Do you garage sale for cache swag?

[+Jobu35]

I not only hunt garage sales specifically for stuff to put in caches, but I also started buying stuff on Ebay! I now have a grocery bag full of loot in my car and I'm still looking for more! I think my caching addiction has reached a new level.

[+niraD]

When I first started, I would trade, and I would buy trade items. But for a long time, the only things I've traded for are personal signature items left by other geocachers. And most of the things I use to trade for them have been given to me: foreign coins from friends who returned from overseas trips, polyhedral dice from a friend who no longer plays D&D, small ceramic figures from a friend who completed her collection and no longer needed spares for trading, etc.

[+NanCycle]

I not only hunt garage sales specifically for stuff to put in caches, but I also started buying stuff on Ebay! I now have a grocery bag full of loot in my car and I'm still looking for more! I think my caching addiction has reached a new level.

 

I usually only put swag into my own caches. I buy most of it at ARC Thrift Store, some at Harbor Freight Tools, and some at dollar stores. What I get at HFT is multi-packs of bungee cords, carabiners, and small clamps.

[+narcissa]

I not only hunt garage sales specifically for stuff to put in caches, but I also started buying stuff on Ebay! I now have a grocery bag full of loot in my car and I'm still looking for more! I think my caching addiction has reached a new level.

 

What kind of stuff? I used to buy little charms and things on eBay for trading, but I don't bother with swag anymore.

[+Viajero Perdido]

Nah, garage sale stuff is junk, and it's usually big too. Caches deserve better.

 

Occasionally I'll buy swag from Aliexpress. They've got everything. For example, USB lights, useful little things but under a dollar each, with the usual free shipping. I've bought bags of them to give away. Plus mini-biners, keychain thingies, and assorted whatnot.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Viajero Perdido

[+Jobu35]

Some great ideas! I've been buying toys for the younger cachers like my nephew, dinosaurs and small stuffed animals. But I like the idea of useful stuff for adults as well.

[+narcissa]

Some great ideas! I've been buying toys for the younger cachers like my nephew, dinosaurs and small stuffed animals. But I like the idea of useful stuff for adults as well.

 

Someone, somewhere, will always have something mean to say about any given swag item. If trading swag makes the game fun for you and you find good stuff at garage sales, that's awesome.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Nah, garage sale stuff is junk, and it's usually big too.

 

Not always. Don't you ever watch Antiques Roadshow? Every once in awhile some item that someone found at a garage sale will be appraised at thousands of dollars.

 

Somewhat similar to garage sales are these pseudo "antique stores" that has a lot of junk but can be a good source of swag as well. There's one just up the road that has a "anything on this table for $2" set up outside that is full of costume jewelry and many other small items that don't have much monetary value but some might find interesting.

 

 

[+Ambrosia]

Agreed. I haven't been to a garage sale for a while, but in the past I've found some good things for trading. It's like anything else, just have a little patience and you might be surprised what you find.

[+PlantAKiss]

I started Geocaching around 2007 so I'm old school. I thought it was so cool to find containers with "treasure" in it! It wasn't my focus in caching but it was fun to see what was in a cache--the curiosity/surprise factor. There used to be a few real prizes. Most of the time it wasn't great but evry now and then you'd find something pretty cool! Nowadays there is mostly junk (often broken or soggy) that is kids oriented (read: very cheap). Adults get quite cut out of finding any interesting swag to trade for. So I usually drop something adults and kids alike might be interested in...vintage bottle caps, foreign coins, beautifully lithographed old seed envelopes, civil war bullets, and lots of really nice mineral specimens.,I got quite the happy thank you from the guy who got the civil war bullet. He was thrilled. That's what putting just a little thought into your SWAG can get you. :-) So I always have my eye out for cool stuff like a fossil or gem or crystal. Its fun to find interesting things in a cache.

Edited July 9, 2016 by PlantAKiss

[Drive-in]

Geez, I can remember in the "good old days" 2001 or so. . . People Always took something and left something. . other than TNLN. . .

[+Jobu35]

Yes, I see a lot of fairly empty caches. Maybe someone is taking 3 and leaving nothing, I don't know. But I put stuff in them anyway so the next cacher has something to at least look at and hopefully want. I definitely want to be a leaver of cool swag for kids and especially adults.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Jobu35

[arlieoh]

Yes, I see a lot of fairly empty caches. Maybe someone is taking 3 and leaving nothing, I don't know. But I put stuff in them anyway so the next cacher has something to at least look at and hopefully want. I definitely want to be a leaver of cool swag for kids and especially adults.

I agree... so many empty caches, which is disappointing for the kids. I always leave a few trinkets if they fit.