[HangingKayaker]

My membership is due for renewal. I'm thinking of reasons why I NEED to have a membership. The only real advantages to a membership are having the ability to run pocket queries and to be able to find member only caches.
One reason that I am NOT considering as an excuse for non-renewal is the map issue. I can work with the new maps!! Really, you follow the gps coordinates, not a map.
So a PQ allows me to download hundreds of caches meeting certain criteria. I don't need hundreds. I'm only going to go out and find maybe 20 tops in a day. I can be selective of an area I want to spend the day in, download the caches onto my gps and away I go. And, I don't have to worry about downloading other programs to convert the files into a user friendly mode.
As far as member only caches, there are plenty of public caches in my region to keep me busy.
When I cache, I don't take along notes or logs or paperless information. I look at the cache information when I download it, see the size of it, try to remember the size of it then go out and try to find it. I think it's much more challenging if you don't even know what size you're looking for.
I'm interested in seeing what other reasons other cachers have for maintaining a membership.
Thanks for your responses.

hk

[jholly]

PQ's, caches along the route, bookmarks, .gpx files for my paperless gizmo, api interface for GSAK.

[StarBrand]

The best reason I can think of is the most simple. To express a small amount of acknowledgement and gratitude for the many fine folks that spend a lot of time with programming, software, servers, connections, databases and marketing so that we can all enjoy this little activity of ours. It costs money to do all of that. A lot of money.

...that and caches along a route really rocks!!


Thanks lily pad dwellers!!

[markcase]

The reason I first decided on premium membership is to help pay for the game. There are a lot of expenses keeping Geocaching going as a hobby. It is more than 'just a web site'. The full time people that are needed for database management alone!

Premium membership is a bargin for me. About 10 cents a day. I wish my cable bill was that good!

[uxorious]

Put me down as one who has a premium membership mainly to support Geocaching.com. (I don't use the PQ.s, or caches along a route.)

I love to go caching, this site is where I get all my information to do so. Running the site cost money. I feel as long as I can afford to buy the premium membership, I owe it to them.

You mentioned the new maps. If they bothered me enough to quit my PM, I would quit using the site. (The new maps are not a good as the old, but I don't have a serious problem with them. Plus I understand why they changed.)

[niraD]

For me, in no particular order:
Favorites
Bookmarks
PQs
Unrestricted API
Support Groundspeak
Statistics

See also: Benefits of Premium Membership in the Help Center, and Groundspeak Memberships.

[Trav'lin Two]

markcase, on 23 March 2012 - 07:48 AM, said:

The reason I first decided on premium membership is to help pay for the game. There are a lot of expenses keeping Geocaching going as a hobby. It is more than 'just a web site'. The full time people that are needed for database management alone!

Premium membership is a bargin for me. About 10 cents a day. I wish my cable bill was that good!

Same here. Not expensive at all for us, we consider it very cheap entertainment.

[CachingBeavers]

I've been to Groundspeak HQ and seen what they do there. Keeping this site up and running and making it easy for us to enjoy such a rewarding hobby is well worth the cost of a premium membership to me.

[Wolfiesden]

Being a newcomer to geocaching, I wrestled with the pay-no pay debate at first. The "premium" features were NOT the reason I decided to throw down. They are ancillary at best to the main reason.

So, reason then? Well from what I can figure out, geocaching as it is, would not exist without this site, its database and its tools, its people and its volunteers. If this site goes away, so does its database of caches. Where will you get your next set of coords from then? If that isn't reason enough to throw down $30 a YEAR, good lord, what is?

So, lets put that in some perspective...
I pay >$700 a YEAR at a local rock climbing gym for myself and 4 granddaughters.
I pay $50 a YEAR on my Y membership.
I pay $72 ($18 for each of 4 granddaughters) a YEAR for Girl Scouts (and that doesn't cover all the other fees for camps and patches)
1 pay >$100 a YEAR on Netflix
I pay $99 a YEAR for my family Xbox LIVE plan
I pay $35 a YEAR for my NRA membership
I pay $90 a YEAR for my Milwaukee Zoo Pass (I go maybe 2-3 times a year as a school chaperon so not really worth it)
I pay >$200 a YEAR so GD13 can play in club softball
I pay >$300 a YEAR so two GDs can play club volleyball
I paid (sold boat) >$2000 a YEAR for the slip for my sailboat (which does NOT include winter storage fees nor the registration for the boat with WDNR)

So, really is $30 a year not worth helping to support a new hobby of mine and my granddaughters? Compared to the rest of my hobbies, I think $30 a year for geocaching is CHEAP.

[HangingKayaker]

Wolfiesden, on 23 March 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:

Being a newcomer to geocaching, I wrestled with the pay-no pay debate at first. The "premium" features were NOT the reason I decided to throw down. They are ancillary at best to the main reason.

So, reason then? Well from what I can figure out, geocaching as it is, would not exist without this site, its database and its tools, its people and its volunteers. If this site goes away, so does its database of caches. Where will you get your next set of coords from then? If that isn't reason enough to throw down $30 a YEAR, good lord, what is?

So, lets put that in some perspective...
I pay >$700 a YEAR at a local rock climbing gym for myself and 4 granddaughters.
I pay $50 a YEAR on my Y membership.
I pay $72 ($18 for each of 4 granddaughters) a YEAR for Girl Scouts (and that doesn't cover all the other fees for camps and patches)
1 pay >$100 a YEAR on Netflix
I pay $99 a YEAR for my family Xbox LIVE plan
I pay $35 a YEAR for my NRA membership
I pay $90 a YEAR for my Milwaukee Zoo Pass (I go maybe 2-3 times a year as a school chaperon so not really worth it)
I pay >$200 a YEAR so GD13 can play in club softball
I pay >$300 a YEAR so two GDs can play club volleyball
I paid (sold boat) >$2000 a YEAR for the slip for my sailboat (which does NOT include winter storage fees nor the registration for the boat with WDNR)

So, really is $30 a year not worth helping to support a new hobby of mine and my granddaughters? Compared to the rest of my hobbies, I think $30 a year for geocaching is CHEAP.

