Trade list sites

[Mike121]

It seems like several times a year I'm seeing threads about folks being unhappy with their "sites" provider. Either they update something and it quits working, or they change something making it too difficult to understand, or the one they're using just becomes completely unavailable.

So, that being said, I've decided that I might be interested in starting a new project for card collectors to create their own sites. Something similar to Google sites, or others, but something that's built just for collectors. I'd be curious to hear some of your thoughts on what are must-have features. What kind of editor do you prefer to use? What could be done to make it work better? If I'm going to do this, I'd basically be building this thing from scratch so it could be whatever we wanted it to be.

Please only reply if this is something you might consider using. I'll be using this thread as a gauge to determine whether something like this would be worth the time to build.

Also, please be as descriptive as possible when describing how you think it should work. I've never used any of those other sites so I have no idea how they work, or how they're expected to work.

 

[jsrgale]

heard good things about tcdb

 

[Mike121]

heard good things about tcdb

I'm talking more about something that lets members create their own site, with their own pages, and they can put whatever they want on them rather than just choosing inventory from a database.

 

[Mike121]

Years ago I had this idea in my head, just because it was something that I needed for myself. Recently, though, as I've started frequenting more trade sites, I've realized that there are a lot of folks out there who, like me, are maintaining multiple different trade threads on multiple different sites. I'm not sure about y'all, but I was growing tired of maintaining trade lists on multiple different sites. While it could be done, maintaining a single thread on one of the trade sites, then linking it across all the other sites is frowned upon. So, I thought it would be nice to have a single place I could maintain my trade lists, then share that across all the trade sites that I frequent.

I wanted something that would be easy to copy/paste from, especially in the many trade forums. I also wanted something that could be easily edited, in a format that most folks would be familiar with, again especially for the folks who are already used to frequenting trading forums. I wanted the pages to be searchable. For example, if I was looking for a specific card, I'd like to search for that card to see if it might appear on any member's trade list(s). I also knew it needed to be something that was completely unaffiliated with any other sites so that it could be used as a tool for all collectors, regardless of what forum(s) they like to trade on.

So, I created myCardList:

Collector pages

This is a list of all pages created by our members right here on myCardList.com.

mycardlist.com

As far as I'm aware myCardList is the first/only site that is strictly dedicated to collectors who are looking for a single place to create text-based lists of the cards they have or are looking for. On myCardList, members can create multiple different trade pages, and can customize many of the components of those pages to suit their needs. The entire page is edited through the same editor that you'll know and be used to on the trading forums. All the same "BBCode" can still be used. You'll be able to add multiple pages, and determine how those pages are listed in your own custom navigation menu. You'll be able to adjust where the page blocks go (page stats, page sharing, etc). You'll also be able to set a specific pre-built style/theme to each individual page.

I've created a few different pages for myself already, and chosen some different styles/themes and block placements for folks to kinda see a few different possibilities. Here is the link to my page:

Mike's Trade Lists

Here's a list of things I'm looking for, and some of the things I have available to trade for them.

mycardlist.com

That said, everyone is free to do with their pages as they wish (within the terms and rules of course). If y'all have any questions, or come across any issues, please let me know and I'll work to get those corrected ASAP!

 

[LarryG]

This is a good idea, Mike. I set up a page and placed the links in my signature here.

 

[Mike121]

This is a good idea, Mike. I set up a page and placed the links in my signature here.

Thanks Larry! Also thank you for your input on getting the site to the point it is now.

 

[dragonslayer913]

GOOGLE SITES enough said its free unlimited space easy to use and its FREE when I can create a site without issues its for me

 

[Mike121]

GOOGLE SITES enough said its free unlimited space easy to use and its FREE when I can create a site without issues its for me

Yep, nothing wrong with that. Google sites works great for a lot of people. If it works for you, I'd recommend that you just keep on using that. I'm just trying to create an alternative for folks who don't want to use that, or are maybe looking for something that caters directly to sports card collectors. Being able to search all the pages for a specific card, player, set, etc will be a great bonus for collectors I think.

