I haven't heard anything for a while. Is there going to be an '08 Maine Geocoin?:confused:
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I haven't heard anything for a while. Is there going to be an '08 Maine Geocoin?:confused:
from what we understand we are waiting for final pricing and then we should hear something more about it.
I was hoping to have final numbers by this weekend, but had other things I was trying to finish (pellet stove install and some other stuff). Has to be this next week.
Is it to late to change the coin to the 2009 geocoin?.....It won't be out for sale until 2009!
I agree. I think it should now be a 2009 geocoin if we do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mapachi
I kind of agree,it would only be a matter of changing the one digit from an 8 to a 9
It would be too bad to miss lovely ol' 2008. Maybe a combo coin?:confused:
Question: Is there a designated person or committee that normally coordinates both the creation and purchase of these coins? Seems too bad to miss a year.:confused:
alot of other coins are just getting out for 2008. some are just starting the presale as well. this year has been a huge coin making year. i feel that a 2008 coin is good and if we go to a combo it should be 2009 - 2010 that way the year is always even. i feel as a group we did good agreeing on whats happened with the coin so far. wouldn't changing a number mean we need a new die mold for the coin and wouldn't that mean more time waiting? a discusion on our next coin would be good to start if there can be a next coin or if people want a next coin. believe me as soon as the coin is posted for sale i will be among the first to buy them.
We're waiting for the 2008 coin also, We have 2007 ,and would like to have one for each year We cached here in Maine. Besides there are a couple of us chompin' at the bit to create a 2009 design. I'm getting 2 coins 1 for us and one for DBank.
Opalsns
No, there is not. Sudonim had done a great job the past few years helping us with the ordering and collection of payments, but no one has stepped up to the plate to see that the coin process flows smoothly.Quote:
Originally Posted by dubord207
On October 31st of last year I got the ball rolling with this thread, after the subject was brought up in Maine chat the night before. In that thread, I also sent out a couple pleas for someone to take the coin project on and help Sudonim with the process. And yet, no one offered. A few people pushed at different times and it seems like the coin will happen, over a year after I started that thread.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but if members want to produce a coin or see any other project happen, someone needs to step up and take it on. If we're going to have a coin next year, we are already behind compared to last year, since it's already November 11th and it hasn't been discussed.
As far as whether to keep this a 2008 coin or make it 2009, I think I lean toward 2008, but will go with the majority.
Typically the only problem I've had was soliciting artwork ideas. If you'd have seen my artistic talents, you'd know why!
This year was a little different. By the time we finally got a design and got the estimates back from the manufacturer, I was knee deep in a couple of other projects. I still hope to have a final price this week, but it should have been out 3 weeks ago. Life gettin' in the way...
Just to clarify, once the coin process was underway, I've had great response on any help I've needed, from stuffing envelopes to shipping and even envelope supply (thanks Barry). I just have to plug all the numbers into Excel and get the "real" coin price with shipping. Since my intent is not to make any money on the coin, I want to make sure the numbers are good so I'm not losing on it either.
I'm excited about this coin sight unseen. I'm new to caching and coins. Starting my Maine geocoin collection and would love it if anyone had the back years they would be willing to sell. Anyone?
Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
Actually, Your wrong,
I volunteered on several posts to help get the ball rolling and was, of course, shot down and my ideas questioned. You can ask Medaweisla about that because she READ the posts. Or I can cut and paste them to this thread so you can read them !
BTW, We were introduced to landsharkz by Hollora , ordered our 1 st coin in June, recieved it end of August, Got a CUSTOM Icon with only 250 coins ordered, Approved the design of our second coin Yesterday and We should have it in February.
Thank You Hollora !!!!!!!!:D:o:D:o:)
Maybe the board shold use another coin maker ???????:rolleyes:
Opalsns
Opalsns - you are welcome :) but I caution it doesn't always go as smooth as you described. :eek:
You produced your own coin with family and there were I am sure a limited number of people to make decisions. The decision making and approval process takes time and can slow down or delay things. Also, the Chinese New Year! :mad: Which can slow things to a total halt until they return to the factories.
You have been fortunate, your timing has not run into that season or there were not mint hitches (which do happen and are beyond the control of the coin company). The more people involved with decisions (a couple of pals as cachers vs. family, a group of a few vs. largre group such as GCM or others) the slower decisions are made. A while ago I had a very experienced Geocoiner tell me - the less people involved in working on and approving a coin the better - 4 is the absolute max! That individual has done a lot of coins.
All of the Geocaching.com Groundspeak rules (and there are rules - the design even has to be approved by Groundspeak) are available for anyone to read on the Groundspeak web site, in the Forums on Geocoins. They are there for any interested person to learn more about producing a coin.
As for changing companies, GCM has a relationship with Coins & Pins (I believe they did the first coin). I also believe money was saved on the second coin by reusing one half of a die from the first coin. Working with one company is not a bad thing as they know you and you know them.
The company I recommended was one of several I would have done business with. They just happened to be the one we used for the MPQ coin. Coins and Pins is extremely good and very reputable.
