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Why No Good Trade Items?


derekdoubleut

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:D:) QUESTION????? :D:D

 

I have 3 little boys who like the junk even junk they already have,but these are the items I got to replace the junk they take....ALL OF THIS STUFF IS NEW AND I WILL WRITE IT ON TAPE ON ALL ITEMS

 

KIDS SUNGLASSES

KIDS CRYSTAL BEAD NECKLACES

RUBBER BRACLETTS WITH WORDS ON THEM(like the Neal Armstrong ones)

METAL BRACLETS WITH BEADS

GEOCACHING BUMPER STICKERS FROM E-BAY

 

as I have to get 3 things from caches I tried to get different things at differnt levels to try to trade = without braking the bank.if they try to get something of more value then we can trade they will have to pick something else...does this sound right???And what of kid made items...they are proud of them and want to trade them...is this wrong??or should I sneek something else in there??? One of my kids favoret finds was a small contaner that Greenthumb &Tweetie left of Magic Dirt (dirt,seeds & glitter)...well any input..nice friendly input would be nice. :):D thank you, :D:D:D Unitydnk

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Hi,

 

We are new to this and am a homeschooling family so money is tight. I am very good at finding things sometimes really inexpensive and was wondering about putting makeup that won't go bad in as trade. Like the other day I got 5 bottles of nail polish for $0.25 each.

 

Is this a good idea? I know we don't want to put anything like the 4 tubes of lipstick I got free because in Texas it will melt.

 

Thanks

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I usually leave stuff that kids would like. Most adults can afford to buy their own cool stuff. So it's harder to please adults. But kids love all kinds of stuff that you can get for just a few dollars at any number of stores you happen to pass on your daily errands.

 

I'm a kid at heart, so I leave stuff that's so cool, that I sometimes buy 2 of them and keep one for myself and one for caching. :)

 

I have fun doing it. It's like stuffing stockings at christmas. And the toys are so much cooler today than when I was a kid because of technological advancement...

 

It does bug me that people will spend more on gas to drive to the cache site then they do on what they leave in the cache. Are we so broke that we can't spend $5 on a few cool trade items? That's dang cheap for a day's entertainment.

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:D:) QUESTION????? :D:D

 

I have 3 little boys who like the junk even junk they already have,but these are the items I got to replace the junk they take....ALL OF THIS STUFF IS NEW AND I WILL WRITE IT ON TAPE ON ALL ITEMS

 

KIDS SUNGLASSES

KIDS CRYSTAL BEAD NECKLACES

RUBBER BRACLETTS WITH WORDS ON THEM(like the Neal Armstrong ones)

METAL BRACLETS WITH BEADS

GEOCACHING BUMPER STICKERS FROM E-BAY

 

as I have to get 3 things from caches I tried to get different things at differnt levels to try to trade = without braking the bank.if they try to get something of more value then we can trade they will have to pick something else...does this sound right???And what of kid made items...they are proud of them and want to trade them...is this wrong??or should I sneek something else in there??? One of my kids favoret finds was a small contaner that Greenthumb &Tweetie left of Magic Dirt (dirt,seeds & glitter)...well any input..nice friendly input would be nice. :):D thank you, :D:D:D Unitydnk

 

As a mom of a daughter and son (2 and 6) I think those sounds like great trade items. I know (have seen) my daughter loves that kind of stuff. I think those are great ideas.

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Hi,

 

We are new to this and am a homeschooling family so money is tight. I am very good at finding things sometimes really inexpensive and was wondering about putting makeup that won't go bad in as trade. Like the other day I got 5 bottles of nail polish for $0.25 each.

 

Is this a good idea? I know we don't want to put anything like the 4 tubes of lipstick I got free because in Texas it will melt.

 

Thanks

 

It is a good idea, but there are a couple of potential problems with it. Makeup, and possibly even the nail polish have odors that may attract wildlife. I have seen a 'cache that had lipstick in it get destroyed by some kind of wild animal. Also, be mindful of the temperature extremes that the items you trade may be subject to. In Texas, I am sure that it gets well above 100 degrees in the summer, and possibly well below freezing in the winter. Makeup may melt, and freezing may damage some liquid items, especially if they are in glass containers that may break. There are plenty of cheap alternatives, dollar stores often have bags of things that make great trades for kids, such as rubber balls, costume jewelry, and the like, for, well, a dollar.

