Tips collecting on a budget/fullest extent collecting Part three:Getting the most out of what you buy

In part one I gave you tips about shopping online and also buying hobby. In part two, I told you some places to buy cards where you might or might not expect to be able to buy from. In part three, I am going to tell you what to do with the purchases you make to get the most out of what you buy.

                I will break this down into sections. The first one is giving you tips on how to sort your cards out. The second one I will tell you what to do with those annoying thick white blank cardboard inserts and then what to do with your wrappers and empty boxes.

Section 1

                I like to split my cards up into parts. I take all of the rookies, my favorite players, my favorite teams, inserts and jersey and autograph cards and I put them into a pile. Next, I take the remaining cards otherwise to known as commons and I separate them by brand, sport and year. Then they get sorted by number, doubles getting put into another pile, and then I put them into a while 800 count box and use an index card to mark what they are.

                The pile of rookies, favorite players, favorite teams, inserts and jersey and autograph cards gets sorted. I take each section and sort them into piles by sports. After getting them into piles, I take a quick look through for doubles and put them next to the double pile. The only ones I don’t mind having doubles of are rookie cards because I feel this hobby is completely built around them and always has been. They are the one consistent thing to go up and down in value.

The next step is putting the inserts and the favorite players into 9 card page sheets then into binder for each sport.  Then my favorite teams each get their own binder. The jersey and autographs get put into special snap down cases (which I find more efficient then jamming them into soft and hard sleeves) and later placed into a safe no matter the value. I have also seen people put them into 9 card page sleeves and into a binder but I don’t recommend it. That’s how you damage corners. Then the rookie cards get put into binders by sport and by team to make them easier to find.

                Of course there is one exception to what you put into the binders. I find that any card from any of the piles valued $10 gets put into a penny sleeve then into a hard sleeve. I put those into Tupperware containers or a box. It depends on what resources you have. Then the cards that have a value of $25 that are not jersey or autographed also get put into soft and hard sleeves then get placed into the safe.

                This can also be ten times easier when you only collect a sport or two and not everything out there such as myself. My sorting ways can be used the same for non-sport collectors as well. These are just some ideas that you may or may not use, everyone collects their own way. That’s what makes the hobby so special.

                Now after sorting these out, you are left with the pile of doubles. These are how I get more cards. I use all of my doubles to sell in a yard sale. But, I am not greedy about it. I want to help those are cannot afford to be in the hobby and I mark most cheap. I figure it’s the best way to keep the hobby alive.

First I take the common double pile and sort through for any popular teams or players and put them into the other doubles pile. Then I take the rest and put them into any form of box that I have. Whether it’s a shoe box or an old 800 count box, and when the box is full I tape it shut and mark it between one to three dollars depending on the size and what type of cards they are.

I then go thru the second pile, putting popular teams in a pile and then placing them into Ziplocs by piles of six and marking them a dollar a bag. Then I take the inserts and popular players and I put them into soft and hard sleeves and mark them one to four dollars each depending on the value and the player. Any card in this double pile that is valued ten or more I use to trade with other collectors. If you don’t know any other collectors, go to the closest hobby shop you have and trade them there. You could still try to sell those ones at a yard sale, but if too high priced they won’t move.

 Another idea would be to randomly put one or two of those into a common box and make a sign guaranteeing there would be one box containing a card valued at ten or more dollars. This also helps move the common boxes faster because people would be willing to spend to try and find it giving you more room in your house and some money in your pocket.

All of the above ideas I do and they are very efficient.

Section 2

                The fresh smell of an open pack makes its way up your nose. You quickly sort through your cards looking for “the one”, then you stumble across a thick white blank cardboard filler. You are still excited by what you got, but disappointed and not having a clue what to do with the filler. Well, I have an idea for you.

                A few weeks ago, my son and I were going to do an arts and crafts project. I had a bunch of those cards sitting around thinking someday I will find something to do with them. Then it hit me…what is more exciting then finding your favorite player on a card…finding yourself!!

                I grabbed the pile of fillers and decided we were going to make our own autographed and jersey cards. The only supplies you need are, a sharpie marker, a case cutter, an old beat up shirt, glue, a pair of scissors, and a couple of pictures of yourself you don’t mind cutting up.

                To make the autograph card, I cut the picture of myself to fill up half of the filler card. Then I glued it down, don’t use too much glue or it will wrinkle the picture, then I just signed the below the picture. Really simple! The jersey card took a little more muscle. I did the same thing with the picture. But this time I had to cut a square using the case cutter a few inches below the picture. Once, the hole is cut, you place that card to one side and grab another filler. With this one, cut a square a little bigger then the one you cut out of the first filler from an old t-shirt and glue this piece on the second filler where the first one with the hole will lineup on top of it. Now you must make a glue border around the second filler with your “jersey” piece is and place the top filler with your picture on top then you must place something heavy on top of that and give it a few hours to dry. When its dried, you will have your own autographed and jersey cards. Feel free to play around and try different jersey materials or combine your auto and jersey cards together.

A sample of mine. I threw these together as examples for the blog. I have nicer ones of myself.

However, you might be able to cut a better square then I did for jersey piece.

With that project just for daddy (especially using a case cutter), my son glued a picture of himself onto a card and I gave him different little craft things to glue onto it. Popsicle stick pieces, pipe liners, stickers, fuzzy balls. Whatever craft stuff you having lying around. The kids will have fun anyways and it’s a bonding experience for you and your child. Not to mention it may be a way to draw their interest to the hobby.

Section 3

                With the final section of this segment I will give you a basic idea of what to do with those empty wrappers and boxes. I use them to decorate my “card den”. I take the empty boxes and I put a tack on the inside of them and push it into the wall and close the cover after. I have also just taken the cover off and tacked it up and recycled the bottom part. If you don’t like to use a lot of tacks, sticky tack also works very well. That is what I use on the back of the wrappers when I hang them up. The most colorful and shiny wrappers look the best. You may also use the empty boxes for storing doubles in or storing the cards you put into hard sleeves as well.

                In the end, out of a box or even a few packs of cards, you will feel like you have gotten your money’s worth including the empty boxes or packs you paid for. All in all my ideas are now for you to use if you would like. You may already have your own ideas. I just wanted to share mine. I hope in this three part series you have read that it will help you get the most of collecting.

                Til next time, keep busting wax