General Forum

I have spent most of the day working on getting out cards for a big trade with Shawn Norris, and yet again I am missing some of the cards he asked for. (and before anyone chimes in, he already got his end of the trade to me over a week ago) This is not a new problem for me, but it is completely baffling. My tradelist is stored in chronological order by set, and then in numerical order by set, so everything should be there when I go to it...yet it's not.

I have ascribed to this being due to trades not being followed in proper step order, and so not removing from my tradelist, but this latest trade is with a set that I don't think I've ever mailed any out of, so where could they be? I'm beginning to wonder if I screwed up entering the tradelist when I did it back in 2014/early 2015. As much as I like to pretend otherwise, I'm not infallible. It's never a lot of cards, usually in a 100 card trade it's 2 or 3 cards, but any is too many. (This trade was 90 cards, and I no longer had 3 of them)

So, here's where I want the opinion of other Database members...considering you are the people I'm trading with, I think you should have some say in how I go about fixing this problem, because it needs fixing. I am thinking of two ways to go about this:

1. Manually check each set to see what is there and if what's listed is actually still in my possesion. Pro: Most of the work is already done. Con: I could easily miss something that is actually missing when I am going card by card. I started doing this with NASCAR about a year ago but don't remember where I left off so I would need to start over.
2. Delete my original tradelist, and start from scratch using the new Multiple Collection feature. I would create a collection just for my tradelist, listing all my available duplicates and then moving them over to my tradelist.  Pros: It would be up to the minute accurate as I would not be working from any list, like the original tradelist- i would only enter cards that are in my hand at that time, and are in perfect shape. (I will not send out flawed cards in trade, though I will accept them). What if some of the missing cards are ones that I lost when I had a flood in 2015 and I missed some when I was removing them? That was a very overwhelming, painful period for me and my mental state may not have been 100% at that time, and by "may" I mean "wasn't". Pro 2- it would allow my tradelist to be auto-matched to other members who use that feature, something that did not exist when I originally entered them, in theory allowing me to add new cards to my collection. Pro 3- I would be able to view the stats page for my duplicate collection if I waited until I was done to move them over. Which player or team do I have the most cards available of? I not only don't know that, I know of no way to find that out, and for an OCD stat junkie like myself, that would be cool to know. Neutral- it would allow me to keep them totally separate from my actual collection, which would be a very, very minor pro as it would give me a more accurate total of what I actually have in my collection on the stats page, which currently is a total of my collection and my tradelist. I list this as a neutral because I'm working on creating Excel charts to document my collection so it will really be just duplication. Con- With the size of my trade stash, about 15,000 cards ready to be listed, and about double that waiting to be processed (years away), it would be a LOT of work to enter the information again, and one of my pet peeves is having to redo something, especially if it's because it's something I messed up. The first time I entered my tradelist took me more than a month, although in theory it would go faster this time because the cards are already sorted by set, and I would not have to go in and "add another to collection" then move it over- adding direct to tradelist didn't exist when I first did it, either. Also, it's easier to check that you have something once than adding another, it would be like adding them fresh to a brand new collection, because that's exactly what it would be.

Honestly, I'm leaning heavily towards option #2, but havn't pulled the proverbial trigger because that's an awful lot of work to (re)do.

What do you folks think? Either way, I need to do SOMETHING, because I am really tired of having to tell people, please wait until I check to make sure I have all the cards still, and then having to tell them that I don't...sometimes AFTER they have gotten their end of the trade in my hands already. As is the case with the current trade with Shawn, he got his to me already and everything was there- he knew I would not be able to mail as quickly and that was agreed on, in case anyone is wondering.

I could use some thoughts and opinions on what I should do- because as I said above, the goal is to move my duplicates into somebody else's collection for cards I need, so this is not just about me. Until I decide something, I am also thinking about closing my tradelist so only I can see it. Thanks.

Every now and then I find a card on my Trade list that I no longer have.  Usually because I put it in a trade as a surprise bonus and forgot to remove it.  I now pull cards BEFORE accepting a trade proposal.  And the new checkboxes in the Transaction Manager make it easier to keep track of what I pull.  I say transfer your For Sale/Trade list to a new, separate Collection.  Then check it over card-by-card.  In the meantime, don't accept a trade until you've pulled the cards.  If a card is found to be missing, you can remove the card from the trade proposal and Counter.

