swingpin - a good idea or not?

2 Sep 2005

Quote by Ice Pie
Please tel me why people should not be finacial recompensed for the time and the trouble they have taken with this enterprise? After all would you go to work and not expect to get paid?

Many people do things for this community at their own expense and without asking for or expecting any reward. I don't think that was Sean's point. What I think he and Blue are saying, and I would agree with them, is that it's a pretty disrespectful thing to do if someone is trying to cash in on their SH membership by stealing our idea. It's not illegal but it still sucks.
Better than I could say it Ice Pie, spot on.
Though hopefully, it will all end in tears for them. No muppet is going to spend on a tiny bit of tin in a flash box thinking they'll get spotted by fellow swingers. After all, if you know what it looks like from the website, you could save yourself and just wait for one of the "millions" of people who have them to come strolling by while having a pint, then say: "oh, I have one of them pins at home!" ...
And if it is an SH member... Well Done! you've used a site that was set up with the ethos of not ripping people off... to then.. go and nick an idea to rip people off... Hope your testicles turn square and rot from the corners inwards...

2 Sep 2005

Quote by treasurechest
Please tel me why people should not be finacial recompensed for the time and the trouble they have taken with this enterprise? After all would you go to work and not expect to get paid?

Many people do things for this community at their own expense and without asking for or expecting any reward. I don't think that was Sean's point. What I think he and Blue are saying, and I would agree with them, is that it's a pretty disrespectful thing to do if someone is trying to cash in on their SH membership by stealing our idea. It's not illegal but it still sucks.
Ny husbands rugby club have been using a tie pin to identify their ex and present members for over 15 years that I know about, would you like theri details so you can contact them about stealing the SH idea? I warn you they tend to be fit and large guys!!
What has a rugby pin got to do with a swinging pin?...well of cause there are hundreds of pins to identify different clubs etc,no one is saying the idea of a pin is solely SH's right,but the fact a swinging pin came out not so long after the SH pin did ,just shows that, that idea had to have been taken from here!

2 Sep 2005

The Swinging Heaven pin says you are a member of Swinging Heaven. This other pin suggests you are a swinger. These are not neccessarily the same thing.

2 Sep 2005

Quote by northwest-cpl
The Swinging Heaven pin says you are a member of Swinging Heaven. This other pin suggests you are a swinger. These are not neccessarily the same thing.

The other pin suggests you're gullable to believing what you read on the internet... rolleyes

2 Sep 2005

Quote by northwest-cpl
The Swinging Heaven pin says you are a member of Swinging Heaven. This other pin suggests you are a swinger. These are not neccessarily the same thing.

Precisely. And so the non SH swingers of this world have access to their own pin.
We have to remember that not all swingers want to be part of SH.........................and its only a pin. If people are stupid enough to pay over the odds for it - why should we care, really?

2 Sep 2005

Quote by fabio grooverider
I was just thinking... leagally..... could we not sue them or something, at least send them a strongly worded letter........... we have proof of the idea, and what better way of getting own SH paradise(or failing that the isle of wight) than getting someone elses cash to pay for it????
sean xxxxxxxxxxx

We don't really want to go down the legal road do we .... there are plenty of members here who wish to remain anonymous because of sensitivity issues. A legal case could put SH in the spotlight and I for one would stop coming here if a spat between two swinging websites got into the gutter press.
Bottom line is - the guy hasn't broken any laws and infringed no-one's copyright or trademark and if some mug is prepared to part with of their hard earned then more fool them. Our pins are known only to ourselves and it is in that that their uniqueness lies. (I actually thought the 69 design on the other one was pretty but more of a religious icon - ie. pisces - the sign of the fish. (of fisher of men, James)

2 Sep 2005

Quote by postie
The Swinging Heaven pin says you are a member of Swinging Heaven. This other pin suggests you are a swinger. These are not neccessarily the same thing.

The other pin suggests you're gullable to believing what you read on the internet... rolleyes

You would certainly be gullible to buy a pin that means nothing to most people but I think that copyrighting the idea of a club pin is a non-starter. The idea of a pin to show allegiance is hardly new. This site is open to view to anyone. IF the idea was pinched from this site why does it have to be a member that did it?. Whatever we write is there for anyone to google.
However, possibly not very discreet but...

Was this idea stolen from SH?

