Card Inventory Program

[seal006]

Hey everyone, I once loved Beckett Online Organizer feature. It was so easy to add cards from your collection into a database. It has had it's technical difficulties over the years. As of right now it is almost completely unusable. Sad really. I am now in the market for a reliable website or program that I can keep my collection on. I would be using it almost daily, as it makes it so much easier to trade when you can look up the cards without having to drag down the boxes they are all housed in.

Can anyone offer a suggestion other than excel? Don't get me wrong, excel does have it's upsides, but I am a bit lazy when typing in card description manually. I guess Beckett has spoiled me over the years. I really want one that you can download updates as new products come out. Price really is not a huge issue at this point.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pmanningsfan73]

I just have my trade lists on webs. I still use Beckett as I don't have any problems adding my cards to my collections or my FT list on there. I have saw where some people use google documents or something to that effect but I never have. Zistle is another I have heard about so you might what to check that out as well. Link below. I hope some of this helps you somehow.

http://www.zistle.com/

 

[seal006]

Thanks for the info. BTW, when was the last time you added cards on Beckett. Because over the past 4 to 6 months their system has tanked. I along with about 100 other users have been reporting cards being duplicated within their collections, cards missing that were added, card values and quantities are not adding properly. The whole system is in shambles.

 

[pmanningsfan73]

Thursday or Friday. Thursday because I got a few cards in the mail. Oh I know it does have some flaws no doubt but I guess it doesn't affect everyone.

 

[seal006]

You and I are in Texas, yes? We are both on the same server at Beckett. I have been a member there for almost 15 years. Trust me, you need to read the forums and see how widespread the problems are right now. Some people are just now realizing the problems that have been there, they just had not noticed until now.

 

[dlackey]

I'm looking for something like this as well. Right now all I have is cards typed in order on notebook on my laptop. Would really like to get something like a program like your talking about as well.

Dennis

 

[OnDeck]

I use my own database have it all on my stick no need for online placement.

 

[BucCollector]

Zistle is pretty awesome. They are constantly rolling out new features based on user feedback so if they are missing something you need there is a good chance it is on the road map for future implementation.

 

[TJCloutier]

Seal, I used to take inventory of my whole collection through Beckett organize back in 2007-2009. In early 2009 they redid there entire site and it was atrocious. I've never seen a redesign so bad. I had spent well over 100+ hours on my lists of over 15,000 unique cards total in my organize... and then said forget it. You CANT rely on any online database which is one reason I would never enter them on a server/database again. I didn't lose my list however the websites basically been inoperable since 2009 so I choose to use Excel now. I make bullets and graphs if a card is autographed, gu, etc. I can sort and everything. To enter the card all I do is enter the basics on beckett.com and copy and paste into my spreadsheet. Easy as that. Never have to worry about losing it either if you back it up.

 

[josh_zistle]

I just wanted to echo TJCloutier's point that relying on an external service has its risks. If you do decide to invest the time and effort to track your collection on a website that you don't control (Full disclosure: I'm one of the founders of Zistle), make sure that you can export your data! That way if you don't like the direction a site is going (a la the Beckett redesign/apocolypse) or they go out of business, etc. you can still get all of your hard work back. On the other hand, one of the nice things about using an external database is that it can save you a lot of time and effort by having ready made checklists and a community to help you identify things. It all comes down to what your priorities are--for what its worth, at Zistle we have had export since the very beginning to try and avoid situations like the one TJCloutier is describing.

 

[TJCloutier]

I just wanted to echo TJCloutier's point that relying on an external service has its risks. If you do decide to invest the time and effort to track your collection on a website that you don't control (Full disclosure: I'm one of the founders of Zistle), make sure that you can export your data! That way if you don't like the direction a site is going (a la the Beckett redesign/apocolypse) or they go out of business, etc. you can still get all of your hard work back. On the other hand, one of the nice things about using an external database is that it can save you a lot of time and effort by having ready made checklists and a community to help you identify things. It all comes down to what your priorities are--for what its worth, at Zistle we have had export since the very beginning to try and avoid situations like the one TJCloutier is describing.

