Searching for cards you need on ebay

CDsNuts

OK, so a friend of mine and I are arguing about how to list cards so registry set (company) collectors can find them, but we disagree on how the registry guys search for their cards. So here's the question- what do you guys type in the search bar:

- Do you search by set using something general like "1982 Topps PSA 10" and then see all the cards from the set in PSA 10?
- Do you search for only the cards you need by number, like "1982 Topps #139 PSA 10"?
- Do you search for the cards you need by player name, like "1982 Topps Henderson PSA 10"?


Any insight would be appreciated.

Edit- This includes any searches you have saved so ebay informs you when something is listed.

dizzle

Lee,

If I was doing a 1986 fleer basketball set in PSA 10 I would search

1986 fleer PSA 10

This way I can get a look at all the current PSA 10's listed..

Pittsburghese

I agree with Dizzle. I search through football cards, Psa 1978 so I can see all the cards and what is selling for what.

perkdog

"1952 Bowman Large PSA" Or "Player Name PSA" always works best for me.

ymarea

I keep it really simple. I'll type "1971 psa" and view 'em all. If I want a particular card, I'll type "1971 jackson 20," for example.

calaban7

Lee, I get normally one or more emails a week , letting me know that there is something thats listing on Ebay soon. I get other offers , letting me know something is available, pre-Ebay. I have some sellers that know my sets so well, know what I pay, and simply email me a paypal invoice. Really works well.

As far as searches go, for my 1955 Bowman football---I list 1955 Bowman PSA8 , under the football heading. For either my 74, 83 05 84, I have both PSA 10 & PSA 9 for headers. For my 94 Topps , its simply PSA 10. For the cheesy players sets that I have , I have say Steve Rogers PSA, as the header. If I see something in the list, I lock it onto my watch list.

If your friend has some nice items, they may take the time and contact the register owner, that the cards might help most. Ebay is not the same Ebay it was a year ago. I have many , many cards that I can move , just by starting a buyer/ seller relationship.

Good luck---Sonny

GDM67

I always went with the year, the guy's name and "PSA." For team and league leaders cards, I always added the number, just to cast a wider net.

Orioles

The only thing I'd add to what already has been said, is that as a team collector, I do a lot of searches using "Orioles" in the title (ie 1971 orioles PSA). Many sellers don't put the team name in the listing (they just use player name, number and year/manufacturer). So, I would recommend adding the team name.

Jim

elsnorto

I too use a search along the lines of "1948 leaf psa" to see what is available. As I get down to the last few cards needed for a set, I might start searching by the players last name. I would never search by card number though as a lot of sellers do not include this in the title whereas typically the year, manufacturer, and grading company are.

Snorto~

TheVon

When I first start a set I generally use the year, set name, and "PSA" as my search criteria but as I near the finish and I no longer need to buy 600+ cards I do start adding the card numbers that I need to my saved search criteria.

jeffcbay

For my player searches, I search "ripken psa 10" when I'm looking for the listings of Ripken PSA 10s. I have all of my searches listed from newest first. If I want to narrow it down, I add the year first, then the company if needed. Rarely do I use card numbers or teams.

corvette1340

"1961 Topps" or "1961 Topps PSA". Sometimes I'll narrow it to "1961 Topps (last name)" if Im searching for a specific player. I hardly ever search by card number because I assume that everyone will have their last name while some may leave out the number.

TheVon

I can understand why people wouldn't search by using the card number, but I think that if you are selling commons you had better include the card number anyway. When I'm searching for cards that are part of a set I don't want to have to click on the auction and then scroll down to look at the card just to see whether it is one I already have. So if the # isn't listed I probably won't bother clicking on the auction because I'm lazy like that.

ptper

Here is an example of the searches I use for my 1952 Bowman baseball set and Canadian Post Orioles set. This pretty much filters out all of the reprints and football, which I do not collect.

1952 bowman (141, 145, 146, 151, 152, 167, 177, 183, 191, 196, 200, 201, 211) -football -small -large -reprint -rp

canadian post (breeding, dick williams, wilhelm, estrada)

I also search by team, so that is always helpful in the title, but in those searches I also search the descriptions.

Griffins

I use a service that searches for me, it finds misslisted cards more often than I would. Not as much fun as doing your own search, but getting an email when a card you need is listed is much more efficient.

MBMiller25

Lee, That Ewing RC I just bought from you: 1986 Fleer Ewing PSA 9



Thanks Again!

Edited to read PSA 9, not 8