I have a sub collection I'm entering into the database here using detailed add for each card. The cards I'm tracking are autographed cards I've acquired through different means over the years. For each card entry I'm using the price field to enter how much I paid for the card, serial number is the date acquired (mmddyy) and the comment field details where I got it (In person signing, eBay, show dealer). I'm also linking an image to my website that has images of the cards. 

A couple questions about logistics. Will the prices I've entered be retained or will a database wide pricing update to a card reset all my price entries? Example: I paid $50 from a dealer for a 1967 Topps #586 signed by Manny Jimenez (tough auto and a high number '67) and I've entered that $50 figure in the price field. If someone updates the database's prices on 1967 Topps cards and the price for card #586 is $15 will my $50 entry in the price field be retained or will it be overwritten by the $15 database wide change?

I found out that since I'm marking all of these cards as Y under autographed, I can view a list/gallery of all the actual images I'm linking my entries to. It's defaulted to a chronological order (would be nice if it could be done by player or any other sort method). I just now ran across that ability (to see all my actual uploaded images) and didn't think I was going to have that capabilty after messing around with things for a while and not being able to get access to what I was hoping I could do. I also found the capability to do a filter by comment. Very cool. I need to rethink the entries I make there with that in mind.

So, happily I am finding capabilities here I thought I might not have access to. As far as the price entries go, am I wasting my time?

I'll address the individual price issue; 1) your price will remain, and 2) the database price will take it into account when coming up with a median price. So both will show in different places.

If that's truly the case, that's not good for the median price on the website. I'm glad if my pricing remains in place as input by me, but it does a disservice to the median pricing if it's taken into consideration for that. If I have a ten cent card with a $20 autograph on it and my entry affects the median price that skews numbers to the point where they're meaningless. Mine reflects the price of the autograph AND the card. 

I don’t get why the site incorporates autographs and graded cards into the median price. There should be 2 medians then average for each grade. The later already exists, but is only visible if you click on the median to see all of the entries.

That begs the question if a higher level member decides that price is incorrect and deletes it does it effect your card detail also?

I think maybe we don't all have a full understanding of how pricing is done. I entered a price in the detailed add for a card. I never "updated pricing" on my collection summary page or clicked any "report a price" links. Therefore I don't believe my personal cards detailed add pricing is taken into account anywhere in the database other than in my personal collection. To the best of my knowledge this means I never submitted my pricing to the database for inclusion anywhere other than my own collection. Am I correct in these assumptions?

Here are the FAQs I found about pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How are prices on this site determined?

All site prices are as reported by members. If you click on a price, you can see a breakdown of the prices that were reported to make up the displayed price. The site uses a median calculation to determine the totals that are displayed. This means that it goes with the most popular price that's been reported. If there isn't a most popular, then it takes an average. For example, if two people report the price for a card to be $1 and only one person reports the price to be $3, then it will calculate the price to be $1. If one person says $1 and one person says $3, then it will calculate the price to be $2.

• How do I submit the price for a card?

For cards that already have pricing added, from the card's page under the image of the card, click on the price listed then use the "Click here to report a price" link.

For cards with no prices added yet, from the card's page under the image for the card, click on the "Report a Price" link.

Alternately, for cards in your collection, you can use the "Update Pricing" links when updating your collection to add prices.

• Do I have to submit prices both at the card level and in my collection?

No, any pricing entered at the card level gets automatically applied to collections and any pricing entered in collections get automatically applied at the card level. This process happens automatically in the background every couple of hours.

You are correct. If you just put it in your detailed add, it won’t be incorporated into the overall pricing. And no one else can change it. Those are essentially your personal notes about the card. 

V3

Thanks V3. That's how I hoped things worked. Learning more everyday. This database is one heck of a tool. But, like anything worthwhile, it's got a bit of a learning curve.

Autographs and graded versions of cards are not calculated into the median.

are they figured into the the Price total of set?