As for the quality of the coins - I have many coins and they are about all the same......landsharkz coins are coming down the line of the same factory doing coins for lillysue and many other "coin makers" doing Geocoins. The mint is just minting what they are told.
The coin is not what "coin maker" did it - it is the design, the elements, the marketing, advertising, method of selling, the pricing and a ton of other things which make a coin popular, collected and a winna!
JMHO - last but not least, I believe Sudonim is doing this through his business so we are in compliance regarding Maine state law on sales! :D For that I thank him!
Thanks brdad and Sudonim for responding to my questions. So now I'll ask a few more. So Andy runs the money through his personal account? Does Geocaching Maine have an account where our donations go? If so, why wouldn't that be the place to accept coin deposits and pay for the coins? Seems odd to me to have one member to be the only person responsible for the finances. It's great that he's willing to do that but it's not what I see in the many non-profits I do work for.
So who manages the usual financial end of the organization and/or the checkbook? I know we're not talking about Wall Street financing here but I'm genuinely curious about these type of matters as the viability of most organizations is usually directly proportional to the checkbook balance. While I participated in a recent thread about donation levels I would like to now know more about who is saddled with the responsibility with the finances. Maybe nobody cares and if that's the case fine but if there's just a few "worker bees" doing all the work then maybe that explains why so few of the "members" even took the time to vote.
I note that the discussion about the design didn't even end until Jul 1, 2008! LOL!Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
You are right WhereRWe!!:D and hence part of the reason this has taken so long......Quote:
Originally Posted by WhereRWe?
If this had been a joint project, where we each could buy the number we wanted and personalize the trackable coin bought as a group for ourseleves like the GeoJellies geocoin project and a few others, the delay would be understandable..to get everyone to agree and get the orders in....but, this dragged on for what seems like eternity:eek:.....mostly go get the design nailed down........:confused::mad::confused:
And.......don't ask........No, I will not organize a joint coin project.
Woo Hoo, Hollora,Quote:
Originally Posted by hollora
Now I'll go to my corner !!!
I'm sorry I misunderstood you at the event . I thought you recommened Landsharkz to us, Because you didn't mention another company.:confused:
Also, there were only 2 of us on our design not a whole membership of people, so the design did come fast and we are using our same back so there isn't a new die charge for the back and it's alot cheaper.
All our designs were approved by Groundspeak, Including the use of the Regestered Trademak Travel Bug. :pWE are one of the few they approve for use of TB on a Geocoin.That approval didn't take long at all.
I never mentioned the marketing or selling of the coins, so I don't know what your talking about there. :confused::confused::confused:They don't have to be marketed to us, The Organization already wants them and are willing to buy them. Any Geocoin is a winner, they are all popular and collected, so much so that they get stolen from caches, and sold for big bucks on ebay.
I never mentioned the quality of the coin. I havn't seen a cheaply made coin yet so I never thought of a cheaper quality.
We keep all our coins and sell them rather than letting dealers get them on preorder and sell them for the bigbucks. If you sell 10 on the Geocaching.com forum, those 10 will be on ebay before they recieve them.
Remember the Lois that got 30.00 for a Pirate Quest coin on Ebay. We emailed each other about it.
GM.com could sell cheaper to members and get an ebay account and sell them to collectors and get the $20, and $30 dollar bids that dealers get, that would get Sudonum his money back quicker and make xtra for the site to ease Attroll's burden.
And I didn't know we were using Sudonum's company. Maybe that's why he handles everything. Thank You to him.
And I'm sorry to Duboard for going sidetrack , I was responding to the "no help from the group" comment.
Opalsns
Ps... I sent an email to Coins and Pins re: our coin. Two weeks later, I hadn't heard from them. That's why I asked you.
As far as the coin goes, I set up a checking account linked to a new paypal account just for the coins. It doesn't go through my other bank account but remains separate. I did this in '05 for the first coin and used it for last years as well. After the '05 coin, there was about $75 left in the account, which sat there until the '07 coin. It went towards that coin. I try to estimate all the coin costs as a wash, but estimate cautiously as I don't want to end up short. Because of this, I would rather have a little sit in the account between coins instead of ponying up money to cover a shortage.Quote:
Originally Posted by dubord207
If you look back at the old coin threads from '05, one of the concerns (among MANY, liability etc.) was that we were selling in and out of the state of Maine. The issue of sales tax was raised. I have priced tax into the coin cost and write a "sale" after the coins are sold to cover it to the state.
As far as the donations to the site or any fundraising for the site, that is Rick's venue. I used the coin paypal site this summer for the coin raffle, but all other site funds are handled elsewhere.
Sales Tax? Wow, I dislike this state at times.
Does Maine tax you because it's an orginazation?? You personaly have them made and you personally sell them to people . Why does the state tax you?
Someone asks if they can buy a coin and we sell it to them, no taxes involved.
And they don't tax Auctions on Ebay. Unless you have a store.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, I can't understand why they tax you. Why do they get involved with your personal business.
Help please?
Opalsns
I think I might be of help here. There's certainly no taxes when private individuals buy and sell with each other.