I always double-check trades after completion that everything moved into and out of my Collection/Trade lists.  I've only had one or two traders who skipped "Package Received".  Those had to be manually removed from my Trade list.

I don't have a solution, but you are not alone. I had several large trades that did not update correctly. As a result I have random inaccuracies in my collection. Every once in awhile there will be a card I don't have or I will get a card in trade that I already have in my collection.

So far all my trade partners have been gracious enough to give me a day or two to pull the cards before I accept the trade. Also, those few times where I don't have a card, everyone has either accepted a substitute or has been open to adjusting the trade.

I accept this condition as an inconvienient reality. If I have a trade offer and the other member is missing a card because of an inventory inaccuracy, I am open to an adjustment and so far everyone I've dealt with has been the same way.

I am currently going through my collection and to make sure that my collection inventory is accurate. I try and do one or two sets a week. (this includes both my collection and my trade list). Since I'm a set collector everything I have is sorted by set. Your option #2 would break my spirit if I had to reenter everything.

Billy, I feel for you.  I hate it when I get a trade proposal and find that I am missing a card they want for whatever may be the reason.

Here are my thoughts:

You are not talking about a lot of cards.  What I now do is, I pull the cards requested before I Accept the trade.  I assume the person proposing has the cards he offers.  After all, he built the trade.  I do advise him when he can expect to hear back fromme and whether I am going to accept the trade as proposed. For me that may be a day or two at most.

When I enter my traders into the system, other than for vintage cards, I only enter one of any card whether I have only the one or 100 to trade. Why? It avoids cluttering trade matches. When someone asks for a card, when I pull it, I see if I have a second card to trade (they are all together so I know right away).  If I do, I click on the link to the card inthe trade.  It opens in another window.  There I add another for trade.  This way, when the trade is properly completed, one is removed and the other shows for trade.

When you are pulling the cards for trade, if you find you don't have one that was asked for, note it, advise the trade partner, come up with a replacement or deletion from his offer BUT make sure you delete the card you supposedly had fortrade off your list.

I do all this from the same collection as the cards I have in my collection.  No need for another collection just for traders.

The key to doing it this way is that your traders have to be organized, as welloreven betterthan your collection.  Whichever way works for you, but they must be easy to find.  I can find any card within seconds.  What takes the longest is when the card someone wants is in the box on the bottom of the pile.  I have over 400,000 cards for trade (not all different) so the piles of boxes are high.

Hope this helps,

Bruno

Having been a holdout from the very beginning on entering much of my collection, now that multiple collections and the ability to move between collections are available, I'm in. (I currently have 11 colections in addition to the Main collection.) I finally got my team collection fully listed (well, all that's in the system). I started listing some of my trade/sell inventory. Having that in it's own "collection" is a help. It's a lot easier to enter multiples into collection (as opposed to want list or for sale/trade). So by having these in a separate collection, add multiples to collection, and then move all cards in this set to FS/FT and done.

I had a bunch of stuff listed FS/FT but with some trades and many sales (both here and ebay), I found it was way off. I wound up removing almost the entire FS/FT list (except or those that were still accurate) in a day.

I'll be entering stuff using your second method myself. Of course, I never had an inventory of what I had, so I'm different from you in that regard. And that forces that to really be my only option.

For you, I don't see how option1 saves you much time. Either way, you have to go through your entire inventory and either enter it or verify it and if it's off, correct it. I guess it does if you're only making a few corrections - that could be faster.

Option 2 gets you the stats you want to see. :)

I have noticed a few issues with multiple collections.  I know that this is a newer feature so I can imagine it will take some time and testing to enable this feature completely.  My issue was receiving cards.  I had cards on a wantlist from one collection that ended up on another collection when received.

I also noticed that the reports that are listed when viewing a specific collection report on the entire collection.  For example, I click on my Carlton Fisk collection.  It shows me the summary of my Fisk cards and below are a list of available reports.  I select the report that matches your sale/trade list to my want list.  I assume since I am in the Fisk collection that is is going to match my Fisk want list.  Nope, it matches against my entire collection.  One of the reports did work properly. 

I have brought this to the attention of the Admin.  Thanks to them for all their hard work.  I also am a designer and developer.  So I know how challenging it is to develop a complicated system.  I can also be a pain the butt with my own opinions.  Thanks for listening. 