 

[NEPatriotsFan]

If possible a feature that allows me to input my set wantlist and matches me to a fellow trader that has the card for trade (like Becketts) would be very helpful...searching for cards takes a lot of time!

 

[Mike121]

If possible a feature that allows me to input my set wantlist and matches me to a fellow trader that has the card for trade (like Becketts) would be very helpful...searching for cards takes a lot of time!

Definitely something that's possible but it would require members to submit all of their cards one at a time. That's probably something that would be best suited for another project, and not really this one. That's also something that would require a lot more time to code and would require a LOT of participation getting sets input into the database, similar to how TCDb is set up.

 

[dragonslayer913]

Can there be a section on each card forum that can be set up for a members site were you would click on there
Icon and a link for there site would appear

 

[Mike121]

Can there be a section on each card forum that can be set up for a members site were you would click on there
Icon and a link for there site would appear

I'm not sure what you mean. You mean, for example, you would add a link to your site here on The Bench and there would be a link to your site from here? If that's what you mean, that's not really anything that I have control over on any sites except ones I own/maintain.

If you're talking about adding links to the card forums from your myCardList account, that's something that is in the works.

 

[rotorob]

Mike -

I haven’t had a trade/want list since Freewebs went away. Is mycardlist similar?

Robert

 

[hociman]

I would love to be part of that. I have several simple text files populated with traders and needs for baseball and FB. In those 2 categories I have sub categories such as
vintage
RC
stars
My issue is my current website is not available at times to all on my fellow traders for some reason and I know I am losing touch at times in making more trades and sales. Again I owuldlove to take part in this which would solve my issues. thx Jim

 

[horfin]

Some kind of search or sort is a 100% must. I can't tell the number of times I have asked people if they have any bowman's best and they say "no" - i then scour their trade page and find multiple cards I need.

Also if people submit pics it would be SO HELPFUL it a text block was associated with it including the name of the player, the team and the set. I struggle with people who submit pics as opposed to text as I am looking for very specific cards from very specific sets.

Good Idea

 

[Mike121]

Mike -

I haven’t had a trade/want list since Freewebs went away. Is mycardlist similar?

Robert

I wouldn't necessarily compare it to freewebs. It's really more comparable to just having your own "forum" with a few "threads" you can manage. You'll have your own navigation, that will list every page you add. You can edit each navigation tab, including the name of the tab and the sort order. Then with your pages, you can edit the page title, description, and content. There are also a few different page styles to choose from.

Here's a link to my page: https://mycardlist.com/pages/mikes-trade-lists.1/

I've set that one up using a different "style" for each page just to show off the different ones that are available. I've added a photo to a few of them, and display the moveable blocks in different positions. Again, just so folks can see the different possibilities.

I would love to be part of that. I have several simple text files populated with traders and needs for baseball and FB. In those 2 categories I have sub categories such as
vintage
RC
stars
My issue is my current website is not available at times to all on my fellow traders for some reason and I know I am losing touch at times in making more trades and sales. Again I owuldlove to take part in this which would solve my issues. thx Jim

The site is up and running already, so you're welcome to register and get right to work building your own page(s). Once registered, just go to the navigation link that says "View your page" to get started.

Find the site here:

Collector pages

This is a list of all pages created by our members right here on myCardList.com.

mycardlist.com

Some kind of search or sort is a 100% must. I can't tell the number of times I have asked people if they have any bowman's best and they say "no" - i then scour their trade page and find multiple cards I need.

Also if people submit pics it would be SO HELPFUL it a text block was associated with it including the name of the player, the team and the set. I struggle with people who submit pics as opposed to text as I am looking for very specific cards from very specific sets.

Good Idea

I'm working on a way to only search a specific member's page(s), but as it stands right now the search bar on the site will search all member pages. So if you were to search on myCardList for "bowman's best", you'll find all the pages that have results for that. Then you could search each page using the browser's built in find in page search. Most members, I assume, will have some way to contact them listed on their home page, or on a separate contact page.

Also, folks can attach images to their pages. There is a limit to the number of photos someone can attach to each page, so there won't be a photo of every card, but folks can pretty much customize their pages however they like.