A few years ago I was involved in a postal that JACKS ran... it was kind of fun and I happen to have the same image she used and thought I'd try it again...

Its a paperclip ring. The idea is... I'll start this postal with the paperclip, a logbook and a token gift for the first member of the tracker. The first person takes the token gift and replaces it with something just a little bit better. I don't want this breaking anyone's bank... and the items must fit into a bubble mailer. The last person on the tracker will return it back to me. I do not want the total cost to exceed $20 - so the incimental gifts need to be just a dollar or two more in value.

If interested, here is the tracker. AQ mail me for inclusion and you must have at least participated in 25 postals to join.

Sounds like a Ponzi Scheme for you since you start the giving and get the best gift.

Sure - go with that idea... but nope. I'm not keeping the end gift.

I don't know... a part of me agrees with this statment based on the sound of the tracker... However, "value" or "percieved value" is all in the eyes of the beholder. For example, it I take the paperclip and replace it with a rubber band.... Say especially a silly band.... or a broken golf tee. Perhaps along the way the "gift" is a toy car and I throw in an baseball card. I may think the card is valuable... the next person may hate baseball cards and feel cheated... or it might be the last card you need to complete your favorite team. Not knowing how the next person may value the particular item you are leaving in there. Without a price guide so to speak percieved value is based on the desires and needs of the person opening the envelope and making a judgement call. Perhaps you throw in something that locally you bought for $2, but locally to me I can find the item for only $1. I throw something in that cost me $1.50, and it looks like a trade up to me, but on an economic equivalant of the theory of reletivity you would observe that to be the reverse, a loss of value to the parcel.

I won't be signing up for this personally, but I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall at each stop of the postal as I think this is acctually a very interesting sociological experiment, and would love to see it's progression.

I hope it's pregress gets reported. It would be enjoyable to be able to observe.

--Ringo

Or may beyond start the envalope with 3 stamps. Every one carves 1-3 stamp. You take 1-3 and leave 1-3 yours in there. Send it on to the next person then the tracker owner gets 3 differen stamps and everyone has a new stamp to plant for someone else. You and the planter and the other person as the carver. I may have to run with this and set up a tracker in the near future..... Just saying

Ok so that was a good idea I just had to do it
"Take one leave one"

Like a postal hitchhiker hostel! Except with new unique stamps! I like it!

-Amanda from Seattle

Now that is one ring I HAD to jump in on! Especially with how far away it is. THis will give me plenty of time to think about what to give away. I am in so many LTC swaps between now and then that I MAYend up recycling one or more LTC carvings this way.

Can I make one small suggestion? I think you should require that the stamp(s) you take be planted(or released as a HH, or repurposed as a PT). I know there is no way to police that. But it should be the reason someone is taking your stamp. I carve so many stamps, and I want to see my carvings acctually used. I know I would be pretty excited to see one of my stamps planted half way accross the country for people to enjoy.

--Ringo

My daughter did something like this as a door to door "bigger or better" scavenger hunt with her youth group a few years ago. They ended up with a giant teddy bear! I read a book written by Canadian man who started out in 2005 with a paperclip, and one year later had traded up to a HOUSE! His name is Kyle MacDonald and the book is called "One Red Paperclip" . It was a fun read. Here is a wikipedia list of his trades:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_red_paperclip

That is what JACKS based the first 3 rings on... many years ago. I'm just revisiting the idea of another ; )