What do you guys use to organize your collection????

Moonman

I started keeping a list of the cards I have so I wouldn't buy dupes and waste money. Well for years I have been using an Excel spreadsheet, and it occurred to me that there might be a better way or even an app. Any advice????

LarkinCollector

https://www.tradingcarddb.com/ for raw, the registry here for graded. Or at least move the Excel data to Google Docs or something that can be easily accessed from mobile wherever you are (especially useful when at a LCS or show).

ahopkins

@LarkinCollector Neat, Kyle. I didn't realize that existed. I'll have to check it out.

@Moonman I generally keep major card or unopened purchases in a good old fashioned small and slender notebook. Otherwise, I keep it organized in my brain.

Stone193

I've come to the realization.

I will "never" be organized.

Moonman

Well as I get older I realize that keeping organized in my brain is no longer working. I have bought several cards, even some at some embarrassing prices, only to then realize I already had it.

rcmb3220

I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with this term. Is it another word for “focus”?

doubledragon

For me, the question is "where do you HIDE your collection? I've gotten out of control with my spending, and my wife gets upset about it. I've got cards hidden all over the place, like easter eggs. I sometimes forget where I stash them. I've got 3 Larry Bird cards hidden in a non-functioning light fixture.

BPorter26

@doubledragon said:
For me, the question is "where do you HIDE your collection? I've gotten out of control with my spending, and my wife gets upset about it. I've got cards hidden all over the place, like easter eggs. I sometimes forget where I stash them. I've got 3 Larry Bird cards hidden in a non-functioning light fixture.

It’s time for you to ask your wife for your balls back.

doubledragon

@BPorter26 said:

@doubledragon said:
For me, the question is "where do you HIDE your collection? I've gotten out of control with my spending, and my wife gets upset about it. I've got cards hidden all over the place, like easter eggs. I sometimes forget where I stash them. I've got 3 Larry Bird cards hidden in a non-functioning light fixture.

It’s time for you to ask your wife for your balls back.

I don't have the balls to ask for my balls back.😉

doubledragon

It is now 5:42 a.m. eastern time. Much to my disappointment, porkchops just made the grocery list for today. There goes $6.00 down the drain. My wife wants porkchops for dinner tonight. I want my usual turkey sandwich with chips, it's about $6.00 cheaper. When you collect Joe Louis cards, every dollar counts. Porkchops are a natural enemy of my Joe Louis card fund.

ArtVandelay

buy cards. put into top loaders. place in box. never see again.

The only semblance of organization i have is that they are organized by sport as well as vintage and non-vintage.

softparade

focus

JoeBanzai

@doubledragon said:
It is now 5:42 a.m. eastern time. Much to my disappointment, porkchops just made the grocery list for today. There goes $6.00 down the drain. My wife wants porkchops for dinner tonight. I want my usual turkey sandwich with chips, it's about $6.00 cheaper. When you collect Joe Louis cards, every dollar counts. Porkchops are a natural enemy of my Joe Louis card fund.

Be glad she doesn't want beef, much more expensive than pork!

billwaltonsbeard

just hire a collection manager

doubledragon

@JoeBanzai said:

@doubledragon said:
It is now 5:42 a.m. eastern time. Much to my disappointment, porkchops just made the grocery list for today. There goes $6.00 down the drain. My wife wants porkchops for dinner tonight. I want my usual turkey sandwich with chips, it's about $6.00 cheaper. When you collect Joe Louis cards, every dollar counts. Porkchops are a natural enemy of my Joe Louis card fund.

Be glad she doesn't want beef, much more expensive than pork!

Now you're starting to scare me. If she wants beef on the grocery list, I may have to file for a restraining order.

jay0791

That is why I love the PSA set registry. It allows me to keep track of my collection inc non psa cards.

Funny, if I take my family out to dinner I don't look at is as "there goes a PSA 9 Mel Stottlemyre."

PatsGuy5000

@Moonman said:
I started keeping a list of the cards I have so I wouldn't buy dupes and waste money. Well for years I have been using an Excel spreadsheet, and it occurred to me that there might be a better way or even an app. Any advice????

I use excel as well. I separate by sport and list by year 1st not player.

DBesse27

I have various excel sheets for various things. Each of my 4 player collections has its own list. I have a list of all my autographed cards. And I have vintage lists (pre-1970) - one for baseball and one for all other sports (mostly football)

Bearkat21

How is there not a good app for this?

krisd3279

I also use Excel for my raw cards and any specific things I'm working on. I have a spreadsheet for all the cards I need to complete various sets. My needs list is extensive and looks like a price guide from 1993 . I have a spreadsheet for the Living Set and also one for the Mattingly collection. Everything is organized by year, company, card number. They're all uploaded to the cloud so I can get to them from my phone if I happen to be out of town and find a new shop to visit. I prefer Excel since I can make my list in whatever way I want to. I'm not stuck with someone else's idea of the best way to keep track of my cards. For instance the Living Set list includes the print run numbers and which week the card was released.

jlvette50

@LarkinCollector said:
https://www.tradingcarddb.com/ for raw, the registry here for graded. Or at least move the Excel data to Google Docs or something that can be easily accessed from mobile wherever you are (especially useful when at a LCS or show).

+1
This is exactly how I keep track of my Longo collection. All cards scanned into the tcdb website and PSA graded cards in the registry. Keep track of the prices and inventory as well in Excel.

softparade

In the middle of work on a NM-MT 1978 Topps baseball set. This is how I’m keeping track of what I need. #oldschool

Kep13

I like it softparade...I am a throwback organizer/tracker as well

DotStore

MS Excel for me here. It works pretty well for keeping track of purchase date, price, where I got it, etc... There's probably some "Inventory" App that can be used for collectibles... If not there's an opportunity for some school project to create the App and market it at the next National...

NGS428

@LarkinCollector said:
https://www.tradingcarddb.com/ for raw, the registry here for graded. Or at least move the Excel data to Google Docs or something that can be easily accessed from mobile wherever you are (especially useful when at a LCS or show).

I have my raw Griffey set in tradingcarddb .com and graded in the PSA registry.

I started putting raw in the PSA registry non-psa section, but I stopped due to them not having all the cards available to enter. Tradingcarddb is more comprehensive for unlicensed cards.

EXCEL too for my raw Griffey since that is where the list started.

flcardtrader

Like others, I use multiple Excel sheets saved as text (.csv) files.

The cells of each file is set up in a standard fashion with the columns set up for:

Year
Maker
Sub-Set
Player
Card Number
Condition
Quantity
High BV / Low BV
Team
Set Type

Over time, I did this for hundreds of sets from the early 30's through 2017'ish spanning 6 Excel Spreadsheets and over 200,000 lines items (cards) in those sets.

Around 2013, I asked a friend to write me a program to manage the Excel Spreadsheets using one interface with an easy way to edit them so I don't have to scroll through thousands of lines in the Spreadsheet.

Screenshot attached.

I can use the program to search on any set, player, number, condition, etc to pull up a havelist or wantlist in a heartbeat. The program was helpful in keeping me organized while building the sets and now that most are built, it has been equally helpful as I upgrade them too.