due to the many bugs, they need much more stuff to reply to questions just to provide the people with answers (which typically come from people not knowing what they write about as they have no IT-background). Creating less bugs, would help to reduce the number of mails they receive and have to answer. Creating of souvenirs, merchandise etc are other side issues that are in no relation to geocaching.

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Ike 13

+Ike 13

Posted
Posted

 

If GSAK did not exist, they would run in some serious problem due to the weak technical performance which is disappointing.

You bring up an interesting point. PM is valuable to me due to PQs. Without a great program like GSAK PQs would not be very valuable to me. Of course if GSAK (and others) had not been developed who knows maybe Groundspeak would have developed their own offline database management system.

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Snoogans

+Snoogans

Posted
Posted

I would not call GS rich unless you count the people involved in the equation.

 

They have one of the most unique business models I've ever seen.

 

A cache listing database that is built by uncompensated volunteer hiders that shoulder the lion's share of the responsibility.

 

The database and discussion forums are reviewed mostly by unpaid, but otherwise compensated volunteer cache reviewers and forum moderators.

 

This leaves Groundspeak free to develop and improve the website and offer products and product identification for us to consume.

 

I gladly pay the premium membership. I have since day one. The $300 I've spent in memberships since March of 2003 are nothing compared to what I have received here. The caching and the friendships I cold have gotten for free. The trackable experiences cost $ but are well worth it. I've never gotten a bad Groundspeak product and I've probably spent a couple grand on GC.com products over the years.

 

Are they getting rich?

 

I would say they are doing quite well and they deserve it.

 

http://www.fremontuniverse.com/2011/04/28/fremont-Groundspeak-among-seattles-best-places-to-work/

 

http://www.seattlemet.com/issues/archives/articles/best-companies-to-work-for-in-seattle-may-2011/?print=1

 

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/best-jobs/The-30-Best-Places-to-Work-Groundspeak-20120726.html

 

Heck, I'd love to work there when I retire. Maybe they will need an old Safety/OSHA Compliance Guy in about 10 years. I can dream can't I ?

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cezanne

cezanne

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've never gotten a bad Groundspeak product and I've probably spent a couple grand on GC.com products over the years.

 

Do you speak about merchandise? That might be true.

 

If product includes the database, interface etc, then I'm in full disagreement with you. Actually, I have hardly ever encountered another comparable site with that many bugs and where the users are abused as betatesters to such a high extent. Moreover, the search functionality offered is like one would expect it from a site set up in the mid eighties of the last century. For example, a clever search routine would suggest a cache with the name "The large red house" if someone searches for "The large red huse". I know sites set up and maintained by a single person in their leisure time which offer much more functionality than this site. gc.com is mainly successful because it has such a high market share and definitely not because the superiority of their main product as I see it.

 

 

I do not think that working conditions are in close connection to richness - free sandwiches do not seem to be that much of a luxury. If the employees enjoy to work at Groundspeak that's fine.

 

 

Heck, I'd love to work there when I retire. Maybe they will need an old Safety/OSHA Compliance Guy in about 10 years. I can dream can't I ?

 

Maybe, if geocaching still exists then .... I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

In any case, I would not want to work there.

 

Cezanne

Edited by cezanne
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nthacker66

+nthacker66

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

 

I'm new to geocaching and I'm really enjoying it. I did only 2 caches. I read about the membership and the restrictions for a non-member. Membership is 30 dollar per member per year. I don't know the number of premium members but it seems that a lot of people here are premium member. (forum statistics show 800071 members and I suppose > 50 pct are premium members)

 

Personally I would think 30 dollar is a lot (too much) of money for webhosting and an online database. So my question is: is Groundspeak Inc. getting very rich from this business? It seems they are earning millions of dollars from this activity if my very rough calculations are correct. What are your ideas about this? It seems most people find the price very reasonable and think they do a good job paying the membership cost.

 

LOL, just ask any moderator, reviewer or lackey "all Groundspeak is, is a listing service"

 

(nevermind the merchandise they put their logo on and sell)

 

But $30 a year for the value is not bad at all. Less then $3 a month for a decent quality database is not bad. I agree with cezanne though that Groundspeak corners the market because there really is no competition out there. Jeremy was really one of the first in the game to recongize the potential for a viable business in this and he capatilized on it. I am not sure what "killer" listing service one could reintroduce to take over something that most cachers got "comfortably lazy" with in geocaching.com.

