Trading Up And Good Trades

[markandlynn]

OK Swaps love or hate em how many Mc Toys are there??

Whenever I talk about geocaching to muggles they always ask what do you get in the cache? i believe a lot of people give up when they realise there is not much real treasure out there

We are now preparing to swap or have swapped

Old computer disks and games.

Books.

Corporate gifts.

CD's, DVD,s and videos (usually free ones with magazines/ newspapers)

Plus toys for the kids.

has anyone else got some good ideas for this sort of stuff? the books are definitely a good idea as we have far to many, and we are planning on raiding the white elephant store a the next school fate.

[JackiePenn]

When I got hold of them I often leave the corporate promotional gifts like you have mentioned. Some of these gifts are pretty neat, I have left in (my own) caches a wireless mouse, FM radio pen and earphones and watches.

 

 

Currently I have a few luggage carabiners which have a built in compass and digital clock. HERE is one supplier for that item.

 

I keep an eye on eBay for bulk sales of interesting items.

Edited November 19, 2004 by stonefisk

[+leecee]

I'm trying to get away from trading toys and novelties and have started leaving things which might come in useful, particularly in out of the way caches. So far I've got a supply of emergency whistles, walking boot laces, survival bags, that sort of thing.

[+Haggis Hunter]

I keep an eye on eBay for bulk sales of interesting items.

How do you manage to find these bulk items on Ebay??

[+McDeHack]

What I have been doing recently is just leaving the tut from one cache and putting it into another.

It is still just the fun/skill finding the cache.

[+Firth of Forth]

There's no excuse for poor swaps, IMHO. There are lots of inexpensive things that are good to use - batteries, battery cases (look at 7dayshop.com), a book of stamps, keyrings, bookmarks, wee toys and cuddly toys for kids, books (as has already been mentioned), stationery items, packets of seeds etc etc.

 

I cant remember the last time I saw a McD toy in a cache in Scotland - it was certainly a very long time ago. An English cacher touring Scotland recently commented to me that the cache contents here are much better, and I wonder whether one of the reasons might be that we are a relatively small geocaching community, and would feel that we are letting others down by leaving rubbish. Or the myth about tight-fisted Scots is just a load of rubbish. Most caches I have done recently are very well stocked, often with things like PC games, matchbox cars, computer leads, personal organisers, calculators and so on.

[+Team Ullium]

I heartily agree with FoF .... and lots of times I have to TNLN because I don't feel I can match the value (not necessarily money value) of the item I would like to take!

 

I made an exception though for the euthanasia kit I took recently (I always thought it was spelt echanasia ... to boost ones immune system...but Angela assured me this was the American spelling!) and left a card giving the Samaritan's telephone number

 

Ullium.

[JackiePenn]

I keep an eye on eBay for bulk sales of interesting items.

How do you manage to find these bulk items on Ebay??

The is a section called Wholesale and Job Lots

 

There is an auction for 24 Mens ELEPHANT THONGS right now... click click click.

Edited November 19, 2004 by stonefisk

[+wigglesworth]

While we often resort to TNLN we always have a swap handy if we find something which takes our fancy eg candles, book, small torch (which never did work properly). Our present items we take to trade include compass, small torch (which works), music CDs, pens.

We have been surprised to find the odd £ coin which suggests that someone was desperate to trade and resorted to buying!

Peter

Edited November 19, 2004 by wigglesworth

[+Haggis Hunter]

I keep an eye on eBay for bulk sales of interesting items.

How do you manage to find these bulk items on Ebay??

The is a section called Wholesale and Job Lots

 

There is an auction for 24 Mens ELEPHANT THONGS right now... click click click.

Thanks for the link Stonefisk, That is now a category that I will keep in my favourites.

I wish I could afford £48 at the moment, but I think I would have to tie a knot in the trunk though

[+mdshamilton]

I hate finding caches stuffed full of McToys! There really is no excuse for trying to peddle that crap to people who take the time to find a cache, write in the logbook etc. For less than £10 you can find all sorts of fun stuff at Woolworths from Matchbox cars, to pens, cello tape, stickers...the list is endless. But dumping your McToys in a container because your own kids don't want that rubbish is inexcusable. I recently visited a cache and was very thankful that I always bring several Matchbox cars with me for my own kids (they get a choice, they can have a Matchbox car or swap the car for something from the cache). Well, in this case the entire cache was McToys and BurgerKing toys too!

