General Forum

I've recently signed up about TCDB and I love the idea/purpose of the sight, I cant wait to get started. My question is where should I start though? Should I be loading my 2020 and 21 base singles, 90s basketball singles, or rarer set parallels like my 200 1994 pinnacle museum collection cards? So many places to start so I want to make the lost of this as Id like to get trading asap! 

Thanks! 

Welcome to the site, if you want to use the site as a way of trading, I would probably add your newest cards first, 20-21.  The main reason is because with the higher prices and scarcity of cards the last year, it might get you more bites on trades than older cards.  However, if you are like some and want to add all your cards first before starting on trades, I would just say the best way is however you have them organized.  When I redid my collection I started with the earliest cards and worked to the newer ones, but then again, my intentions for using the site was more to catalog and not so much trading.  Whatever way works best for you though I'm sure will be fine with those willing to trade with you and there are many on the site.

I hope you enjoy the many features the site has and hope you enjoy what to me has been an added excitement to collecting, by using this site almost daily.

Welcome! What I would suggest is getting a good orientation on how the site works first. It can get overwhelming very easily so take some time to discover the mechanics and that'll help with you strategy. There are so many different things you can do and there is no right or wrong way to do it so whatever make you comfortable. Seeing you want to trade maybe get you traders and wantlist up first and then go back and enter your keepers itself. Maybe enter everything and then open things up. With that trading here can be daunting at first, getting used to the Transaction Manager, but there are plenty here that'll help you out.

You'll get a lot of great ideas from members on this, just follow what makes you feel comfortable and enjoy!

Where to begin really depends on what you want to get out of this site.  Are you looking for newer cards to complete current sets?  Are you a vintage collector?  I would go slow at first until you get the hang of things.  Maybe start entering in your collection and only put a small amount of cards up for trading until you see how things work.  If you aren't organized it can get overwhelming very quickly.

I decided that I wanted to improve my collection through trading so I added all of my duplicates first so I could match with others to trade.  You also have to get your wantlist in there too for trading.  That can be tricky if you don't know which cards you have.  So I went through and added the most important sets/players next.  Allowed me to fill up my wantlist with the ones I was missing from those.

As others have said I think the place is to prioritize your goals. I would begin by building a want list of what you would like to add to your collection. For your for sale/trade items I would get them physically organized so you can pull them easily and I would start by generally listing what you think your most desireable items similar in value to what you are looking for. As others have said, start small and grow from there. You can spend a lot of time entering for sale/trade cards of 1989 Donruss but there isn't much demand so those can wait. I tend to agree newer stuff probably has more demand because there are probably more people looking to complete those sets.

Another idea if you want to get started quickly. Again, take that top priority you have. Create a want list of what you want to add. Look to see has the most matches. Look at their want list. Start entering cards that match their want list.

What I did when I started was Chronological order in reverse. Everything you have for the newest year. Then everything you want. Then All your doubles. 

Welcome to site.   

   What I did was find what I wanted to get first to fill in a 9 year gap.   of 2007 to 2016 

1. I STARTED WITH 2007 as it was a partial set.  I listed what I had  wanted and dupes in a checklist. 
2. I looked to see who had 2007 Topps to trade and see what they needed and I added those sets to my for trade list
3.  I then worked my way backwards  to 1980 Topps being able to add what I had by doing a quick add  of  ALL MISSING CARDS TO SET (W/O Err Varr)   then as I watched TV ball games add cards to my FOR TRADE LIST
4. But once I ha d a match I sent out a proposal to them.   I think it was about a week later  I came home from a Sunday night at work to about 4 offers 
5. I let some know I was adding cards to for trade list and I had more that they needed.  

So now I sit here with over 600 trades and have completed Topps Base Set and Heritage  w/o SP  since 2018 all thru trades.

I started listing what I had the most of at the time which I think was 1980 Topps football. I am still staying away from difficult sets like 1990 Donruss with its myriad of variations as I find it frustrating. If you are looking to complete a set add it to your wantlist and put your duplicates up for trade. I have found that a lot of members like to trade set for set.