 

I am personally impressed that Groundspeak has blossomed as a business. I don't always agree that their message is on spot - it isn't an eagltarian community as they want to pretend it is, but generally I think the service is satisfactory.

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Snoogans

+Snoogans

Posted
Posted

I've never gotten a bad Groundspeak product and I've probably spent a couple grand on GC.com products over the years.

 

Do you speak about merchandise? That might be true.

 

If product includes the database, interface etc, then I'm in full disagreement with you. Actually, I have hardly ever encountered another comparable site with that many bugs and where the users are abused as betatesters to such a high extent. Moreover, the search functionality offered is like one would expect it from a site set up in the mid eighties of the last century. For example, a clever search routine would suggest a cache with the name "The large red house" if someone searches for "The large red huse". I know sites set up and maintained by a single person in their leisure time which offer much more functionality than this site. gc.com is mainly successful because it has such a high market share and definitely not because the superiority of their main product as I see it.

 

 

Cezanne

 

I am very low tech when it comes to this type of expectation. Where you are dissatisfied, I am blissfully unaware. But I do have a couple of close friends that have the same issues as you. The android app disappointment is often discussed and one of them helped develope it.

 

I get that techy folk have some issues. It doesn't take away from my enjoyment.

 

I have issues with the fact that GS appears to be guided more emotionally that on sound business sense, but again, my overall approval has never dipped below 90%. Try and get that much satisfaction from a competing cache listing service or really any other location based gaming service. I really can't complain much.

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nthacker66

+nthacker66

Posted
Posted (edited)

To echo a previous post, GS is a privately held company and what they make, or don't make, is none of your business any more than what I make which is also none of yours or anyone else's business except maybe the IRS.

I have a computer at a reasonable cost much to the vision of Bill Gates, what do I care how much he makes.

I get a lot of enjoyment from both Groundspeak and my computer, How much money Groundspeak or Bill Gates make are the least of my concerns.

 

I disagree (didn't respectfully disagree this time, wouldn't want to offend) - as a customer, I think you have a right to know what your money is going towards in terms of service improvements. Sure $30 a year busy your premium membership, but as a customer of a recurring product, you also don't like to see it sit stagnant. And for the most part, it doesn't. While they do not make HUGE upgrades, they do keep things moving. Again, as I said in a previous post, Groundspeak isnt making money off of memberships, i can guess the memebership fees pay for a good portion of the operational costs. I think Groundspeak makes its money off of its merchandising. And nothing wrong with that. I like their merchandise, albeit some things (eg. log books) are overpriced, but for the most part, i like the TB's, i like the shirts, pins, etc. Overall, Groundspeak is a pretty good company, good people working there.

Edited by nthacker66
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bflentje

+bflentje

Posted
Posted

If you really want to know, find someone with a D&B account and have them run a report for you.

 

Here is what is out there on public sites.

 

Contact: Jeremy Irish Est. Total Employees: 29

Contact 2: Elias Alvord Year Established: 2000

State of Inc: WA Est. Total Sales: $ 3,300,000.00

 

Ahh.. Total Sales does NOT equate to Net Income. I hope they're making some cache, um, er, cash, but I doubt they're gonna be on the Forbes 100 list anytime soon. I do some hosting as a side-gig so I can only imagine what their data center costs are.

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nthacker66

+nthacker66

Posted
Posted

If you really want to know, find someone with a D&B account and have them run a report for you.

 

Here is what is out there on public sites.

 

Contact: Jeremy Irish Est. Total Employees: 29

Contact 2: Elias Alvord Year Established: 2000

State of Inc: WA Est. Total Sales: $ 3,300,000.00

 

Ahh.. Total Sales does NOT equate to Net Income. I hope they're making some cache, um, er, cash, but I doubt they're gonna be on the Forbes 100 list anytime soon. I do some hosting as a side-gig so I can only imagine what their data center costs are.