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It is a good idea, but there are a couple of potential problems with it. Makeup, and possibly even the nail polish have odors that may attract wildlife. I have seen a 'cache that had lipstick in it get destroyed by some kind of wild animal. Also, be mindful of the temperature extremes that the items you trade may be subject to. In Texas, I am sure that it gets well above 100 degrees in the summer, and possibly well below freezing in the winter. Makeup may melt, and freezing may damage some liquid items, especially if they are in glass containers that may break. There are plenty of cheap alternatives, dollar stores often have bags of things that make great trades for kids, such as rubber balls, costume jewelry, and the like, for, well, a dollar.

 

Thanks

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Go to www.orientaltrading.com to find lots of inexpensive but sometimes very cool and unique goodies for caches. They have lots of things that kids would love. I have used them to obtain giveaways for my workplace for Earth Day and I got a lot of luau stuff from them. Where else can you get shell leis for 50 cents each?

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A good point was made that TBs and other trackables are not really trade items, except for other TBs. They can't be considered swag, since they should NOT enter your permanent collection. I also don't consider my sig item (a wooden coin with my logo) a trade item, except for other sig items. I will leave one, but not take an item unless I leave additional swag. Anyone else?

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I'm pretty new, but I thought the whole point (besides the search, which is the part I like anyway) was to take a piece of crap and replace it with a different piece of crap. There is NOTHING in the FAQ-type info on Geo-caching.com that explains that people actually expect to find something useful or semi-valuable. From this thread I see I should upgrade the quality of my swag, so I guess I will.

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I'm pretty new, but I thought the whole point (besides the search, which is the part I like anyway) was to take a piece of crap and replace it with a different piece of crap. There is NOTHING in the FAQ-type info on Geo-caching.com that explains that people actually expect to find something useful or semi-valuable.

 

Exactly.

 

It does seem like folks are out for what they can get in terms of intrinsic value. Just remember the forums really do represent a very tiny group of people and their opinions don't necessarily reflect the entire community. The intrinsic value of their opinions needs to be taken with grain of salt. B)

 

Continue on as you have been and have fun.

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I'm pretty new, but I thought the whole point (besides the search, which is the part I like anyway) was to take a piece of crap and replace it with a different piece of crap. There is NOTHING in the FAQ-type info on Geo-caching.com that explains that people actually expect to find something useful or semi-valuable.

 

Exactly.

 

It does seem like folks are out for what they can get in terms of intrinsic value. Just remember the forums really do represent a very tiny group of people and their opinions don't necessarily reflect the entire community. The intrinsic value of their opinions needs to be taken with grain of salt. :mad:

 

Continue on as you have been and have fun.

 

Ah, Bach!

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Clarification.

 

My family doesn't do caches to "get anything" at all. I like the TB those are cool. Just was commenting, if you were going to spend a buck... there are some really cool things you can get besides "junk."

 

The coolest thing we got was a piece of plymouth rock. Seems for no money creative folks like us can come up with more interesting stuff to spread around. I've never been to plymouth rock. But becasue of geocaching I have touched a piece of it. We went home and read about it and we had a great learning experience. I'll share the experience by placing that rock again. Thought about even making a travel bug out it.

 

So, for example if you live on the coast and you are visiting the midwest perhaps a sea shell (cost = 0) or if you live near the grand canyon, perhaps a piece of turquois from there. I have a piece of iron ore the size of a half dollar from lake Superior (cost = 0) and I have a large piece of the Berlin Wall (cost 0) i'm going to break into smaller peices and put in a plastic bag with a little typed history of the wall.

 

I just think with a minimal amount of money (or no money at all in many cases) and some forethought cachers can offer some really interesting stuff.

 

Anyone doing geocaching is above average intelligence, above average spirit and has a true sense of adventure and curiosity. I just think, in addition to the junk, we can offer some really cool stuff.

 

I just finished a reading a map reading book I bought for 50 cents on the clearance rack at half price books. It's in my cache bag. I bought my wife a new compass, her old on is in the cache bag. And yes I bought 100 of those key chains with the knife. But that was my gig.

 

I have a picture of the late Jaques Cousteau when he was filming on Lake Superior. Going to make 10 copies and drop one at several caches -- cost: 20 cents each. I also have a pciture of the Edmund Fistgerald. Cost 20 cents.

