Setting A $$ Value On Cache Items

May 27, 2005

Honestly I'm getting sick of finding happymeal type toys in caches. Do you think it would be ok to set an aproximate $$ value for items in a cache? Of course the name of the cache and description would explain nicely that people should only leave items worth a certain value. Comments....

2.7k · May 27, 2005

I don't think it's a bad idea, in principle, however I don't think it'll actually do anything in the long run.

18.9k · May 27, 2005

The worst thing that could happen is more McToys - try it and see what happens - let us know.

May 27, 2005

Honestly I'm getting sick of finding happymeal type toys in caches. Do you think it would be ok to set an aproximate $$ value for items in a cache? Of course the name of the cache and description would explain nicely that people should only leave items worth a certain value. Comments....

hey, those McToys are not cheap.. a happy meal with milk and apples is like $5.00 Just kidding.

I would guess that a $$ would only work within a very private group. Anything open to the public (even geocaching) will eventually be reduced to a "McToyzian" cache.. :laughing: If you had a local group only, then it might survive.

Nah, probably not... :laughing:

May 27, 2005

I think it's a terrible idea, but what do I know?

When I go to a cache, I *expect* to find McToys, golf balls and the like. Anything more than that is a pleasant surprise.

*sigh*. I guess no matter how much we say "It's not about the [numbers/swag]", for some people it really is about the [numbers/swag].

I think I'll start a cache with a dollar bill in it and set the rules to be take as much money as you like, but you must always trade up and leave more than you take. Then I'll clean it out every couple of months. :laughing:

Edited May 27, 2005 by ParrotRob

24.7k · May 27, 2005

You can set the value and I will just not trade at all if I can't live up to whatever value you happen to set. If I trade for a state quarter and your value is 2 bucks I'd likely ignore your rule and substitute my judgment for that quarter.

I understand your frustration. The best way to deal with it is to collect McToys and take them to the shooting range...

May 27, 2005

Renegade, how about some pics of dead McToys?

May 27, 2005

The best way to deal with it is to collect McToys and take them to the shooting range...

The oven works too. :laughing:

11.3k · May 27, 2005

Honestly I'm getting sick of finding happymeal type toys in caches. Do you think it would be ok to set an aproximate $$ value for items in a cache? Of course the name of the cache and description would explain nicely that people should only leave items worth a certain value. Comments....

Someone here tried to do that with a "Gothic"-themed cache.

It didn't take long for him to change the cache description to state something like, "Initially I stated that only items worth at least $5.00 would be traded in this cache. That idea didn't last very long." :laughing:

But, you can sure try. I have some good swag, but I haven't traded in quite a while because I just haven't found anything I've wanted.

May 27, 2005

We recently placed a cache that we requested finders only trade more costly items. We filled it with items ranging from $3 to $10. So far every person has traded fairly even or in some cases traded up significantly.

It should also be noted that we placed this cache in a very nice trail that not many people in these parts new about. Made it a nice long hike along a very beautiful trail. And also made it a longer than average hike for our area. We have also had plenty of positive comments about it.

My feeling is that because we didn't make it a cache n dash, and made it a out of the ordinary experience. People are more happy to trade something a little more if they trade at all.

If you build it, they may come!

May 27, 2005

I don't think we'll ever see something in a cache box that'll become a family heirloom. (One man's trash is another man's ...). If I don't see anything worth trading for or I can't trade even or up, I sign 'TNLNSL'. Nothing to it.

:laughing:

May 27, 2005

I just started this hobby a couple months ago, and I have never seen a cache that is anything but McToys (i.e. I haven't been to a new cache yet). I just spent a lot of time and money to put out a fairly decent themed cache. I kept it for paid users only, so far it only has two finds, the first finder kept the theme, and the next one did a TNLN.

My point is this, I expect to keep this cache away from McToydom by refreshing it every now and then...when it starts to get crappy I'll add some nice stuff and take out some of the junk. As a new cacher, I will probably only keep a couple hides that are larger caches, a do a bunch of hides that are micros/multi's etc, and concentrate on making the find new and exciting. By having fewer larger caches hopefully, I can manage to maintain them a little easier.

May 27, 2005

As a low budget geocacher I try and stay away from Mctoys. A person if they hunt around dollar stores or watch out for sales can get some nice stuff and stay on budget.

