My terrible collecting habits

[mrdallas]

Let me begin with: Hi, My name is Rob. And I buy too many cards.

Here is my issue: I have quite a few storage boxes of baseball, football, basketball in my closet. I buy a ton of retail and some hobby. When I bust the packs, I try to put the cards in storage boxes down by sports. Mostly I just take any inserts, refractors, color parallels/ RC's and put them in one of the boxes. A lot of the base cards and many rookies as well are usually consolidated back into blaster boxes. I do sell some stuff but unless it is something I can make a GREAT return on I just keep in my boxes. I forget most of the stuff I pull because IMO I would rather keep a low /’d parallel's in my “collection” rather than sell it for $1 or $2.

I use the term collection loosely because there is NO rhyme or reason to it. I just like busting packs, and I am more of a collector/hoarder than a seller. I just keep accumulating boxes of too many Inserts, refractors, parallels, RC's etc. This creates quite the issue though because when I do want to move stuff I have a hard time even finding it. Example: I found a 2013-14 Giannis Base Prizm in pristine condition a few years back that I ended up selling for like $35 bucks. I had no clue I even had it, I just stumbled across it as I was “trying’ to sort my cards down per sport. I am sure I have tons of other cool cards that I just don’t remember even having.

Does anyone else have this problem?

How do I downsize efficiently without getting hammered to bad

I also buy a ton of Hangers packs and instead of opening the bonus packs I usually just put them to the side and save them sealed. I had a 2014 Bowman Purple Pack with Mookie Betts RC on the front that I can’t seem to find anymore. This is my problem. SMH

I look forward to the day/week that I can actually sit down, take an inventory and come up with a better system. Here is a Picture of one of my boxes and some of the cards I found in the front of the box. This box is mostly Optic and Prizm from the past 3 years. I also found a Drexler Optic Auto /25, Lebron Checkerboard and some other goodies in it.

https://sportscardalbum.com/c/l0pf21l4.jpg (https://sportscardalbum.com/card/l0pf21l4)

[babyfaceposey]

I donate all base cards besides rookies. Autos, sn and patch cards all go in separate boxes. I only keep base refactors and refractor inserts. Once a box is filled I label it full. In 20-30 years I will worry about selling.

[chris_ac]

A few tips from personal experience. Just loose suggestions, yay or nay as you see fit.

1. Unless you have a definitive place to drop off base and unwanted hits, just trash bag them. I’ve been doing this for a few years now. Like you said, I don’t typically sell unless the return is worth the hassle. So any card that doesn’t scream keeper, throw away. I never had a card I regretted tossing. It statistically shows how miniscual the chance a complete surprise player becomes valuable out of nowhere.

2. Please, consider picking a focus. I know you like the assortment buying, but if storage and clutter is hindering your ability to enjoy and shuffle your collection, then really find a sport, team, player, set, etc. to corral your future purchases around. A focus affects singles and pack buying alike.

3. I was where you were a couple years ago. Add in hockey to the other 3 sports you buy. I had numerous card storage boxes and stacks even in a dresser outside my closet. I found a local consignment deal that worked for me and I cleansed my closet. Definitely worth it. Getting the PC down to the nuts and bolts is always good. The disarray you’re alluding to can zap the hobby satisfaction over time. I’ve been there. I sold great cards to fund impulse box purchases where I ended up with nothing to show for it. I passed on great PC cards to divert funds to another hot whim. Find your path. Whatever yours favs are, build a plan and budget to follow and enjoy the hobby at its core, that is a collection of trading cards you can stare at, at any given moment since you could locate it easily and revel in the journey.

[mrdallas]

A few tips from personal experience. Just loose suggestions, yay or nay as you see fit.

1. Unless you have a definitive place to drop off base and unwanted hits, just trash bag them. I’ve been doing this for a few years now. Like you said, I don’t typically sell unless the return is worth the hassle. So any card that doesn’t scream keeper, throw away. I never had a card I regretted tossing. It statistically shows how miniscual the chance a complete surprise player becomes valuable out of nowhere.

2. Please, consider picking a focus. I know you like the assortment buying, but if storage and clutter is hindering your ability to enjoy and shuffle your collection, then really find a sport, team, player, set, etc. to corral your future purchases around. A focus affects singles and pack buying alike.

3. I was where you were a couple years ago. Add in hockey to the other 3 sports you buy. I had numerous card storage boxes and stacks even in a dresser outside my closet. I found a local consignment deal that worked for me and I cleansed my closet. Definitely worth it. Getting the PC down to the nuts and bolts is always good. The disarray you’re alluding to can zap the hobby satisfaction over time. I’ve been there. I sold great cards to fund impulse box purchases where I ended up with nothing to show for it. I passed on great PC cards to divert funds to another hot whim. Find your path. Whatever yours favs are, build a plan and budget to follow and enjoy the hobby at its core, that is a collection of trading cards you can stare at, at any given moment since you could locate it easily and revel in the journey.

Some good advice here. Thank you for putting some thought into the response. Something I can truly think about. Drowning in cards can be a little exhausting

[cardmole]

I finally started getting rid of (to the kids, not trashed) a lot of my hoard.
Football and basketball much easier to get rid of all those 2010 scrub RCs, etc.
Baseball I'm reluctant to toss any Bowman prospect cards, as these can actually hit many years later.