 

I think we can do better is all than JUST the plastic junk. Anyway... My thoughts. Loved the plymouth rock though whoever got that going. You'll see some cool stuff we'll be placing. Not valuable stuff, just cool stuff. Items for thr brain... and a few keychain kinives too.

 

Hope this gets you thinking is all. My family loves to learn and there are free and minimal cost projects and items we can leave behind for our fellow adventurers in addition to the MacDonald's toys for the kids. :D

 

p.s. My wife left a SpongeBob toy at one cache. Ha Ha Ha He's Ready! I'm sure someone grabbed him already.

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I'm relatively new at this but I plan on hiding a cache this weekend. I am a purchasing agent so I get a lot of cool freebies from vendors: pocket knives, unique keychains, hats, etc. The best freebie I received was a large Gatorade cooler (and no, it's not going to become a cache container). I figure I'll only put something in a cache that I would want to find. Occasionally I get unusual items from vendors that are kid oriented and those will make it in there as well. The other items I figure I will always include in my caches are a few bandaids, aspirin and iodine wipes.

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I'm pretty new, but I thought the whole point (besides the search, which is the part I like anyway) was to take a piece of crap and replace it with a different piece of crap. There is NOTHING in the FAQ-type info on Geo-caching.com that explains that people actually expect to find something useful or semi-valuable. From this thread I see I should upgrade the quality of my swag, so I guess I will.

 

I don't see anywhere where it says you should exchange pieces of crap. In fact this site's tutorial for placing a cache says:

"Lastly, you can put goodies in the cache. It's recommended, but not necessary! Some ideas of items to give as gifts:

 

* Disposable camera - Put one in and ask everyone to take a picture of themselves and put it back in the cache. Later you can develop the photos and place them online.

* Inexpensive toys - play-doh, silly putty, action figures, etc.

* CDs, VGA Cards, gift certificates, dollar bills, gold bars, etc.

 

It's up to you what you want to put in your cache, budget permitting. If you are a Dot com millionaire, I would hope you would pony up a bit of cache (err cash)..."

 

Also the FAQ from this website states:

 

...the bucket will contain the logbook and any number of more or less valuable items. These items turn the cache into a true treasure hunt. You never know what the founder or other visitors of the cache may have left there for you to enjoy. Remember, if you take something, its only fair for you to leave something in return. Items in a bucket cache could be: Maps, books, software, hardware, CD's, videos, pictures, money, jewelry, tickets, antiques, tools, games, etc...

 

Note terms such as "treasure" and "goodies", rather than "garbage, "junk" and "pieces of crap".

 

I don't think anybody expects to get rich from the things they find in caches, nor do people expect you to take out a second morgage so you can buy trade items. But to many of us, whether we trade or not, its a much more pleasant experience when you open a cache and find some interesting stuff to paw through rather than rusty key chains, broken toys, sunglasses missing lens and other stuff that should have really been thrown away. A geocache should not be a garbage can. If its garbage throw it in the trash, not the cache!

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Well if we are going to complain than let us first assist those who have no or little consideration or have little kids who deside what to put into these caches. and create 2 new ideas.

1 is a set of good ideas that others can borrow.

2 is to set up kid caches for the kids and parents to go find that would be cool for kids.

example for a kid cache is - name of cache - kid cache, jackson, wy

like i know this sounds a little chessy but will be placing 2 motercycles with guys on them and sending them off too see the states and canada. basicly too chase each other.

 

remember we all must share.

my consept of sharing means no fighting, arguing, and no fist fights, also no complaints.

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The quality of trade items is the responsibility of both the seeker and the hider. If you don't have anything to leave, just sign and log your visit. The hider appreciates a log more than trinkets no one will take, especially if a cache is small.

 

The hider is responsible for maintaining the cache which means checking on the condition, location and contents often. One of my caches is a letterbox and it amazes me that people don't know what that is or don't know how to use an ink pad properly. I have to maintain that cache once a week just to clean up the ink.

 

When I cache with something in mind to collect, the value of the contents of each cache rises considerably. I also love it when a vistor to one of my caches helps if something has gone wrong. Recently the ink from my stamp got all over the pen so they left a new pen.

 

Bottom line: give what you would like to receive.