Recently a craft store near home had a sale I picked up a pile of fun shape sizors for 2$ a piece. Mctoys are not nessary for low budget cachers and staying out of Micky Ds will help your heath as well

2.3k · May 27, 2005

In one of my multi-caches, I have put a suggested value of trade for things like geocoins that are meant to be kept. The note on the coin says trade for a $4-5 item or cash. This has been successful. At one point I had to remove a bunch of cash and buy some new items (laser pointers, LED flashlights, AA niMh bats, etc.)

20.7k · May 27, 2005

You know, the first cache basically was full of junk.

Most of the caches I found early on didn't really have anything of real monetary value in them. Is it really about the trinks to you?

I clearly don't understand your thinking.

I like to cache. I like 'regular'-sized caches the best. I used to enjoy the trading aspect. I know several cachers who like to trade and keep a rememberence of each cache. At a couple bucks per cache, my wife would quickly forbid me from playing. She would be right to do so.

May 28, 2005

from all the feedback.. it looks like this isn't the best idea. I guess i have alot of what i consider cool swag (ie.. older PC games and lots of dvd's that i never watch anymore) now if there were more larger containers to put them in.. also I realize that the age range is very large in geocaching and to many cachers mctoys are great treasures. hmmm and yes i guess if you did 5 caches at $5 a pop that could get kind of pricy. :laughing:

Edited May 28, 2005 by WxGuesser

38.2k · May 28, 2005

from all the feedback.. it looks like this isn't the best idea. I guess i have alot of what i consider cool swag (ie.. older PC games and lots of dvd's that i never watch anymore) now if there were more larger containers to put them in.. also I realize that the age range is very large in geocaching and to many cachers mctoys are great treasures. hmmm and yes i guess if you did 5 caches at $5 a pop that could get kind of pricy.

Go ahead and place your nice swag in caches. People will appreciate them. Some will trade in kind, but there are obviously others who see a cache as a free commisary. Just look at the items as a gift to the geocaching communty.

I know its disappointing to fill a cache with nice stuff, only to check on it 6 months later and find it filled with garbabe, but you have to accept that its just the way it is.

May 28, 2005

Geocaching is a great hobby for all folks, especially kids.

If a fun toy brings joy to the kids, so why not accomodate them??

It's not the monetary value of the items in the cache, but the "hunt" for the cache.

Let's all have fun! :laughing:

2.4k · May 28, 2005

It's possible that setting a $$ limit might make the cache fill up with McToys even faster -- someone who might have traded one toy for something nice might now feel obligated to leave five or six of them to reach the limit. :laughing:

2.3k · May 28, 2005

Geocaching is a great hobby for all folks, especially kids.

If a fun toy brings joy to the kids, so why not accomodate them??

It's not the monetary value of the items in the cache, but the "hunt" for the cache.

Let's all have fun!

There's a phrase in my industry, also -- "perceived value." Caching with a family takes time. How much would you trade for time with the family?

And, if a kid is excited as heck about finding a McToy, then the perceived value is well worth the time!

38.2k · May 28, 2005

It's possible that setting a $$ limit might make the cache fill up with McToys even faster -- someone who might have traded one toy for something nice might now feel obligated to leave five or six of them to reach the limit.

That's true. Some people feel leaving several pieces of junk in turn for one nice one is an even trade. I've seen numerous logs like "Took the new Mag Lite. Left some belly button lint, an expired Sanka coupon, half a toy soldier, a Snickers wrapper, a rusty key chain and a 2002 penny".

May 28, 2005

I'm fairly new to geocaching, but have had a lot of fun finding caches so far. I put some thought into getting some trade goods to bring with me, and at a recent cache in Florida, I found an ammo box with about 80% McTrinkets and a few cool items. I wanted to do an "even" trade, so I left a nice, new large caribeener (maybe $2 value) in the cache, and took a nice little plaque in trade.

A week later, I saw a log entry:

"took gold clip thingy; left GI Joe head that I found while bushwhacking to this cache."

Geez - that's LITERALLY trading trash for stash :-) I've always felt a little bad that someone picked up some garbage off the ground they found by happenstance, and traded it for something I actually put some thought into.

After thinking it over a bit, I realized that this sort of thing is an inevitable result of the increasing popularity of geocaching. Waaay back in the day, I was a moderator on BIX (a now-defunct online forum run by BYTE Magazine). This was in pre-internet days, and back when CompuServe was the AOL of the online world. At BIX, the overall quality and the signal-to-noise ratio was amazingly high. Most of the participants paid to be there, and were subscribers to BYTE, so we had lots of professionals who cared about the forum and their own reputations. It was a lot of fun, and generally was free of the kind of flames and brain-dead posts that CompuServe was prone to. One day, BIX did some kind of "merge" with the subscribers from a less techie-oriented board, and almost immediately you saw the qualify of BIX start to drop. The old saw that goes something like "people are ok, but the public sucks" comes to mind.

