Forum Slowing Down

Tibor

One of my posts from a couple of months ago was revived. Asking if I
needed help finishing a 2023 Topps BB set. I responded a couple of hours
later. My post was made a 12:41 AM Oct.29. 24 hours later there hasn't
been a new thread posted to push my thread down. I guess no one has
anything fresh to BST. Never thought I'd see the day.

BaltimoreYankee

I've noticed that for at least the past year the BST threads have been very sparse.

Stone193

This is quite true.

Also, with respect to the trading cards forum - the date of the most recent and the date on the bottom thread (about 50 lines) is Oct 30 down to October 17th.

Compared to the US Coin Forum? Top to bottom (again around 50 threads/lines) - Oct 30 to Oct 29th!

As you can see there's way more activity there. Our traffic has slowed way down.

That's how our forum used to be. We've lost way too many to bamming and attrition. Many have contacted me over the years that have left the hobby for different reasons.

Kind of sad. I sure miss so many people.

pdoidoi

I think it's the sports card hobby. Most people don't have the money that they once had to spend on trading cards and memorabilia. Sports card shops are getting rarer and just like card shows are getting fewer and fewer. Look at the prices for rookie players. Maybe 95 - 98% will not be worth anything after 2-3 yrs if that long. I'm watching big prices for rookies that have played 1 or 2 seasons and seeing the Tom Brady prices falling like I never thought I would see. Many new rookie cards are way more $$ than many vintage HOF'ers. I think modern cards are a very bad investment. I wish I never restarted collecting modern. It's a bad addiction. Thankfully I'm pretty much only collecting Tom Brady for modern cards. Much of my time is spent in search of vintage non sports cards.

BLUEJAYWAY

I am considering putting my 2003 Topps Heritage Baseball Master set up for sale, but with somewhat low forum participation may not be worth the effort.

pdoidoi

@BaltimoreYankee said:
I've noticed that for at least the past year the BST threads have been very sparse.

I think it is all the Sports Forums. I recently stated that about the forums getting slow. Noticed about a week or so that you could see very few posts being added lately.

1951WheatiesPremium

Well, these forums are awesome but these types of internet posting forums are no longer the popular spot to congregate online.

Realistically, there’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram and other means of interacting with like minded collectors that have become more popular for a variety of reasons.

PSA and their PR people have a presence on most of these social media platforms already, with more announcements, activity and interaction there (than here, anyway) which reaches a much wider audience.

Tibor

The Coin forum along with the Trading Card is nothing more than
a place to complain about grading times and service. These whinings
have gone on for 3+ years. If you recently sent in a sub that's your
tuff luck. It maybe several years before they get it under control.
You want it back quickly, hop a plane to California and do the walk thru.

1951WheatiesPremium

Also, maybe the boards are slower but they’re not dead. I have bought more than a few items right here within the last year or so off the boards. These two are (easily) still my favorites of the more recent acquisitions from CU…

grote15

Facebook groups have pretty much replaced message boards for hobby dealings and discussion these days.

coolstanley

Not a good time to sell. Inflation

galaxy27

this forum and TC&M are as dead as i've ever seen them

sad, but nothing lasts forever

the handwriting is on the wall

Mickey71

It has slowed down because people are upset with the grading. I'm basically talking about vintage. Customers/collectors feel like they have been abandoned. What used to be fun and easy to do with a possibility of a reward by grading cards is for the most part gone. It's expensive, SLOW, atrocious grades etc. People are MAD.

coolstanley

@Mickey71 said:
It has slowed down because people are upset with the grading. I'm basically talking about vintage. Customers/collectors feel like they have been abandoned. What used to be fun and easy to do with a possibility of a reward by grading cards is for the most part gone. It's expensive, SLOW, atrocious grades etc. People are MAD.

The last few times i sent vintage to BVG and SGC I was satisfied with the grades. My only complaint is Beckett is too slow.

BLUEJAYWAY

@galaxy27 said:
this forum and TC&M are as dead as i've ever seen them

sad, but nothing lasts forever

the handwriting is on the wall

If the forum ever shuts down maybe we can redeem our earned points for grading vouchers,

1951WheatiesPremium

@Tibor said:
The Coin forum along with the Trading Card is nothing more than
a place to complain about grading times and service. These whinings
have gone on for 3+ years. If you recently sent in a sub that's your
tuff luck. It maybe several years before they get it under control.
You want it back quickly, hop a plane to California and do the walk thru.

@Mickey71 said:
It has slowed down because people are upset with the grading. I'm basically talking about vintage. Customers/collectors feel like they have been abandoned. What used to be fun and easy to do with a possibility of a reward by grading cards is for the most part gone. It's expensive, SLOW, atrocious grades etc. People are MAD.

This is my most recent vintage sub that came home around a week ago. It went in at the end of August on a monthly special and all things considered, the turn time was very reasonable for a ‘Monthly Special’. I had no complaints and was quite pleased with the results (accurate on all 7). I posted as such here when they came home but every thread improves with imagery:

I post this because I hope this is a sign of things to come and that maybe there will be more happy returns in the future for the board members here.

BJY83

The last MOD banning dozens of the best members because of anti-PSA comments absolutely destroyed the community in the boards. There are way more anti-PSA posts these days that the new Moderators don't seem concerned with. Oh well, much like PSA for grading, many of us have found better alternatives to this board.

BLUEJAYWAY

@grote15 said:
Facebook groups have pretty much replaced message boards for hobby dealings and discussion these days.

Do you think that applies to the coin forum here as well?

BLUEJAYWAY

It would be a shame if the migration from here to other outlets continues. There are many who have departed either through banning or otherwise. I assume there are some who will stay here and also partake in other sites. For myself I have no interest in other platforms. This place is adequate for my interests. Have learned alot from "the old guard". Thanks for that. For sure when it comes time to liquidate holdings I may leave $ on the table by not branching out to other platforms. But at the same time ones who have departed never to return may miss out on some good offerings. And some great knowledge from the ones who stayed behind may be missed out on by those who have departed. Just a few random thoughts.

grote15

@BLUEJAYWAY said:

@grote15 said:
Facebook groups have pretty much replaced message boards for hobby dealings and discussion these days.

Do you think that applies to the coin forum here as well?

The coin collector demographic is an older one (in general) vs card collectors for which the message board platform still holds appeal (as illustrated by the posting frequency on the PCGS side of these forums) though there are also a number of coin groups on FB where the activity for buying and selling coins, at least, is a lot busier than it is here on the CU BST forum.

pdoidoi

@BJY83 said:
The last MOD banning dozens of the best members because of anti-PSA comments absolutely destroyed the community in the boards. There are way more anti-PSA posts these days that the new Moderators don't seem concerned with. Oh well, much like PSA for grading, many of us have found better alternatives to this board.

Are you sure that is why they were banned.
There is too much rudeness and disrespect on these forums. People need to respect others and they sometimes just need to ignore and step away from the topic. Some are fighting and being rude and I think that is adding to people leaving.