Train Rider & Conductor FAQ and Important potluck info. *** Please read before riding.

[chitownmelli]

So, you are thinking about conducting a train. Thank you. Having new conductors and having conductors that regularly run trains is what makes the HCW train forum the best place to ride!!!

Why conduct a train vs. just riding one?

Because HCW's train forum is so busy, you can't always catch a ride when you are ready to join in. By starting your own train you can choose the style, duration, mailing date(s), riders and what to and not to include.

What is required to conduct a train at HCW? ~ we do have a few guidelines to make it a great experience for all.

First. all train riders need to be a member of the trader user group. info HERE.

Your feedback rating needs to be at least 30 unique positives with no negatives. Also, you have ridden on at least one train here at HCW before running your own. As always it is at mod discretion to approve a conductor or train.

You need to commit to taking care of this train from the sign ups straight through to the final envelope being received. This includes sending a message to any riders who did not post the status of their envies, inquiring about late envelopes and filing a bad trade report in the event that one of your riders does not mail. The mods are here to help you.

Conductors must create their own match ups. If you get stuck your first couple of times on the tracks, please PM us for help - we will help you learn the best way for you to be able to do your own match ups.

If you have never conducted a train, or if you have not conducted in 6 months or more, please fill out this application before submitting a new train. Once you are approved, you will post your train thread in the Coupon Trains forum.


Can I conduct several at once? Can I have unlimited riders? How long should my first train be?

If you have never conducted a train before. Please just start with one. Once you have hosted a few, feel free to conduct more than one.
Keep your rider list to 20 passengers or less on your first few trains. I know it's hard to say no to riders, but it can be overwhelming.
We recommend starting out with a train of 10 your first time conducting. You will see why once you conduct a few!

Trains must run for 4 weeks or less your first few times out of the gate as a new conductor.


Are there other rules to follow when conducting a train?

Be sure to review all of the train rules HERE so you are able to answer questions as the conductor to keep your train on track.

Train riders cannot ride if they have a negative feedback. Traders with a neutral feedback can ride at moderator & conductor discretion.
Traders in Training are ineligible to ride trains. You may occasionally get a message from a new trader. Let them know that they will be able to catch a ride soon!

Riders are limited to 5 rides at a time. This includes conducting. Your train mod will be checking that all riders and conductors are eligible and will notify you if you have a rider that is ineligible for your train.

Please make sure to post your train specifics, rider list and any matchups / riding order in the thread. It is ok to communicate with your riders via PM however, the lists and details of your train must all be posted in the event that you are offline for any quantity of time and the mod needs to step in.

You must also respect the privacy of your train riders. Please do not share addresses with anyone other than the other riders on your train.


What needs to be included in my train thread before accepting riders?

When you are looking for riders here's what you need.

Please post the type of train (see trains FAQ's BELOW post #2), rules for train, # of coupons to include, coupons to include and exclude in every train so your riders have this for reference and mailing dates.
How many weeks is it running, etc.

Many conductors also let riders know that leaving feedback after receiving their envie(s) is a great idea. Please keep in mind that some riders do not/will not leave feedback. Here at HCW we do not require traders or train riders to leave feedback. It is a courtesy to the other riders, however is not mandatory.

Its a good idea to list what expiration dates are acceptable. If it takes 3-4 days to mail then the minimum you want to allow for exp dates is 2 weeks. That gives the receiver just over a week to use.

If you are unsure if an item is ok to include on a train, see the forum rules HERE

Consider the who, what, when and how often when you are writing up your train details.

Once I post my train thread am I all set?

New trains must be approved before going live on HCW. First your train will go into moderation to allow the mods to make sure all rules have been followed, you are eligible to conduct and your train guidelines are clear. If there is any conflicting or unclear information, either Chitownmelli, Dominicsmommy, or Mydogalex2000 will PM you. Trains will be approved within 24 hours or less. Moderators do have the discretion to not accept a rider as a conductor.


Other Misc Tips:

Please ask your riders to post when they mail an envelope and to post when they receive an envelope. This helps you keep track of your train and also the mods should we need to help out. It is also good to have riders write the train name on the envelope. Some people are on multiple trains and need to know where their envelope full of coupons came from.

As soon as you see someone is not posting to the thread in a timely manner, PM them. If they are not responding, please PM your train mods.

Since we try to keep the forums neat and tidy, once the ride is over and everyone has received all of their envelopes, It is appreciated if you change the title of your post to "ride over, delete" and the forum mod will move your post.

What should I do if I have a question, problem rider, derailed train?

If you have a general getting started type question, you can PM the train mods, Chitownmelli, Dominicsmommy, or Mydogalex2000. Please copy all of us as we are not always on at the same time of day.

If you have an issue with a rider, PM your mods Chitownmelli, Dominicsmommy, and Mydogalex2000. If they are unable to get back to you in a timely manner, feel free to PM bugface711 who oversees all of the trading forums.

Please remember that we want trains to be a FUN experience for both the riders and the conductors. Help out your riders in any way possible, and know that the mods are here to help and support you as well.

Above all else, Thank you and have fun!!! Happy train conducting! Choo Choo!


