Site Forum

As we have seen another insurgence of new members, it seems to be time to bring some info to the forefront. If you have signed up within the past 6 months, please read this entire post. (If you've been around longer than that, please feel free to add to what I have to say.)

1 - This is a crowd-sourced site. This means that YOU are just as responsible for getting sets listed as the next member. We do NOT have a research team. We expect everyone to pull their own weight around here. You see a set is missing, research it, determine the complete checklist, and if you need help getting it added, we're here for you for that. We're not here to do the work for you. We are here to help you.

2 - Please do not ask for one card from a set to be added, or consistently ask for a single player to be added. This is selfish behavior. Again, going back to item #1, we add complete sets and checklists. Not single cards here and there. (The process of adding a complete checklist to the site is a matter of maybe a minute. Yes, the research and formatting of the checklist can take a while, but the work on-site needed is very, very small. The effort needed to add cards here and there can take hours for a 100 or so. This is why "building" checklists on the site is not the standard practice.)

3 - Please understand the system and the checklists before attempting to request changes, updates, and additions. These are all done through the inaccuracy links, and we see these requests coming in all the time from members who signed up THAT DAY or within the last week. I've been here for almost 8 years and the site was overwhelming back in 2012. I know there have been a ton of improvements and additions of functionality since then. There is a lot to learn. Please take the time to understand how things work here before you try changing it up. The site has been running for 13 years now. Honestly, your 1 or 2 days on the site is good enough to say that the site is doing things completely wrong? Let's be real.

4 - Ask questions in the forums. Request changes in the inaccuracy report links. Use the forums to get the answers if you don't know. Then, once you do know the database needs something changed, click the inaccuracy link and report it. Please do not use the inaccuracy link to ask questions. There are about 8 of us who see those, and the site administrator (Admin) is NOT one of them. If there is something you need Admin for, there is a link at the bottom of every page that is "Contact Us". Click that, follow the prompts to get the correct routing of it. Admin does not routinely read the forums. But there are a lot of knowledgeable members who do.

I put this information out there, not to silence new members, but to give you the tools you need to be productive, valuable members of this community. We want solid members, who can tackle these challenges, not just sit there and say "add this" and "add that", while not doing a thing to help the site. We have several members who spend a great deal of time here, doing their part to improve the site's information, some even at the expense of not getting their own collections / want lists / FS/FT lists logged in completely. Please, help us be able to help you. If you follow this advice, you will do just that. Thanks, welcome, and enjoy your time here. This a fantastic community that I always say is the best of the best. Most of the best people I have ever met were part of the trading card hobby. Of those people, the best seem to have congregated here. The best of the best.

I would add (if I may) to please help in pricing as well.  I enjoy spending at least 20 minutes a day going through eBay and adding prices.  I know a lot of people do as well.  Just makes it more accurate as time goes by if more people are doing this.

If you want to add pricing please use the sold results, not the listed results.

Correct.  Only sold items, and include the link to the sale from eBay when possible.

Assuming Ebay isn't being used for commons but rather higher inserts etc? A 99 cent sold card on Ebay isn't always a 99 cent card, example sportlots it could be a 18 cent card. A lot of Ebay is based off the fee structure when it comes to commons. I'm just wondering as if using only Ebay, we will suddenly have a lot of cards listed higher than they should be. 

Excellent point, there are too many sites with exorbitant fees that influence what many cards sell for rather than actual values, unfortunately, we kinda have to draw a line somewhere or perhaps have some sort of "uniform" go-to place when attaching values if that's possible. 

Now we have a factor that NEVER influenced card values ever before(c19) which adds big-time volatility.

Previously it was mostly performance-based, popularity, scarcity, living or deceased etc.

Thanks for the info! Appreciated as a new member. I personally find it gratifying to add prices too, as it's a relatively quick thing to do to help the site. I did add one checklist for the Leaf Charlie Hustle edition. Most sets always seem to already have a checklist and I'm honestly shocked at how quickly they get put up. Thanks to everyone who built this community. It's amazing.

"We expect everyone to pull their own weight around here"? This isn't the army, a workplace or even summer camp. It's just a website. No one has any obligation to add anything to it. Let people be as casual as they want about the site without judging them, please. 

Context needs to looked at for that statement. You're right it's not the army, etc. and yes, no one has an obligation to do anything they don't want on here. The context you are leaving out concerns those demands from members for others to do something that they can help do for themselves; look at what was written. How many tiimes in the forums have you seen someone demand a checklist or card be added (I've seen it in the IRs too) and that person gets upset when someone else doesn't do it for them right away? It's one thing to not knowing or understanding what to do and ask for help, it's another to demand someone do something for them. 

Thanks, Jim, for explaining exactly what I meant by that.

I have had newer members ask us to research the sets myself and get the checklist(s) added.