Premium Member Only Cache

[+KDougB]

I am planning my first cache hide. I think I have an interesting idea for one. My question is: how do I decide whether to make it a regular hide or a Premium Members Only Cache? What are the criteria? If there is a set of guidelines I haven't run across them.

[+niraD]

If the owner is a premium member and wants the cache to be PMO, then it's PMO. There are no other criteria.

 

There are any number of reasons why different people make their caches PMO, but all that really matters is that you want your cache to be PMO.

[+SageTracey]

It's entirely up to you as the cache owner to make that decision. Some people believe that making a cache PMO means that it is less likely to be damaged, broken or treated poorly by other cachers, based on the theory that premium members care more because they have paid for membership.

 

That doesn't take into account that premium members can also be newbies who don't yet know how to play the game.

 

I have made some of my caches PMO when I have spent more money and time getting them set up but will probably switch them across to non-PMO soon as I think there is more risk of damage by muggles than other cachers.

 

Once we put them out there, our caches are at the whim of the world, no matter what our best intentions.

[+jellis]

If the owner is a premium member and wants the cache to be PMO, then it's PMO. There are no other criteria.

 

There are any number of reasons why different people make their caches PMO, but all that really matters is that you want your cache to be PMO.

And you click the Premium member box otherwise it's not.

 

Almost all mine are. I have less chance of Intro App cachers logging them. There are plenty of non-PMO caches they can go to get experience. I do have some that are not for newbies, co-series.

[+Zepp914]

The free app lets the user find traditional caches only. Those are the users who dabble in the hobby and may not really care about the work you put into your cache. If someone is willing to spend $30 the thinking is they too have something invested and will hopefully treat your cache with at least some respect. Since they can't see puzzles, multi, or letterbox caches, you really don't need to make those premium. If you put a lot of effort into a traditional, it may be worthwhile to make it a PMO.

 

It really depends on your goal. If you want to maximize finds, then making your cache premium is going to work against you.

 

I have 1 PMO traditional and my wife has 3 non-PMO traditional caches within 2 miles of each other. She easily gets 3X the finds on each of her caches. I have had to preform no maintenance on mine. She is constantly replacing swag in her caches and numerous times has found them left open. On one occasion we found fireworks in one of her containers...

[Rock Chalk]

We had an issue in my old town where a new cacher was vandalizing some containers. A lot of us changed our listings to PMO so that he couldn't easily access the listings. And it worked for us. But that's obviously not a foolproof method.

[+captnemo]

None of caches are PMO and have had no real problems. I place caches for people to find so no PMO works for me.

 

Of course it helps to live in the middle of the desert. If the caches near where you want to place your cache aren't having problems, review the logs, then I won't go PMO.

[+AKACRider]

Just my rule of thumb; if it is a good distance from home so maintainance is difficult, or it is an extremely elaborate multi, make it PMO, if not dont.

[+samuel123abc]

I simply make caches far from home and caches that I put much effort into PMO. Else, for these who I can manage in an everyday cycle I really do not mind making them accessible for everyone.

 

//SAMUEL

[+Bear and Ragged]

Some cache owners will make their new cache PMO until it's been found a few times, then make it non-PMO.

[+Harry Dolphin]

If the owner is a premium member and wants the cache to be PMO, then it's PMO. There are no other criteria.

 

There are any number of reasons why different people make their caches PMO, but all that really matters is that you want your cache to be PMO.

And you click the Premium member box otherwise it's not.

 

Almost all mine are. I have less chance of Intro App cachers logging them. There are plenty of non-PMO caches they can go to get experience. I do have some that are not for newbies, co-series.

 

I am contemplating changing some to PMO to avoid the Intro App users.

[+Chief301]

I prefer to keep my caches accessible to everyone, but I do have one that is PMO because the container is very unique and would be difficult to replace. I really want only experienced and dedicated cachers handling that one. Said cache is also a three-stage multi, so I'm fairly comfortable that neophyte Intro app users won't disturb it.

 

If you don't want just anybody going after your cache, consider making it a multi or simple puzzle but still non-PMO. That will weed out the totally clueless Intro app users but still be accessible to the fairly serious but non-PM cachers who at least have put forth enough effort to learn how to input coordinates for additional stages.

[+cerberus1]

I prefer to keep my caches accessible to everyone, but I do have one that is PMO because the container is very unique and would be difficult to replace. I really want only experienced and dedicated cachers handling that one. Said cache is also a three-stage multi, so I'm fairly comfortable that neophyte Intro app users won't disturb it.

 

If you don't want just anybody going after your cache, consider making it a multi or simple puzzle but still non-PMO. That will weed out the totally clueless Intro app users but still be accessible to the fairly serious but non-PM cachers who at least have put forth enough effort to learn how to input coordinates for additional stages.