Being an "organization" also doesn't necessarily mean that it will get taxed. The usual starting point has to do with whether the entity is engaging in an activity for profit. If not, then taxes are unlikely. For example, Geocaching Maine could be set up as a non-profit and sell coins to support its "non-profit" activities. It could apply for an exemption from sales taxes from the Maine Revenue Service. If the organization makes money from the sale of coins but uses that for its general purposes, there would still be no tax. There comes a point where informational tax returns might be required but I'll defer to CPA's for that as the rules frequently change from year to year.
Hope that helps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Opalsns
At the point when we did the first coin, we weren't sure WHAT the exact situation was, but felt that it was worth collecting/paying the 5% to avoid any potential issues with the state coming to us for a collection. We had also discussed the potential for a lawsuit if someone's kid swallowed a coin and we got sued, etc. We worked through a lot of what if's, but decided that this would be the safe route to take.
Did you actually send in sales tax money to the State?:confused:
Yeah, it isn't much. I just create a sales invoice lump sum. I think it was about 30 cents/coin.
Thanx to both Dubord and Sudonum,
I understand now.
Opalsns
Yes, you as well as many others made suggestions. Some ideas were used, some were not. What I am saying is there should be one or two people to see the entire process though. From sending out feelers about the coin and it's entire process and a rough time line. If you read through that thread it's basically a free for all. And maybe that's good enough since it looks like there will be a coin, perhaps I just like more organization.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opalsns
We all have ideas that get shot down. If you check many of my suggestions in other posts, you'll see many of my ideas didn't make it far either. But if you don't put your idea out there, you'll never know.
"The board" doesn't use a coin maker. We as a group do. It took a year to get this coin made, imagine how much longer it might have been if we had a discussion over changing the coin maker. Again, better reason for more organization.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opalsns
Hollora,
Thank you for your email. No hard feelings to you either.Though I'm having trouble emailing, I can answer you here.
I didn't mean that people were stealing coins and selling them on ebay, I meant they're popular to be stolen. And people pay big money on ebay to get any coins. Not to get Stolen coins.
I'm sorry you were bothered by my dealer comment. I don't want someone making a bunch of money on something I created.
You said a coin has to be pretty spectacular for it to sell for 15.00 and up. I think it depends how bad someone wants it and how many want it.
You said there are poor quality coins that you would only get if someone gave it to you, I really haven't seen a poor quality coin yet. Honestly!!!
And I'm really sorry that you hate crows.
I don't know what a crow did to you to make you hate them, but to us , the crow is representation of Bubba's younger brother who died of a misdiagnosis of intestinal cancer at the age of 31. He was a Bass player in the Raven Street Band. After he passed a huge crow started following Bubba around.
Again, No hard feelings to you, and I hope this helps you understand me.
Opalsns
:):):):):):):):):):):) It said I needed 10 characters - though I was character enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opalsns
Brdad,Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
I totally agree with you!!! ( Wow, imagine that!! ;))
I learned alot today from all the posts re: the coin creation.
Thanx
Opalsns
I WOULD BE WILLING TO HELP OR BE PART OF A TEAM TO GET THIS MORE ORGANIZED FOR THE FUTURE COINS TO COME. ALL I NEED IS TO HAVE A OUTLINE OF WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
Status check: Just wondering about the new Maine coin again...will it be a 2008 or 2009 coin? Did I miss when it will arrive/be sold? I do seem to miss many things and didn't want to miss out on this one....
No Dan, you didn't miss anything. It's totally me. I have the quotes from Coins & Pins and need to figure out the pricing. Was hoping to have it done last week, but that didn't happen.
My thoughts on the '08 or '09 - I had initially thought that it would be better to switch to '09, but people said that they had some cool ideas for an '09 coin, so back to '08. Then someone said, coming out this late, it wouldn't really ship until Jan 09 and people wouldn't buy it as an "old" coin. So I don't know, what are others thoughts?
I'm in for calling it a 2008 coin seeing as how the design was done in 2008. I'm not looking for newness of a coin just neat design.
Thanks for doing all this work.
2008 coin is my vote. Lets get it done and I'll be a the first to order a bunch.
2009 coin. Lets get it going and I'll be the first volunteer for that one. Send in the designs and ideas. If we start now, who knows, it might be out by the spring or summer at the very least, ready for caching season.
I hate to sound like a gloomy Gus, but the economy is going south. We need to get these things done right away.
Well we could always make it a 2009 coin and then when you put together one for this coming year it would probably be towards the end of the year away ways so we could make that one 2010. Just a thought.
I'd make it 2008. Folks that collect will want to have one of EACH year in their collection and it would be odd for 2008 to have been "skipped." Put me down for 5 of the 2008 and 5 of the 2009's! I don't think it will make any difference when the coins are put in circulation. They'll be "new" to the geocaching world when the finally come out and they will sell, IMHO.:)
Well, seeing as we have Maine 2005 and 2007 (having skipped 2006), 2009 seems logical to me - odds only... just like us :D
Reading what is happening with delivery of other folks coins lately which were finalized long before ours - I hold little hope for delivery in 2008......therefore perhaps it should be a 2009 coin ~ early this time.Quote:
Originally Posted by kayakerinme