Zistle is interesting, I looked briefly earlier today. Can you import? If you can import I would be all for it, however to re-enter thousands of cards it just wouldn't be worth it. thanks.

 

[Meliah]

A. Always have back-ups. We all know how much time is spent making have and want lists. To have those get messed up or lost is beyond frustrating.

B. Never trust Beckett with anything

 

[josh_zistle]

Zistle is interesting, I looked briefly earlier today. Can you import? If you can import I would be all for it, however to re-enter thousands of cards it just wouldn't be worth it. thanks.

You can import via CSV (see more here http://help.zistle.com/customer/portal/articles/1034894-importing-checklists-onto-zistle), this may or may not work for you depending upon how you have your current checklists organized. If you have any questions feel free to reach out, I'm not sure what thebench's rules are so I'll try not to hijack this thread.

 

[KCLJ520]

I know a lot of guys use google docs if that helps, but I second the need to always back up!

 

[Terry Jackson]

I once had close to million cards on Beckett but stopped paying for the service years ago as it never worked properly. In theory, the Beckett web site promised a lot, buy consistently failed to deliver. If you are looking for simple card inventory program, I highly recommended the Card Collector 7.0 which I have been using for quite sometime. It handles all of the major sports and you can design your own data base if you want. Once you get past the initial cost of the program, you can buy updates. I update my Card Collector database once a year when the new Topps baseball cards come out. It is very easy to use and is preloaded with all the pertinent card info. In terms of backup, all you do is throw in a thumb drive and copy one directory file. If your computer goes belly up at some point, you can recreate everything with that one file. I hope this helps.

 

[TJCloutier]

I created a Zistle and forgot my password. I clicked reset password and it sent me a link to do so. When I click it it just says log in and it's like a glitch. Weird.

 

[dlackey]

I tried zistle but I could never get it to work for me, so gave up after 3 days of trying to use it. I think the card collector 7.0 is the way to go. Not sure what the costs if to buy the program on cd.

Dennis

 

[Terry Jackson]

I tried zistle but I could never get it to work for me, so gave up after 3 days of trying to use it. I think the card collector 7.0 is the way to go. Not sure what the costs if to buy the program on cd.

Dennis

hi Dennis..I think getting the Card Collector 7.0 on a cd is about $50; or you can download it off their web site. Personally, the cd is good to have on hand. The price has gone up somewhat but still worthwhile since it contains all major sports and is a cheaper way to inventory/track your cards than Beckett.....Terry

 

[dlackey]

That is what I was thinking. thought it was like 49.95, I need to go there again to there site and read some more about it but I believe it is the best way to go. Wish we had a computer smart guy around here on the bench who could do something like for maybe a little cheaper.

Dennis

 

[TJCloutier]

I feel as if the Bench could go that way in the upcoming years. I probably wouldn't use any other system other than Excel at this point it's looking at however I'd give it a try for sure. There is absolutely NO way I would pay an initial $49.95 or whatever the cost may be just to list my cards. I paid less for Microsoft Office a year ago! Not to mention you have to pay for an update? Please. I'm not knocking the system because I haven't tried it. You guys vouch for it and I honestly find integrity in all Bench members and pride their opinions but how is this more effective when all you really have to do is type in the card on Beckett and copy and paste? You can graph your collection, and make bullets where you want etc. Just my sense on the matter.

$50 plus one update a year is 2 1/1 white whale Sheffield's for my pc. A YEAR, and I wouldn't even spend that much on a single card generally. And we're talking about 2. Maybe I'm scattered on this but I like to put things into realistic terms and for someone not necessarily on a budget but not looking to spend an arm and a leg it doesn't make sense to buy a program plus need to update it.

That is what I was thinking. thought it was like 49.95, I need to go there again to there site and read some more about it but I believe it is the best way to go. Wish we had a computer smart guy around here on the bench who could do something like for maybe a little cheaper.

Dennis