 

Then what other forms of income do they get? I doubt jeremy is taking a significant portion and investing in hedge funds :-)

 

As far as hosting, I highly doubt they are doing any real in house IT - i would be surprised if their servers and services are co-located and hosted. I dont think their data costs are exceeding 20% of their total net income, otherwise there wouldnt be a Groundspeak. I am just throwing that out there. Shots in the dark, wild guesses (so calm down) ;-)

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Ohiosiouxfan

+Ohiosiouxfan

Posted
Posted

Is this thread still going? <_< Business 101: You start a business and "hope" to make money. Most start-up businesses don't make enough and people lose money and lose jobs. Some do make it and a few more even make it big. I don't really know where GC falls in that, but if GC makes money, it's because the purposeof the business is to make money. (If they enjoy themselves while doing it, that's a luxurious bonus.) Everything they do has to be aimed at having a positive effect on the business (AKA: "the bottom line"). This isn't unique to GC.

 

I've read some articles about GC and those who started it. They've made some sensible decisions along the way concerning whether to bring on other investors, whether to borrow money, etc. For what it's worth, they seem to have made some good decisions. Good for them.

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WRASTRO

+WRASTRO

Posted
Posted

I would not call GS rich unless you count the people involved in the equation.

 

They have one of the most unique business models I've ever seen.

 

A cache listing database that is built by uncompensated volunteer hiders that shoulder the lion's share of the responsibility.

 

The database and discussion forums are reviewed mostly by unpaid, but otherwise compensated volunteer cache reviewers and forum moderators.

 

This leaves Groundspeak free to develop and improve the website and offer products and product identification for us to consume.

 

I gladly pay the premium membership. I have since day one. The $300 I've spent in memberships since March of 2003 are nothing compared to what I have received here. The caching and the friendships I cold have gotten for free. The trackable experiences cost $ but are well worth it. I've never gotten a bad Groundspeak product and I've probably spent a couple grand on GC.com products over the years.

 

Are they getting rich?

 

I would say they are doing quite well and they deserve it.

 

http://www.fremontun...places-to-work/

 

http://www.seattleme...y-2011/?print=1

 

http://www.outsideon...k-20120726.html

 

Heck, I'd love to work there when I retire. Maybe they will need an old Safety/OSHA Compliance Guy in about 10 years. I can dream can't I ?

Get in line behind me Mr. Snoogster. If I ever heard they were looking for a finance person I would have my application to them in a heartbeat. I guess we would be in different lines so never mind. :) I don't need to wait until I retire to want to work there!

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Roman!

+Roman!

Posted
Posted (edited)
Personally I would think 30 dollar is a lot (too much) of money for webhosting and an online database.

 

Hmm... I think the opposite. I think $30 a year for all I get from geocaching.com is a fantastic bargain. I'd pay more.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

I wish for even higher fees so I can have a super elitist account like the elitist snob I am.

 

Maybe as perks for a $30k membership I could get a Geocaching driver, I hate driving.

Edited by Roman!
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Snoogans

+Snoogans

Posted
Posted

http://www.fremontun...places-to-work/

 

http://www.seattleme...y-2011/?print=1

 

http://www.outsideon...k-20120726.html

 

Heck, I'd love to work there when I retire. Maybe they will need an old Safety/OSHA Compliance Guy in about 10 years. I can dream can't I ?

Get in line behind me Mr. Snoogster. If I ever heard they were looking for a finance person I would have my application to them in a heartbeat. I guess we would be in different lines so never mind. :) I don't need to wait until I retire to want to work there!

 

After 25 years on the job with a reeeeeally big company, I don't think Groundspeak would be willing to pay the fair price for my golden handcuffs if they needed a CSHO right now and they actually wanted me for the job. I'm stuck until I'm 55. 60 if I want 100%. It's just a pipe dream for when I retire.

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Dulce-Joy

Dulce-Joy

Posted
Posted
Personally I would think 30 dollar is a lot (too much) of money for webhosting and an online database.

 

Hmm... I think the opposite. I think $30 a year for all I get from geocaching.com is a fantastic bargain. I'd pay more.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

I wish for even higher fees so I can have a super elitist account like the elitist snob I am.

 

Maybe as perks for a $30k membership I could get a Geocaching driver, I hate driving.

Speak for yourself.

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cezanne

cezanne

Posted
Posted

I've never gotten a bad Groundspeak product and I've probably spent a couple grand on GC.com products over the years.

 

Do you speak about merchandise? That might be true.

 

If product includes the database, interface etc, then I'm in full disagreement with you. Actually, I have hardly ever encountered another comparable site with that many bugs and where the users are abused as betatesters to such a high extent. Moreover, the search functionality offered is like one would expect it from a site set up in the mid eighties of the last century. For example, a clever search routine would suggest a cache with the name "The large red house" if someone searches for "The large red huse". I know sites set up and maintained by a single person in their leisure time which offer much more functionality than this site. gc.com is mainly successful because it has such a high market share and definitely not because the superiority of their main product as I see it.