+1

If we decide to put out any more, we intend to make 'em simple, two-stage multis, ridiculously easy puzzles, or 4+ terrain traditionals, just to keep 'em off the intro app.

Where we used to lived, we were seeing roadside, guard rail and lpc pill bottle pmo caches and that just doesn't make sense to me.

[+L0ne.R]

I prefer to keep my caches accessible to everyone, but I do have one that is PMO because the container is very unique and would be difficult to replace. I really want only experienced and dedicated cachers handling that one. Said cache is also a three-stage multi, so I'm fairly comfortable that neophyte Intro app users won't disturb it.

 

If you don't want just anybody going after your cache, consider making it a multi or simple puzzle but still non-PMO. That will weed out the totally clueless Intro app users but still be accessible to the fairly serious but non-PM cachers who at least have put forth enough effort to learn how to input coordinates for additional stages.

+1

If we decide to put out any more, we intend to make 'em simple, two-stage multis, ridiculously easy puzzles, or 4+ terrain traditionals, just to keep 'em off the intro app.

Where we used to lived, we were seeing roadside, guard rail and lpc pill bottle pmo caches and that just doesn't make sense to me.

 

Problem for me as a hider is, multis and puzzles (at least in my area) get less than 10% of the visits the PMO traditional caches get. People ignore all multis and puzzles, easy or not.

 

 

As a finder I wish there was a way to filter multis. I'd like to filter for 2-stage multis. If the first stage is missing or is too confusing then it will likely be immediately obvious and I can move on to the rest of my caching day. I've been burned too many times by middle stages that were missing, unreadable, too confusing to find, etc.

[cezanne]

Almost all mine are. I have less chance of Intro App cachers logging them. There are plenty of non-PMO caches they can go to get experience. I do have some that are not for newbies, co-series.

 

Do whatever you want with your caches, but I do not believe that PMO-caches are an effective protection against newbies or getting badly treated.

Consider the hider of this cache

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5H0QF_lebenselexier

It now happened for the second time that he submitted a cache without having it hidden. He had been offered help after his first

cache where a lot went wrong, but ignored it. He is PM from the very beginning.

There are many such examples. I guess your caches and trackables that are dropped off in your caches are less endagered by cachers like myself.

 

I also have caches that are not for newbies, but that's self-regulating. They are not visited by newbies anyway.

[+janicelouisems]

I appreciated this thread. I was going to ask about the pros and cons of PMO vs public, and here it all is. :-)

 

I see that for the caches I have placed, I have not thought through about some of the obvious things (multis not being as popular in general, and the fact that the intro app users can't even see the multis). Live and learn!

[+jellis]

The free app lets the user find traditional caches only. Those are the users who dabble in the hobby and may not really care about the work you put into your cache. If someone is willing to spend $30 the thinking is they too have something invested and will hopefully treat your cache with at least some respect. Since they can't see puzzles, multi, or letterbox caches, you really don't need to make those premium. If you put a lot of effort into a traditional, it may be worthwhile to make it a PMO.

 

It really depends on your goal. If you want to maximize finds, then making your cache premium is going to work against you.

 

I have 1 PMO traditional and my wife has 3 non-PMO traditional caches within 2 miles of each other. She easily gets 3X the finds on each of her caches. I have had to preform no maintenance on mine. She is constantly replacing swag in her caches and numerous times has found them left open. On one occasion we found fireworks in one of her containers...

That is odd because some Intro App cachers tried to find a puzzle I have that is not a PMO. I thought they were after a traditional but then they told me that all the boxes were the same color I thought it strange. They told me the name of the cache I knew it was my puzzle. They thougt it was at the posted coords and tried to log it as a find because it wasn't there. I explained they can't do that.

[cezanne]

 

That is odd because some Intro App cachers tried to find a puzzle I have that is not a PMO. I thought they were after a traditional but then they told me that all the boxes were the same color I thought it strange.

 

Are you sure that they used the intro app and not just another app?

There are so many apps around.

[+jellis]

Maybe but still not going to let them log it if they didn't find it.

[+defamily]

All of my caches are PMO caches because it sort of protects them from the people who steal and destroy caches!

My couple of non PMO caches have SO many issues.

[+cerberus1]

All of my caches are PMO caches because it sort of protects them from the people who steal and destroy caches!

My couple of non PMO caches have SO many issues.

Which is it?

[4wheelin_fool]

I am planning my first cache hide. I think I have an interesting idea for one. My question is: how do I decide whether to make it a regular hide or a Premium Members Only Cache? What are the criteria? If there is a set of guidelines I haven't run across them.

 

You should make it PMO, as they have gotten popular lately...unfortunately.