Content written by Bugface711, Chitownmelli, Tacaton, and Dominicsmommy. Permission to reporst in any part is denied.

[chitownmelli]

Coupon Train FAQ’s

What is a coupon train?

A train consists of a group (generally between 4 and 10 members) who share coupons with each other via a train of envelopes filled with coupons. There are quite a few variations to this to make it fun!

Do all trains operate the same way?

The idea behind all trains is the same but there are several types.

The basic train has only 1 envelope, making its rounds. The member coordinating the train (a.k.a. conductor) starts out the train, with a pre-determined amount of coupons, sending it to rider A. Rider A takes out what they can use and refills it back up to xx amount of coupons, and then sends it on to rider B. It continues in this way until the last rider on the list mails it back to the conductor. At that point, either the train ride ends or the conductor can see if there is enough interest to go for Round 2.

A standard round robin style train is where the conductor picks a number of riders, 4 or 5 works best as this train runs for as many weeks as there are riders. Each member is assigned another member to mail to for the duration of the train. On week one, you fill a full envelope with the set amount of coupons following expiration date rules and what not to include guidelines. This envelope is mailed to the person you are assigned to.

When you get your week 1 envie, you take out what you can use, anything that will be out of the expiration guidelines by the time it arrives to the next rider, add in more coupons to get it back up to the set number and mail #2 off to the rider you are assigned to mail to. Reapeat for as many weeks as there is riders.

On the final week, you are getting back your "original" envie that has visited every other rider on the train.

A simple style train is a one time only mailing train of multiple envelopes. The conductor picks a number of riders. 4-5 works best since each rider has to mail to all members at the sime time. The conductor also picks a number of coupons to be included in each envelope. On the assigned date, you fill the envelopes for each of your co-riders. Be sure to follow the conductors guidelines. They all get mailed on the same day. So, on a 5 person train, you will be mailing out 4 envelopes to the 4 other riders and receiving 4 envelopes from the 4 other riders.

Make sure the train you sign up for is a style and time frame you can commit to. There is always a new train starting. It may be tempting to jump on the first one with an open spot, make sure you can follow the conductors guidelines. Failure to send envelopes out on a train will be considered as a bad trade.


Can I include any coupons?

This depends on the train and how the conductor has set the rules, however, some options are as follows:
a. Anything goes, no specific categories are excluded. often called potluck.
b. Food Only or any other category can be chosen
c. No Pets and/or Baby or any other category can be excluded
d. Non-insert coupons only. (any coupon not found in the Sunday inserts can be included)

There can be a limit of how many of the same coupon, to prevent having multiples of the same coupon in the envelope. There can also be encouragement to add in multiples if you have an exact coupon match from a wishlist. Each conductor will specify how they want the envelopes to be. Be sure to check your train guidelines.

*Please note that although trains are a great way to swap out coupons you may not be able to use for ones that you can use, they are NOT intended to be a way to get rid of those coupons that are considered ‘junk’ by the majority of couponers. Please be considerate to the other riders by including coupons that others will want to receive. In other words, unless someone is specifically asking for joint supplement coupons or something similar, chances are no one will want these and they will take up valuable space in the envelope for the duration of the train. That space would be better being taken up by a more desirable coupon. It is not fun to be on a train and receive an envelope full of worthless coupons that nobody wants to take out!

What is a Potluck Envie?

So glad you asked!! If you are thinking of hopping on your first train or getting involved in a lot of trading you will hear the word "potluck" a lot!!

In a nutshell, a potluck envie is an envelope full of a predetermined amount of coupons that may or may not include coupons from your wish list. * The # of coupons is set by the train conductor if you are on a train and if you are doing a potluck trade, you and the other member decide the number of coupons to send.

Yes, that is right a "potluck" envie does not have to have even one coupon from your wishlist..LOL

So let's break down how you would determine if an envie you may have received is with in trading rules.

Example...You are riding a train and you need to send/receive an envie that includes a minimum of 25 potluck coupons with a 2 week expiration from mail out date.

You get your envie and it has 37 coupons but only 2 of them are from your wish list. So the question is "Is this a by the rules envie?"

Here is how to determine:

1. we have determined there is 37 coupons and 2 are from your wish list..so the count is 2 so far.

2. Then you will pull out any coupons that are junk. What is junk?

Junk is a coupon for pet, baby, meds or any other off the wall product that many do not use..like depends, joint juice.
~That being said if one of the above is one your wish list it of course would not be junk to you~
So let's say we pull out 2 coupons...so now we are down to 2 that are good toward 25 and 2 that have been excluded and 33 to go..LOL
Still with me

3. Now go through the 33 left and take out any that are not with in the 2 week (or whatever you determined for the trade or train) Let's say 5 are short dated so they would not count toward your 25.

So now we have 5 short dates and 2 junk for a total of 7 that do not count toward your 25.
We also still have your 2 toward your 25 w/the 2 wish list matches.

4. You will now count what is left since we have excluded junk and short dated coupons. We have 28 coupons left.

So all together you will have the 28 coupons that are not on your wish list but with in the rules of a potluck and 2 wish list coupons for a total of 30 coupons!!
You also have 7 that not with in the rules but they would be considered extra!!