Bruno,

You may be missing out.  I've had 3 separate traders who wanted my mulitple copies.  Thus I was able to get more cards in exchange. One wanted all my Seattle Seahawks, even duplicates of the same card. One wanted all my RCs, even duplicates. And the other want specific players, even duplicates.  If I hadn't had all my multiple copies listed I would've missed out on getting cards I needed and getting rid of cards I don't want.

sandyrusty wrote:

Billy, I feel for you.  I hate it when I get a trade proposal and find that I am missing a card they want for whatever may be the reason.

Here are my thoughts:

You are not talking about a lot of cards.  What I now do is, I pull the cards requested before I Accept the trade.  I assume the person proposing has the cards he offers.  After all, he built the trade.  I do advise him when he can expect to hear back fromme and whether I am going to accept the trade as proposed. For me that may be a day or two at most.

When I enter my traders into the system, other than for vintage cards, I only enter one of any card whether I have only the one or 100 to trade. Why? It avoids cluttering trade matches. When someone asks for a card, when I pull it, I see if I have a second card to trade (they are all together so I know right away).  If I do, I click on the link to the card inthe trade.  It opens in another window.  There I add another for trade.  This way, when the trade is properly completed, one is removed and the other shows for trade.

When you are pulling the cards for trade, if you find you don't have one that was asked for, note it, advise the trade partner, come up with a replacement or deletion from his offer BUT make sure you delete the card you supposedly had fortrade off your list.

I do all this from the same collection as the cards I have in my collection.  No need for another collection just for traders.

The key to doing it this way is that your traders have to be organized, as welloreven betterthan your collection.  Whichever way works for you, but they must be easy to find.  I can find any card within seconds.  What takes the longest is when the card someone wants is in the box on the bottom of the pile.  I have over 400,000 cards for trade (not all different) so the piles of boxes are high.

Hope this helps,

Bruno

C2, I understand that can happen. There are a few cards I want multiples and maybe someone had more to trade but such is life.  If I was to list all of my cards, or even limit it to 10 cards of any one, I would clutter the matches terribly.  Maybe I should advertise that I have multiples of many; if you want more than one, just ask.

There is a 1988 Donruss card that I know I have about 1000 of.  Why? Came in a mass lot.  Whoever had accumulated this pile, I don't know why.

I'm not a huge trader, but I've never had that issue (so far). But, a more annoying issue, to me, is going to add cards to my collection, adding them, only to find that when I'm going to put them away, I actually have them - like I missed checking a box when I was adding them. Frustrating, but mistakes are always made. I personally wouldn't agree to a trade until I have all the cards in hand.

Thank you for the thoughts everyone. A couple of thoughts about your thoughts:

Chuck, the main idea in using a separate collection would be so I didn't have to go in and delete stuff, because that's a pain in the rear.

Bruno- your version is way to complex for me. I know I would find a way to mess it up. And it wouldn't tell me exactly how many cards I have available, which strangely I want to know, despite the fact that it serves no purpose.

Chad- I don't have any football to trade with you, but I did just find a card from 1939 that I have available (I got two in the same lot). I was planning to sell it on COMC but if you are interested I would trade it with you instead. It might be too new for you, though :D

gormanjv- I saw Admin stated at some point that trades can ONLY go into the main collection, which would be fine with me as that's where I keep most of my cards listed.

Dan- I took a look at how you have your collection set up. I like it. Having a dedicated tradelist collection looks nice. Do you know if you can match wantlist to tradelist with a main collection? I don't really know how to use the match feature but I would like to learn.

I did a little more investigating after my previous post. I think the listing is more messed up than I though. One of the cards that I did not have to send to Shawn, my tradelist said I had 4 of them available. That's not right at all. While I don't think I traded any from that set, I am not 100% sure...but I AM sure I didn't send 4 copies of the same card out.
Also, I went and looked at the stats section....(I really, really love that feature) and my tradelist shows as 13.300something cards. When I started entering my collection in 2012, I was able to type in 11,000 cards in the first day, and I don't think I started first thing in the morning. I now think reentering what I've got may be possible to get done in a day or two. Granted, I worked off my paper listing and not the actual cards in hand, but it still should not be very hard at all. And actually inspecting the cards will allow me to weed out any that may have gotten damaged in the 3 years since I entered them originally, although both scenarios would do that.

I'm going to think on it some more but I really think re-entering it is the direction I'm going to take. I'm in the middle of a big project in Excel for my collection, which has a few days worth of work left to do in it, and I think I will tackle the tradelist, aka duplicate stash, when I finish that project.