[+Fangsy]

This time of year I think a good item to leave in caches is a small but nice diary or something similar. Local post office here is selling pocket sized ones in something close to leather for £1 each, and they have the usual useful information in their first few pages

 

I like looking in the £-shops too, sometimes there are some cool and nifty things more interesting than McToys etc.

[+Another Mr Lizard]

In my experience multi-caches attract better swaps. Is this because people want to "reward" the cache for the effort involved? Or is it just that harder multis get less visits, and the quality tends to degrade as more people visit?

 

If we could agree on a definifntion of "swap quality", it would make a good statistics project!

 

I always save my best swaps for ammo boxes rather than tupperware boxes because I have yet to find a waterlogged ammo box.

 

My favourite stuff to leave:

* Cheapish art supplies from shops like The Works

* Mini first aid kits

* Glasses cleaner (for us optically challenged types who insist on caching in the rain)

* Home-made geocaching fridge magnets

* Books registered on www.bookcrossing.com

[+mdshamilton]

Anyone know where I can find a cheap ammo box in SW London?

[+Another Mr Lizard]

I don't know about SW London, but there are online army surplus shops which will deliver an ammo box direct to your door. I haven't bought any myself though, so I can't recommend one...

[+Team Maddie UK]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones who has a great £ shop nearby that carries a wide range of items. From tools to coffee cups, date books to colouring books. I can find a lot of great swop items for both young and old...male and female.

I do try to leave items for both adults and children when swapping, and often take nothing but leave items to help build up the cache.

Lynn

[+BountyHunter1]

one of my other hobbies is woodturning an im going to try and turn ( all good practice) some small gifts ie light pulls or wine stoppers, (ive got 2 brand new ones never been used, never any wine left to need a stopper when mrs bountyhunter1 and i get through. stuff like this, any body got any woodturning gift ideas that wood fit in a cache box :)

Edited November 24, 2004 by BountyHunter1

[+one4zorro]

Anyone know where I can find a cheap ammo box in SW London?

I have had a similar search recently - it appears that because of the Gulf War these items are in short supply. I finally got some from Flectarn

 

5 cost me £36 including post.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Martin

[+John & Hazel]

one of my other hobbies is woodturning an im going to try and turn ( all good practice) some small gifts ie light pulls or wine stoppers, (ive got 2 brand new ones never been used, never any wine left to need a stopper when mrs bountyhunter1  and i get through. stuff like this, any body got any woodturning gift ideas that wood fit in a cache box

How about a devious Micro container?

[the transformers]

Books are an amazing idea, espescially if you combine geocaching with bookcrossing.com I found a book last night in a cache, which the placer believes is the first geocaching/book crossing crossover. Check it out.

[+Haggis Hunter]

Books are an amazing idea, espescially if you combine geocaching with bookcrossing.com I found a book last night in a cache, which the placer believes is the first geocaching/book crossing crossover. Check it out.

I made a cache that was for book swapping, it appears to have gone down a treat with the cachers who have found it.

[markandlynn]

Christmas cards!!! We are leaving one for the cache owner and one for next cacher HAPPY CHRISTMAS everyone. Not sure what to do about those micros though

[mikethetemplar]

markandlynn, what a brilliant idea, I wish I had thought of that. For micros, I have started to leave "disarmed" fishing flies which don't take up much space and can be very attractive in a sparkly sort of way, perhaps that is why some are called "Christmas trees"

[+Brenin Tegeingl]

micros, I have started to leave "disarmed" fishing flies which don't take up much space and can be very attractive in a sparkly sort of way, perhaps that is why some are called "Christmas trees

 

Mike your leaving a "Signature Item" if you would like me to put one on Geocachers Signature Display Board No 1 I'll do so with plesure ! Just contact me through my profile and I'll send you my Snail address.

 

Dave