I think that any sport that starts off with a small, dedicated group based on trust and mutual respect is going to have very high quality indeed, but then that level of caring leads to increased popularity, with that leads to "the public" getting involved. Just look around these forum boards. Already they are showing many signs of increasing noise, rudeness and intolerance. And plenty of folks who've been here since "the old days" talk about how things used to be better. I think there will be more and more of that devolution in the sport: in the forums, it'll be flame wars and rudeness; in the caches it'll be more poorly maintained caches, poorly thought-out micros, McTrinketizing and vandalization of caches, etc.

The good news is that the core concept of the sport - the hunt - is safe and sound. I think that many newbies (and I'm one of them) are going to quickly move toward the "TNLNSL" approach, rather than spend a lot of time on trade goods. And that's OK! What will be interesting to me is to see how many new "traditional" caches with ammo cans and such and good trade goods still get hidden.

There are so many things to like about geocaching - the hunt for hidden things, getting to know new areas, having a great excuse to go out and enjoy the great outdoors - that I think the sport is safe and sound at its base. But I do think that the overall flavor of the sport is going to change greatly from the early days, and the involvement of "the public" is going to lead to an overall drop in the quality of the caches and a decrease in the signal-to-noise ratio in the forums. Hopefully, we won't become the new "ATV'ers" of the world, where we run rampant over so many resources that we become a scourge. But I think it's realistic to see that as a possiblity.

For my part, I am going to try to be someone who lends something to the sport. Rather than doing quick hides of my own, I'm trying to find enough caches to get a better understanding of what makes for a good hide, and a good cache. When I'm ready, I'm going to try to hide a "good" traditional cache, and yes - I'm going to put some good stuff in there to start. And I'm going to hope that when I come back to it, it's got some neat stuff in trade...but I probably won't be too surprised to find junk instead. I guess that'll determine whether I become another micro-king :-)

In the meantime, though, I'm probably going to do a bit more TNLN of my own, and I'm still going to enjoy every one of them!

Cheers!

..Chris..

3.3k · May 28, 2005

I like your idea, but if it doesn't work, you can change the theme to a "don't trade up" cache

May 30, 2005

all good points... i'm setting up the cache tonight.. maybe place it tomorrow morning.

May 30, 2005

I would repect any request from a cache owner. I've left many neat things in a cache just because I didn't have a trade of equal value. Others don't. Just yesterday I came across a cache filled with cheap trinkets. The last person to find the cash wrote in the log that he took the neat flashlight and left a hair band. Yep, there was a rubber hair band in the cache. Sometimes I cache for the count, sometimes I cache for the hunt, but most of the time I cache because it gets me off my butt and into the fresh air.

1k · May 30, 2005

Sometimes I cache for the count, sometimes I cache for the hunt, but most of the time I cache because it gets me off my butt and into the fresh air.

Bravo!

If you're in it just for the swag, you will probably be disappointed most of the time.

Its not the destination, its the journey.

Edited May 30, 2005 by tabulator32

May 30, 2005

I usually only trade if it's a milestone find or either it's something really cool. But just how many times do you see something really cool or usefull? I'm currently working on a 5/5 with a cach'n bud and I will be leaving an item that's valued around 30 bucks in it. Of course that's retail cost and but it might not be worth that to the few that complete the grueling cache in the future.

I think with the minimal cost of premium memberships you wouldn't necessarily keep good swag in a cache. You just have to hope there's "honest" and "respectable" cachers in your neck of the woods. When I start out a cache I will normally fill it with Dollar Tree items, I don't see the point of spending all the money to end up with a golf ball or mctoy collection. Oh, how could I not mention those cheesey plastic snakes, spiders, bugs, and army men.

I had a cache that had an item that I really wanted but nothing I had to trade would fit so I left 5 bucks in the cache. I felt that was more than adequate for the trade. A future cacher took the 5 bucks and left a travel bug. Nope, not even unactivated, it was simply a travel bug. Great trade they did, huh?

5.7k · May 30, 2005

Sometimes I cache for the count, sometimes I cache for the hunt, but most of the time I cache because it gets me off my butt and into the fresh air.

Bravo!

If you're in it just for the swag, you will probably be disappointed most of the time.

Its not the destination, its the journey.

Right on Dude.

Setting A $$ Value On Cache Items

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