2 Sep 2005

Quote by Wishmaster
I was just thinking... leagally..... could we not sue them or something, at least send them a strongly worded letter........... we have proof of the idea, and what better way of getting own SH paradise(or failing that the isle of wight) than getting someone elses cash to pay for it????
sean xxxxxxxxxxx

We don't really want to go down the legal road do we .... there are plenty of members here who wish to remain anonymous because of sensitivity issues. A legal case could put SH in the spotlight and I for one would stop coming here if a spat between two swinging websites got into the gutter press.
Bottom line is - the guy hasn't broken any laws and infringed no-one's copyright or trademark and if some mug is prepared to part with of their hard earned then more fool them. Our pins are known only to ourselves and it is in that that their uniqueness lies. (I actually thought the 69 design on the other one was pretty but more of a religious icon - ie. pisces - the sign of the fish. (of fisher of men, James)
the "sueing" part was just more of a throwaway comment.......i was thinking more about the SH paradise isle bit..... smile

:) I still think that if they got the idea from SH (never said they did... just said if) and turning a profit from an site where the ethos is non-profit then is it a pretty low thing to do.....
suppose we will never find out will we

2 Sep 2005

Feeling all left out as the mods removed (for obvious good reasons) the link to the other persons site. Could someone PM it to me? Not that anything on the net could replace my proud (missing) SH pin...

2 Sep 2005

Well looks nothing like a certain far better quality and more famous pin. Going to side with the 'if you can make it work go for it' brigade. Someone had a good idea, brought an internet turnkey shop, a pile of badges and is having a go.
Benefit of the doubt, if we can come up with the pin idea, so can any number of peeps out there from any other site. May have no link to SH at all and just come up with an idea. Not the first to make a bit of cash out of swinging.
Again playing devils advocate (and not suggesting any of us wasted money on one when we have a far better one).
The pin looks more expensive design
They not got a group of (wonderful) volunteers to sell them for them
They have to cover the internet shop costs + advertising
They also have to buy them
They have to post them
etc.
So really how much cash are they making for their time? Not suggesting they not making a profit, just they not really ripping people off. Also they are unlikely to be the first, or the last to do this comercially

3 Sep 2005

Just to settle this one once and for all.........received this morning from Mr Swingpin himself........:
Hi Sunbunny
Interesting! The SwingPin was created 5 years ago so donÂ¹t think we've
stolen anyones idea!
Happy swinging!
SwingPin
Xx
wink

3 Sep 2005

Oh my, it took them even longer to get it launched than us then :shock: :shock: :shock:
lol

:lol: :lol:
I'm just way too mean to pay for one
Jas
XXX

3 Sep 2005

Nice to see that in '5 years' thay have recieved a grand total of TWO customer recommendations.
Also nice to see that they have a 'pyramid scheme', where you can get a cut of the takings if you can talk someone else into buying one.
Maybe trading standards might like to have a quick word?

3 Sep 2005

Quote by Mister_Discreet
Maybe trading standards might like to have a quick word?

Trading Standard had a quick word with me about 2 years ago, I ended up with a choice of 6 months inside or 6 months suspended :shock: :shock:

3 Sep 2005

Quote by Mister_Discreet
Also nice to see that they have a 'pyramid scheme', where you can get a cut of the takings if you can talk someone else into buying one.
Maybe trading standards might like to have a quick word?

That would be "Multi Level Marketing". It's not illegal because the product is technically the same price all the way down the chain... it's just that the further up it you are, the more discount you get. Pyramid selling is like the old "Stripe" scam: You buy a barrell of liquid soap, water it down and sell a barrell each to the next two people down the line, making a profit of 100% on your outlay. The next two people do the same thing and so on until 1,024 schmucks end up with a barrell each of slightly contaminated water that they can't sell.

3 Sep 2005

Quote by Ice Pie
That would be "Multi Level Marketing". It's not illegal because the product is technically the same price all the way down the chain... it's just that the further up it you are, the more discount you get. Pyramid selling is like the old "Stripe" scam: You buy a barrell of liquid soap, water it down and sell a barrell each to the next two people down the line, making a profit of 100% on your outlay. The next two people do the same thing and so on until 1,024 schmucks end up with a barrell each of slightly contaminated water that they can't sell.

........and you said all that with a hangover :shock:
Well done :lol2:

3 Sep 2005

Quote by Dawn_Mids
........and you said all that with a hangover :shock:
Well done :lol2:

P'raps it was pyramid beer and I got the 10th level lol

3 Sep 2005

Quote by Ice Pie
That would be "Multi Level Marketing". It's not illegal because the product is technically the same price all the way down the chain...

Hence my use of single quotes round the phrase 'pyramid scheme' - it is technically legal. It's more their claim to have been going for 5 years I'm more concerned about.

Quote by Ice Pie
1,024 schmucks end up with a barrell each of slightly contaminated water that they can't sell.

Might I interest sir in some fine homeopathic remedies?