Helping fellow board members become "better" collectors

[Econteachert205]

Originally Posted by brewing

Slow Down

+1

[Bestdj777]

One piece of advice I can offer is to keep a very detailed list of what you own so that you can avoid purchasing cards you already have. I've ended up with way too many duplicates over the years--some intentional and some intentional--and could have avoided the unintentional mistakes if I'd started a spreadsheet sooner.

Another piece of advice that may be helpful is to think of your end game before you get started. For example, I've always wanted a complete Transogram Box of my favorite player. Instead of waiting for one to come up, I purchased the card cut off the box from one auction and the figure that came with the box in another. When the complete box came up for sale, I got it for less than the cost of the individual pieces and then had to try to recoup my money for items I no longer needed.

[Eric72]

Buy what you like and like what you buy. Leave the rest for everyone else.

It took me a while to learn this lesson.

Best regards,

Eric

[almostdone]

For me the best advice is to remember that the hunt is far greater fun than actually owning. If I'm building a set or looking for a specific item the hunt for the one that suits me is the hobby. Too many times I have gotten wrapped up in completing a project only to let the excitement die down and sometimes even eventually selling or trading off what I "had to have" to pay for the next "have to have".

Other than that don't collect alone. Find a friend, son, daughter, brother or whom ever to collect with. It's one of the reasons I love this site. I've made some good friends and even some lifelong ones all over the chase of cardboard. Sharing the collecting experience makes all of this so much more worthwhile.

Drew