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My log from a cache I did today:

 

Cache container has fallen prey to crappy trades! Removed 2 candy items, a chewed-on smelly eraser, an open band-aid, a couple of hair clips (one of which was NOT new), and a gnawed-on smelly pencil (I wonder if the "smelly" attracted critters? It could easily be mistaken for edibles to something with that sense of smell!)... put in a couple of Mighty Beanz, a 1979 Mardi Gras doubloon, an "I Love Baseball" lanyard, & a couple of TeamVilla5's new signature smiley pens... also took Dasher the TB!

 

Now... ANYone should know better than to put chewed-upon erasers, used hair doodads, and one bandaid with the wrapper partially open into a cache for others!

 

Happy Caching!

Lori V.

TeamVilla5

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As a semi-newbie (definitely sticking around, but still under 50 finds), I would like to say that I still like finding nifty stuff in caches. Trading is fun, when there's anything to play with. I like themes, so I got myself stuff that all goes together. (If you see a short chick with red hair, backpack, coat... that would be me. :tired: I've discovered that for me, being obvious and harmless is better urban camo than being subtle, and I don't really need nature camo.) So, I didn't buy expensive things, but I am trying to get things that fit with either a Fire theme or a Fairy one, and it all has to be something I think is neat or would have thought was neat when I was younger.

 

So, I've got a bag full of swag that I wouldn't mind finding in a cache, most of which cost me a dollar. Some of the tiny stuff came in sets, so those are less, but I like having something I can leave in medicine-bottle minis. Some of them are a bit more, but they fit my theme really well, like the fire-patterned yo-yo ball. Fire pattern, nifty fun toy suitable for entertaining pixies for days. :tired: Cheapest items once they are broken out into singles, micro matchbox cars with flame paint jobs, $1.75 for five, I think. Most expensive would probably be the personal fan with LEDs in the "blades" so that you get a light show when you use it, $5.

 

Stuff I've picked up includes a rainbow smiley keychain, a 20 something coin (don't know what nation yet), a little packet of geocaching stuff, a small wooden pendant carved like an african mask, and a "lucky caching stone". Basically, give it some style, and you're probably good. If you think it's crap, no one else is really going to want it either...

 

Firefairy

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It never fails to amaze me the kind of garbage I find in caches.

People will spend more on gas to get to the cache site, then they will on trade items.

That's just wrong.

 

Going to a movie gives you a couple of hours of entertainment and costs from 10 to 15 bucks.

Why not spend just half that for the trade items you'll need for a few hours caching?

Is that too much to ask?

 

The person who hid the cache did a lot of work, so that you could have fun. As a finder, you owe that person the respect of not placing garbage in their cache.

 

Also, you are effecting the experience of the finders who follow you. If you leave garbage, then you are insulting you the cachers who come after you.

 

Really, it only costs a few bucks for some really cool stuff at a 99c store to be better than the garbage in most caches.

 

Thanks for letting me vent.

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I've taken to carrying a bunch of stuff, small and large, in my cache bag, from carabiners to books. I left a book, a chessboard and a game in a cache not long ago, it was a neat cache and my son found a toy car in it, but there was a lot of "cache cruft". Hopefully I improved it somewhat.

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Another thing I like to leave is something that helps out the environment or encourges environmentalist ideals in some way. It can be anything. For example, I recently bought some of those double ended cloth tubes that you use to store and reuse plastic grocery bags. You stuff the bags in one end, and pull them out the bottom as needed. It's made of cloth and easy to stuff into a cache. It's cheap. It's useful. (I use one in my own kitchen) And it's unique.

 

Maybe some people would think it's stupid, but others might like it.

 

Also, I've found film canisters stuffed with a plastick bag and a card that said you should use the bag to carry out trash, then put a new bag in it and drop it in the next cache. That's cool.

 

I'm also thinking about picking up a few pocket books editions of environmental books, like Walden, or John Muir's writings...

 

Toys for kids are always cheap and can be quite cool.

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Today I went on my first cache and the best thing was a deck of cards from a cruse boat the rest was junk. I left a whistle key chain (yes it was plastic but brand new) and a mini jigsaw puzzle also brand new. I must admit I spent 75cent for both I don’t have a lot of money; it took me 3 years to buy a GPS! I am going to make a cache and I was going to put in it, a carabineer flash light (I put a new battery in it), a little first aid kit, a mini jigsaw puzzle, a kaleidoscope, a around your neck key chain clip, a flashing ball clip, a Clifford bobble head, a (old but all the peaces are there) twister key chain, and a plastic whistle key chain. Is that ok trade items?

 

I was just reading more and people leave FTF prizes? I guess I will have to get one..