 

 

Cezanne

 

I am very low tech when it comes to this type of expectation. Where you are dissatisfied, I am blissfully unaware. But I do have a couple of close friends that have the same issues as you. The android app disappointment is often discussed and one of them helped develope it.

 

I get that techy folk have some issues. It doesn't take away from my enjoyment.

 

I have issues with the fact that GS appears to be guided more emotionally that on sound business sense, but again, my overall approval has never dipped below 90%. Try and get that much satisfaction from a competing cache listing service or really any other location based gaming service. I really can't complain much.

 

Actually when it comes to having fun with geocaching, my personal demands with respect to technology are also very low. I even have found many caches without a GPSr and I neither use PQs nor GSAK (even though it would easily be able to work with it). I sometimes miss a more intelligent search routine as I it happens that I can remember a cache name only approximately. If the cache is located in Austria, I then switch over to a local site which provides a much better search engine on the basis of the data of gc.com (on the basis of a licence agreement).

 

As I have some IT background myself and as many of the local cachers are real experts, the topic how clumsily some technical issues are dealt with at Groundspeak often comes up in discussions and chats at events and other occasions. gc.com is often used as an example for incompentency when it comes to IT-issues.

 

So to sum up, what I really need for enjoying geocaching are suitable caches and that are provided by my fellow geocachers. I'm not that much dependent on the technical features of gc.com, but some are nice to have. However, when it comes to judge the technical quality of their product, I'd need to say that it is lower than what one expect from a company of that size and with so many customers. It appears to work, however, and this might be connected on the one hand to the high number of customers with no IT background (for some already uploading a photo is a challenge) and on the other hand as nice external tools like GSAK and others are available for those with higher demands.

 

It might even be that investing more in "soft areas" like community relation, marketing, layout etc than in "hard" (technological) ones is a good decision for Groundspeak overall from the business model point of view. Not knowing the interna, one can only speculate about this. Nowadays the community has got very diversified and even the more tech-oriented people split up into different subgroups. For some the mobile applications are very important, for others (like myself) they do not play any role.

 

Cezanne

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Z3ROIN

+Z3ROIN

Posted
Posted

So my question is: is Groundspeak Inc. getting very rich from this business?

 

It costs me next to nothing to do something i love so i'm happy, and all power to them if they're making money.

 

You've found 5 caches and come on here spouting off that Ground Speak is making money for providing a service. What exactly gives you the right?

 

If you don't like it there are free sites or better yet start your own. People's sense of entitlement is stupidly amazing.

 

I think this is a bit out of order though. He only posed a question.

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DonB

+DonB

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

 

I'm new to geocaching and I'm really enjoying it. I did only 2 caches. I read about the membership and the restrictions for a non-member. Membership is 30 dollar per member per year. I don't know the number of premium members but it seems that a lot of people here are premium member. (forum statistics show 800071 members and I suppose > 50 pct are premium members)

 

Personally I would think 30 dollar is a lot (too much) of money for webhosting and an online database. So my question is: is Groundspeak Inc. getting very rich from this business? It seems they are earning millions of dollars from this activity if my very rough calculations are correct. What are your ideas about this? It seems most people find the price very reasonable and think they do a good job paying the membership cost.

If you think 8.2 cents a day is a lot of money then there must be many other things you don't spend your money on either.

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geo-jon

+geo-jon

Posted
Posted

$30 per year is pretty inexpensive for ANY hobby !

My other hobby costs about $90 per HOUR... so my $30 annual Groundspeak membership would last about 20 mins there !

Groundspeak is a business, more power to them... as a business owner myself I recon when you put your money where your mouth is and take a risk to set up a successful business then you're absolutely entitled to make as much money as you can from it !

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the russinators

+the russinators

Posted
Posted

I think it's a great hobby, we've seen things we would never had seen, been places too if it weren't for caching. I think 30 quid/dollars is a snip for an outdoor hobby for all the family to enjoy. Lets face it a trip to the cinema or a pizza tea or a takeaway costs more for a family these days than PM.

It's a hidden world out there and I thank the day I found this hobby. :lol:

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