Wolfiesden, when did you have time for geocaching...lol??

I get the fact that it costs money to operate this site and to provide all that we need to participate in geocaching. And it certainly is worth the fees. I am a regular member on another forum and I pay $10 a year, just for the wealth of knowlwedge that I gain from being a member. It's good to see that every response I received pretty much all stated that site upkeep was the main reason for a willingness to pay the fee. I can't say anything bad about this forum, I don't use it a lot, but the fact that it is part of a greater component, that being the maintenance and administration of the Geocaching community is worth the $30 alone.

[Wolfiesden]

HangingKayaker, on 23 March 2012 - 12:06 PM, said:

Wolfiesden, when did you have time for geocaching...lol??

Yea, tell me about it. One granddaughter played little league hardball, girls softball and girls volleball, all at the same time. Second one played girl's volleyball (different grade). Third one plays soccer. I attended every game (except when there were conflicts with scheduling) and photographed most of them. Those three plus a fourth are in girl scouts. All four live next door (sometimes, rest of the time they are at our house). I am also on the class trip fund raising committee at their school. We all four go rock climbing most weekends at least one day. I used to go sailing in the evenings and weekends when I could. I am also a trained chaperon for school trips.

Mainly, I gave up World of Warcraft (a whole other addiction) in favor of geocaching out with GD11 and GD8 (sometimes GD4). Its WAY cheaper and a heck of a lot more family social.

I do live life to its fullest

[briansnat]

When I became a member I chose to do so because I wanted to support the site. I know the cost of running a site of this magnitude can be huge and wanted to give my fair share. I actually didn't use any of the premium member features for a year or two. Now I can't live without them.

[C&Kskirball]

I know this is a slightly older thread but i was looking for help on deciding on if i should go Premium since we just started GC and reasons to use to help convince the wife its worthwhile and now i have what i need to ambush her when she gets home! Definitely agree 30 bucks to just support the sit even if for some reason i decide not to make this a permanent hobby(and i don't see that being an issue).



Edit: Didnt want to start a new thread just to ask this ... Does it automatically renew when it expires or do you have to manually do it?

This post has been edited by cskirball: 31 May 2012 - 02:47 PM

[Lil Devil]

cskirball, on 31 May 2012 - 02:46 PM, said:

Does it automatically renew when it expires or do you have to manually do it?

I believe you can set it up either way.

[fluoro]

I use bookmarks a lot, and creating PQs from bookmark lists is the most useful feature on the website for me. Also, I use Chrome as a browser and there is no plugin for Garmin to send files, so PQs are the only easy way to get files onto my GPS (aside from switching browsers every time I use GC, which is a pain in the arse.)

And as others say, it's pretty cheap. Even so, since I've paid for the year I have the incentive not to waste it, even when it's raining

This post has been edited by fluoro: 01 June 2012 - 03:08 AM

[BAMBOOZLE]

briansnat, on 24 March 2012 - 04:31 AM, said:

When I became a member I chose to do so because I wanted to support the site. I know the cost of running a site of this magnitude can be huge and wanted to give my fair share. I actually didn't use any of the premium member features for a year or two. Now I can't live without them.

+1, exactly.

[junglehair]

I started caching in 2002 and signed up for premium membership right away. At the time, there was no such thing as pocket queries. The main benefit then was Members Only caches, and they were few and far between. For me, it was about helping to support the website.

Fast forward to 2012, and I am a total cache addict. I couldn't live without the paperless caching features, the pocket queries, the caches along the route, and assorted other features that come along for only $30 a year. I still like to support the site, but now the other benefits play a greater role.

Groundspeak has always maintained an option for people to play this game even without paying anything. Kudos to them for that.

[BlackRose67]

fluoro, on 01 June 2012 - 03:07 AM, said:

Also, I use Chrome as a browser and there is no plugin for Garmin to send files

I use Chrome as well and there is a Garmin plugin for Chrome.

I used it before I became a Premium Member. I find using PQs is much easier.

EDIT: As a newcomer to the hobby, since becoming a Premium Member, I have made heavy use of the PQs, Bookmarks, and the Unrestricted API via an official app.

This post has been edited by BlackRose67: 01 June 2012 - 11:11 AM

[fluoro]

BlackRose67, on 01 June 2012 - 11:05 AM, said:

fluoro, on 01 June 2012 - 03:07 AM, said:

Also, I use Chrome as a browser and there is no plugin for Garmin to send files

I use Chrome as well and there is a Garmin plugin for Chrome.

I used it before I became a Premium Member. I find using PQs is much easier.

Oh, maybe it's not on mac. Popup still tells me there isn't one. (Don't tell me you have a mac.. )

This post has been edited by fluoro: 01 June 2012 - 11:21 AM

[BlackRose67]

fluoro, on 01 June 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

BlackRose67, on 01 June 2012 - 11:05 AM, said:

fluoro, on 01 June 2012 - 03:07 AM, said:

Also, I use Chrome as a browser and there is no plugin for Garmin to send files

I use Chrome as well and there is a Garmin plugin for Chrome.

I used it before I became a Premium Member. I find using PQs is much easier.

Oh, maybe it's not on mac. Popup still tells me there isn't one. (Don't tell me you have a mac.. )

Nope, I'm on Windoze