Actually, yep, that sounds like some super swag! Something for everyone, so to speak - some nifty stuff for kids, some neat stuff for the adults, and everyone's happy.

Well, except the people who're going to complain about everything and even they're happy because you gave 'em a new cache to complain about. :unsure:

 

You don't have to leave FTF prizes. We usually don't - and they're quite the rarity around here. We've left them in a couple of our caches because those particular caches were either more difficult than usual, or we wanted to draw some attention to them, so we left an FTF prize.

 

Some good swag that has always gone over well in our area is brand-new decks of cards. We'll seed a cache with a deck or two and then by the next weekend they're gone. We stocked one of our caches with seven decks of cards recently - a month later it's down to 2 decks.

We get 'em by the megapack at Sam's Club - I'm sure Costco or some other warehouse-type store would carry them as well. We get a dozen decks for around $9.

Mini-glowsticks seem to go over well, too - and we can get BIG megapacks of those things from the dollar store.

Honestly, it doesn't have to cost a lot: if I'm trolling through Sam's, or Wal-Mart, or wherever and I see something that I think, "Hey, that looks neat! I'd like to have one of those!" I might pick up a few for caches. I think the most I've ever spent on a single cache item is $2. Pin-on compasses, compass / whistle combo, lanyards - all that stuff will be appreciated and not one of them is over $3 each. WAY less if you can get it on sale.

 

I honestly think that the "degradation" isn't so much the cost of the items in the cache, it's the value. How valuable or useful is half a McToy? Not very. How valuable / useful is a dirty golf ball? Extremely, according to the 3-year-old son of a caching friend of mine. How valuable / useful is a $1 pack of AA batteries? Priceless if your GPSr is beeping at you and will turn off in 30 seconds when *BINGO* there's the cache.

Similarly, the cards are also priceless if you're out camping, you're all set up, and...now what? Dinner's over...you've run out of conversation...too early to go to bed, but too dark to read.

Things of low cost / price can still be of very high value.

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I wonder if cache contents are truly examined. I'm fairly new to the hobby (only approaching 20 finds). I only take an item when my kids are with me. I leave a rather unique (and comparatively valuable) signature item - yet reviewing logs, I see that only a couple of cachers have taken the item. This leads me to believe that experienced cachers typically sign the log and maybe leave a trade item - not bothering to look at the rest being cynical / jaded as to what what might be found in the cache. True?

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I'm relatively new at this but I plan on hiding a cache this weekend. I am a purchasing agent so I get a lot of cool freebies from vendors: pocket knives, unique keychains, hats, etc. The best freebie I received was a large Gatorade cooler (and no, it's not going to become a cache container). I figure I'll only put something in a cache that I would want to find. Occasionally I get unusual items from vendors that are kid oriented and those will make it in there as well. The other items I figure I will always include in my caches are a few bandaids, aspirin and iodine wipes.

Oops! Sorry - NO pocket knives! Sorry 'bout that. I still have tons of cool swag to put in the caches.

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i usually only take sig. items or tbs anymore, and i leave froggies (which some may think are junk, but i happen to think are adorable) and mini playing cards or bubbles. usually i go to the party store and buy in bulk things i happen to like, hoping others will like them too, or hit the camping aisle or walmart and look for something cost effective. i'm always on the lookout when i'm shopping for something inexpensive that is pretty neat -- at bed bath and beyond i found these things called "spa eyes" that had liquid in them that you could heat or refrigerate and i thought "hey, those would great for the reluctant spouse of a geocacher! so i bought two. they were only $1.99, and if you pick things up off the cuff, you're much less likely to think of the total cost. anytime i pick something up it ends up in my bag until mext time i go out. clearance racks are great too. :unsure:

 

Had the same thing happen with one of my caches. Out of towners came and logged this: We took the high tech Light Weight Camp Stove, and left our TB. These are people with almost 500 finds! I was a bit disappointed but also surprised that they had the gall to log it!

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... And yes I bought 100 of those key chains with the knife. But that was my gig.

 

... You'll see some cool stuff we'll be placing. Not valuable stuff, just cool stuff. Items for thr brain... and a few keychain kinives too.

May I ask you to please not leave your keychain knives if you ever happen to visit one of my caches, so as to save me having to remove them upon my next maintenance visit? Thanks!

 

Reference: "Cache Contents" section of the Cache Listing Requirements/ Guidelines

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