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Monday, December 21, 2020

There's no right or wrong way to use TCDB

I too once resisted the idea of joining The Trading Card Database (TCDB). It seemed daunting. But as blog trading slowed down, my collecting interests stalled, and new products dried out on shelves, I decided to join the site as a way to acquire some Yankees base cards while getting rid of cards I didn't want. I'm glad I did. 155 PWE trades later, I've had nothing but positive experiences. 

It's interesting how people who don't use TCDB need to go out of their way to tell you they don't. They seem so obsessed with it that they must let you know. It reminds me of how Mets fans talk about the Yankees more than their own team.

There is a misconception that one needs to load and log their entire collection for it to be a successful foray into the site. That's not really the case at all.

Sure, you may prefer to do that. Nothing is stopping you. But it does not have to be all or nothing. It certainly isn't for me.

For example, I only have 1,867 cards in my collection that are logged onto the site. 1,001 of those are Tino Martinez. The rest are mostly logged as a result of trades, something the site does for you once you mark a trade completed. These are usually Gleyber Torres or Aaron Judge or new Yankees cards from products I can't find, like 2020 Stadium Club.

I actually have zero desire to track and log the thousands of other Yankee cards I own. And it doesn't keep me up at night.

In addition to the 1,867 cards in my collection, my wantlist contains 7,798 cards. Do I really want nearly 8,000 cards? No. But I add those to help others find something to send me in swaps. 

I didn't log all of those cards on my wantlist. I simply click on a player - like Tino or Gleyber - and choose the function "add all missing cards to wantlist." Easy. 

My for sale/trade list (which is really just 'for trade') consists of 2,205 cards. That is a paltry sum compared to many. If I somehow snag new cards - a rarity these days - I pull out what I want, add what I don't to the site. Into a trade box they go. I've usually had my most trading success right after I add some new product the site, as it pings others who have those cards on their wantlist. Often that's when a trade is born.

Trading can be a little cumbersome, and it did take me a bit to figure it out. I'm not even sure I'm doing it in the most efficient manner now, and would be curious to hear tips from others. But I like moving five or six cards for one or two I want. Here's a how a trade can look:
Or this. This is a successful trade for me. Five cards of a team I don't care about, including four of a player I don't like. For two guys I collect:
Clarke Schmidt and Giancarlo Stanton for Miguel Cabrera cards taking up space? Sign me up. I know that's not worth some people's times, but I'd rather do a small trade like this that relies on a PWE than pull a bunch of cards, and then have to visit the post office to send off a bubble mailer.
My advice is to simply use the site how you want, and don't stress about it. If that means logging every last card you have, cool. If it means logging a player collection(s), go for it. If it means dabbling a bit to see how the site will be most useful to you, that works. If you just want to add few commons and try to swap for a few cards that better fit your collection, have at it. And if the site isn't for you, I wish you well.

There's no right or wrong way to use the site. It can be exactly what you want it to be. 

12 comments:

  1. TCDB, like any other part of the hobby - should be used to enhance your collecting - whatever that means. Myself, I do use it as my main source of organizing, collecting, and listing everything I have in collection, want or for trade, but as you say, that may not be for everyone and that is okay.

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  2. That’s about how I’ve learned to use it too. I’ll upload sets I’m trying to complete and trade doubles for needs. I’ll upload cards from sets I decided NOT to complete and it becomes trade bait. The automated TCDB “match” emails that come in overnight get me started. The best is finding team collectors from other teams, that want the stuff I was ready to give to the kids to play with!

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  3. Don't have time for it, my blog would suffer if I added it, therefore I don't use it. Does that mean I'm obsessed with talking about how I don't use it? No. Just responding to the TCDB pitches I constantly see.

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  4. I do mostly small trades, but there are people on there who won't even consider small trades.

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  5. TCDB has saved trading for me - I'm back up over 100 trades this year after a number of years below that mark. I'm ever-so-slowly adding my Barry Larkin collection to my TCDB account (and figuring out which Larkin cards I still need/want). I've also started to add my big piles of old duplicates/unwanted cards - a slow go there too but it's worth it as I start to turn cards that have sat on a shelf for years into stuff I actually want!

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  6. I enjoy using TCDB to trade away cards I don't want for cards I do - I'll often propose 12 for 9 or 9 for 6 card trades.

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  7. Glad you found a new tool for your hobby toolbox. I have an account, but haven't taken the time to enter cards into the database or make trades. That being said... I've seen plenty of people write about their positive experiences and don't remember seeing any negative reviews. Maybe one day, but I don't see myself being active on the site for anytime in the near future. Just too many things going on in life and the hobby right now.

    P.S. 155 PWE trades? Nice.

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  8. great summary of TCDB, i have slowly begun the process of tracking my cards there as well as google docs. i've been exported their lists along with beckett and combining them. I 'need' to document everything since that's the only way my brain can settle.

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  9. I've cataloged my entire collection on TCDB (though it probably needs to be checked/updated) and I stick to PWEs of 4-15 cards. It's great for exchanging unwanted cards for team/set/player needs as you said, but I had to scrap my Red Sox/Packers wantlists because I kept getting offers of "junk wax" commons for my shiny inserts.

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  10. I joined TCDb in February 2018 and made only three trades in 2018 and three in 2019. Of course that's because I never initiated any trades and didn't have many of my cards offered for trade.

    But this year, with increased quaranting time, I've entered more of my expendable cards on TCDb and I'm now on track to complete over 30 trades in 2020. And that's still with hardly any trades initiated by me.

    My collection has never benefited so much. I'm actually getting semi-close to completing my first Topps flagship master set (2020 base & inserts).

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  11. I recently removed my trade lists from my blog due to inactivity. I’m like you, I really have no desire to list my entire Braves collection on the site, but it’s been a great tool to pick up cards for sets I’m building.

    I started off using the site mainly as a checklist for my Rey Ordonez super collection (which I’m still ranked as #1!)

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  12. It took me a while to start using the TCDB, if only because I couldn't figure out how to do so. Adding stuff to the site is slow and very time consuming, which isn't good for bloggers, so I can see why so many still haven't joined. Adding player collections got real boring, real quick, so I've recently switched to adding trade bait instead, and will probably finish that before I go back to adding my collections (or at least the ones that I want to add).

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