General Forum

For those who track their collection in spreadsheets what do you do with basecards? Im finding it overaly tedious to keep adding base cards and was looking for ideas to see what others do, or how in depth your spreadsheets are. 

Probably not much help to you....

Only collect Nascar....

My spreadsheet lists the base set and number of cards in the set

then the card numbers needed....

Same with inserts/promos/prototypes, which sometimes needs driver names....

Attempted to have a link to the sets, so I cut/paste into the spreadsheet,

but the copy of excel I have would only open to the TCDb homepage,

though Open Office took me to the set page.....

Having to redo my spreadsheet, since my memory card crashed corrupting all the files...

So might use some of the advice you get to organize mine better...

I keep my collection in Excel. If it's a set I intend to fully collect, I'll bring the entire set in at once (wish there was an easier way but can't help you there). Cards I don't yet have are in red font (any different highlight or font color should do) and I update the fonts as I acquire them. I can also filter to include/exclude that font to see only what I have or need.

While we're on the Excel topic, I also use the outline function. Level 1 is a header row for each set so I can see all sets in a smaller list. Level 2 expands the list to show all cards in each set. I like toggling between the views.

I track in Excel also. Everything I am trying to chase down and/or have are all in spreadsheets; base card, inserts, etc. Yes, it can be tedious building mine out, but once I hve it up and running it's all good. Actually it usually doesn't take me that long to do it anymore. The only lengthy ones are when I account for the sets with massive amount of VARs (you know which ones...). It takes a little longer to get those squared way. I try to keep them as close to this site as I can so it is easy for me to cross-reference. One can image the number of times I had something marked on one, but not the other so it helps keep everything in check.

I've used Excel to track my collection for years - my spreadsheets also double as printable tables of contents that I put in my binders, so I keep them nicely formatted for that purpose. I use color as an indicator of whether I have a card (green) or need a card (yellow).

I never kept track of traders on the spreadsheets though; that didn't happen until I joined TCDB.

I'm curious to understand why people are keeping their collection information in Excel? I'm not judging at all - I used to have my entire collection in Excel as well, but when I found TCDB I transfered my info to the site and did away with mintaining in Excel. In my mind, you are duplicating your effort and increasing the risk of mistakes from the two lists not matching. What is the benefit/value of having your collection documented on TCDB and Excel? 

For me there are 3 reasons. When I want to create a custom list of what I am targeting at a show, it's so much easier justing editing a spreadsheet. This is espcecially so with my vintage buys as I have my persoanlized notes for condition faults (creasing, water damaged, etc.). Easier to reference a handful of printed pages than continuously click on my phone in the hopes of finding what I am looking for all the while having spotty cell coverage.

I also use it to cross reference and prioritize purchases. Just by looking at my compliation/stats page I can tell what % I am across multiple sets simultaneously. Allows to to focus on very specific things without all the additional clicking, making additional notes anywhere or other research. Then, using the filter functions, I can pull up the cards I'm chasing, open browser tabs and do the comparision research before buying. If I buy something I can make a note on that line of the source so I don't make the mistake of trying to chase it again before receiving it.

Lastly, I have items listed that are not in TCDB. I can also list specific personal/research notes on my spreadsheets that I cannot do in the DB. 

It works for me. It may not work for everyone, but after I got my system set up it works wonders for me. Easier to look at a spreadsheet than clicking through multiple webpages to get info. It was worth the effort to do this. But to each their own. 

bakerybum wrote:

I'm curious to understand why people are keeping their collection information in Excel? I'm not judging at all - I used to have my entire collection in Excel as well, but when I found TCDB I transfered my info to the site and did away with mintaining in Excel. In my mind, you are duplicating your effort and increasing the risk of mistakes from the two lists not matching. What is the benefit/value of having your collection documented on TCDB and Excel? 

I have close to 500 cards that are not listed here.   That is my main reason.  

My excel file has several collections (sheets).  Main collection,  Nebraska sets,  Police sets,  Nebraska Schedules,  Coke Caps, Odd ball cards, printing Plates, list of names with information  and a sheet for testing 

Yes I do have a few issues at times and they do not match because of TCDB does not allow some cards that I collect.

I mean potentially we could wake up one day and tcdb could be gone. There is always that possibility with any web site. I track in both and greatly prefer tcdb to excell but you never know. Always gotta have a backup plan. 

I still keep a spreadsheet, but have not reconciled with my TCDB entries in a while. I have several cards not in TCDB. That is one reason for keeping it somewhat updated. There is also the concern of wherewithal (like Zistle). If something happens I can recover fairly quickly. The final reason is I find it easier to look at data with some of the tools, like pivot tables and filters.

With that said, I love TCDB. It is an amazing resource.

Erik