All in all this would be a good "potluck" envie. It is with in the 25 count rules and you got extras.

Now let's talk about leaving feedback.

For this envie you would leave positive feedback because it fulfilled the trade agreement.

Please do not leave neutral for this type of envelope, it is with in the rules even though it is not filled with wishes....hope that makes sense.

If you are unsure even after going through the above steps, please do not leave any feedback. Contact a trading coach or mod (we love to help..really) and we can help you determine if the envie was not with in the rules.

Let's talk about if you get a envie not with in the rules...

If you believe you have an envie that is just bad, it is filled with short dated q's, it has junk...etc Please do not leave neutral or negative feedback.
The first thing you will want to do is contact the train mods. Let them know what is going on. The person who sent may have made a mistake, they may be new and did not understand something. We want to give every one the opportunity to make an envie right. So we would ask for a re send. So please never leave feedback except positive..LOL., with out at least first giving the sender a chance to make the trade/train right (you would want the same for you)

What if there are expired coupons or soon-to-be expiring coupons in the envelope?

This again is determined by the conductor. In a basic or round robin, some may ask that coupons be taken out once they have expired, while others may ask that coupons be taken out 10 days (or any # of days/weeks) prior to their expiration date. If you pull out the expireds when you have the envelope in your possession, it is up to you to replace them with longer-dated coupons. In a simple style, most will specify no expireds are to be sent.


Is it necessary to have a wishlist to be on a train?

See the train guidelines. Not all trains require this but many do.

The longer and more varied you wishlist is, the more likely you are to get coupons you need. Having a wishlist does not guarantee that you will be getting all coupons you can use, it is just a guideline for making envelope filling easier.

If you are hesitant to make a wishlist because you only want to ride trains and not trade, put right on your wishlist that this is for trains only. Or you can have a section that is for things that are great to include on trains, that you are not actively trading for. Also, if you only want certain values for a particular item like $1/1, say that. Just remember, the more limited your wishlist, the harder it is for others to fill.

When do I mail?

The mailing schedule is one of the most important things as the train needs to be mailed out in a timely manner. Generally within 1 or 2 days of receiving it for the basic and standard round robin, to ensure a quick and successful round. An envelope sitting around means more coupons in the envelope will have a shorter exp. date and less time to be used.
With the simple style trains and other trains with variations on the mailing style, mailing on the set mail date is key. If there is a problem, then communication becomes the key. If you mailed day late, let your conductor or fellow riders know. Mailing late consistenly can cause you to be removed from trains.

Do I have to post in the train thread?

Each train has its own thread in the Hop On Board Forum.


Most conductors require you to post when you mail envelopes and when you receive envelopes. This helps the conductor keep track of where the train is at. Not posting consistently can cause you to be removed from trains for a period.

How do I sign up for a train?

The conductor of the train will put a message in the Hop On Board Forum that they are looking for riders for their train. Read all the rules carefully. Reply to the message and send a pm to the conductor. You must post in the thread to be able to ride:)

Remember, you must be a member of the Trader User Group and have an Itrader rating of 5 unique feedbacks with no negatives to ride a train. You must have a rating of 30 unique feedbacks or higher with no negatives to conduct. Traders in training are ineligble to ride trains.

We also strongly suggest that you ride only 1 or 2 trains at a time until you have ridden quite a few. Trains are so much fun that it is tempting to hop on board every new train that starts.

Because this can be very overwhleming and requires lots of coupons and to let everyone have a chance to ride, we do limit you to 5 train rides at a time. Your ride on a train is considered over when all of your envelopes can be confirmed as received. The train mods will pull you off a train if you try to join a 6th without approval.


Can I start a train of my own?

Absolutely! However, there are a few guidelines to follow. We do require that you have ridden at least 1 or 2 trains prior to starting your own, and that you have at least 30 positive unique feedbacks and zero negatives.

There are other requirements before you run one of your own, please read the CONDUCTOR FAQ'S found HERE.

What else do I need to know?

HCW's Rules for the train forum can be found HERE. Please read them before signing up to ride or run a train.

Trains are super fun to ride. However, sometimes a speed bump does happen. If you are experiencing a problem with a train, another rider, or the conductor, please contact your conductor to give him/her time to resolve the issue. ALL issues should be handled via PM, as discussing it in the thread would not be appropriate. If the issue is still not resolved contact both of the train forum mods. Chitownmelli, Dominicsmommy and Dliver316 all moderate this forum and are always here to help and answer questions.

We suggest that if you have an issue that you copy all three of us in your pm so that it may be handled quicker. If you do not get a timely response, please feel free to PM Bugface711 or Tacatcon who oversee all the Trading Forums.

This info has been compiled exclusively for use at HotCouponWorld. Permission to repost in any part or in its entirety is denied!

Thanks to SBP, Bugface711 Chitownmelli, Tacaton, and Dominicsmommy for working together to post all this info, and to make the train forum here at HCW a great place to ride! Choo-Choo!!