[ceocards]

Below are links to several threads that all users - newbies and veterans - will find helpful and informational.

RULES OF THE BOARD
Step-by-Step How to Trade tutorial
List of Baseball Player Collectors
Topps' missing card policy
Supercollectors - Show off your collections here
Mailday! Post your scans here
Looking for a rare card? Let everyone know here!
Share your Topps Million Card Giveaway hits
Post your Game Day Pics
Where is Don Larsen?
Banned and questionable traders

Forum FAQ'S:

1. What do the red and green bars mean when viewing cards in "organize"?
A: They are meant to be graphical representations of the number of users who have (red) or want (green) that particular card.

2. I'm looking at my collection, and the names of the cards disappeared
A: Try clicking the "Options" button, and unchecking "show tags."

3. How do I post pictures/scans in my post?
A: To post pictures or scans, you will first need to upload them from your computer to an online photo-sharing or photo-hosting website. Photobucket is probably the most popular site as it is easy to use and free. Other sites include imageshack, shutterfly, etc.

Once you have uploaded the picture or scan to that site, the site should give you a line of code that begins with [ IMG ] and ends with [ /IMG ]. Copy that entire line (including the [ IMG ] and [ /IMG ] tags) into your post and the photograph/scan will show up.

Please help your fellow board members and resize all photos/scans to a reasonable size before posting so that they aren't excessively wide or tall. Photobucket has the option to "resize" anything uploaded to their site (under the 'edit' menu), and most other sites do as well.

4. What do I do if I don't receive my cards in a trade?
A: We recommend taking the following actions: 1) Send a PM to the trader politely inquiring as to the status of the trade. 2) If no response or they are uncooperative, send a message to a moderator to follow up.

5. Who and what are the site moderators?
A: Moderators are not employed by Beckett, and we have no control over the functionality of the website. Mods are users like yourself, but have been asked by Beckett to assist in answering other users' questions and (if necessary) enforce the TOS (Terms of Service). We act and communicate as a team, and you can feel free to contact any one of us. Most of us have a 'home' board we tend to frequent, although many of us are active on multiple boards. The current site mods are: All Day Baby, floydtown, ceocards, XstreamINsanity, jeffv96masters, schr1st, and Halldogg.

You can get a hold of us by PM (note - that we aren't always on the site ALL the time, so we may not get back to you immediately) or by email at moderator.beckett@gmail.com. Again, we don't check this every 10 minutes, so it may take us a while to get back to you.

6. What is the difference between "Topps" and "Topps Tiffany"?
A: Tiffany cards look just like regular Topps, except with a glossy finish on the front, and a brighter/whiter card stock on the reverse.

7. A new set was just released. Why has Beckett not assigned a book value to them yet? When will there be a book value assigned?
A: Because Beckett bases its book value on actual sales - there is a time lag between the release of a product and the initial assignment of book values to the cards while Beckett gathers and processes sales data. Generally, book values are assigned 2-4 weeks after the release of the product.

8. I have a card not listed in Beckett's database (or, there is an error in Beckett's database). How do I go about getting it listed (fixed).
A: Send an email to the editor of the appropriate sport. For example for a missing/erroneous baseball listing, send an email to baseballmag@beckett.com. For a football card, it would be footballmag@beckett.com etc. Include as much info as you can - card year, make, number, checklist of other cards in the set, scans, etc.

9. I have an 'error' card that I don't see listed in the database. Should I alert Beckett? How much is it worth?
A: Be sure you actually have an 'error' card, and not a 'flawed' card. The two words have distinct meanings in the collecting community.

An 'error' is generally a mistake in the DESIGN of the card. Common errors are mistakes in spelling, players' statistics or photograph. Some errors are never corrected (these are generally noted with a "UER" (Uncorrected ERror) in the Beckett listings. Others are caught and corrected at some point during the print run.

Error cards don't necessarily carry an inherent 'value' premium above non-error cards. As with all cards, value is a combination of popularity of the player and scarcity. Many error cards are worth much less than the 'correct' version, and vice versa.

A 'flaw' is generally a mistake in the PRINTING of the card. Common flaws are 'wrong backs', miscuts, ink missing/smears, and foil missing (or double foil). Flawed cards are generally considered worthless to most collectors, although they may have some interest to a collector of oddities or of the particular players involved. Flawed cards are not listed or valued by any Beckett price guide.

Occasionally, what would normally be deemed a 'flaw' rises to the level of an 'error' and is listed. In order for this to happen, the flaw would need to occur multiple times in the printing process, and go undetected by the manufacturer's quality control in such quantity that there are two distinct versions of a card readily available. One notable example would be the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas "No Name on Front" (NNOF) version. Again, value is determined by the popularity of the player and scarcity (or lack of scarcity) of each particular version.

10. I have card X. What is its Book Value?
A: Because Beckett offers this information in exchange for a fee, users are not permitted to disclose book values on the message boards. If you would like this information, you need to pay the fee just like everyone else.

11. I have card X. Beckett doesn't list a book value due to scarcity. What is your estimate of what it would sell for?
A: This type of question is fine to discuss, as it is not disclosing any of Beckett's proprietary information. To get a good idea of what a card may be worth, most members generally recommend searching the internet for any sales of that particular card to get a ballpark value. If no sales of that particular card can be found, searching for sales of other cards in the set, similar cards of that player, or parallel cards may also offer insight as to the card value.

When searching for this information, it is important to remember that 'asking price' and 'sales price' aren't always equal. Try to look for actual sales of the cards, not just asking prices.

12. I have a card that looks like a regular Topps card, except it has a black border. It is not serial numbered, like "Topps Black" cards. What is it?
A: These are a retail exclusive parallel version of Topps, and are listed in Beckett under "Topps Wal Mart" (even if you may have purchased it from a different store).

13. I have a card that looks like a regular Topps card, except it has an old-school Topps logo and is printed on dark cardstock. What is it?
A: These are a retail exclusive parallel version of Topps, and are listed in Beckett under "Topps Target" (even if you may have purchased it from a different store).

14. I'm trying to trade some cards from a newly releaseds et. However, when I search for them in my organize or on the trade screen, no results are returned. Can I not make trades with new sets?
A: In layman's terms, the problem is that the search database index is not updated every time a new set is released. This update is seemingly done only every 4-8 weeks. So even though new cards are listed in the card database, you won't be able to execute a search for those cards until the next index update.

You can still find them in organize or in the trade screen, but you will need to use the 'browsing' tools instead of the search tools. In organize you'll have to choose to see "All Items", then go to the 'last page' and work backwards until you find the cards (since the default sort is from oldest to newest, the newest sets will be towards the end of your listings).

Similarly, in the trade screen you will need to use the "Top 15____"buttons. I generally select "Top 15 Sports", select the appropriate sport, and again go to the last page and work backwards until you find the cards in the new set.

15. How do I print a copy of my 'organize' collections?
A: Currently, there is no Beckett-provided functionality to print a copy of your collection. This is to protect against Beckett's proprietary information from being easily copied or pirated.

[the cardboard fan]

Glad to see this was done again, all the sticky threads were killing the board

[rushspencer]

Looks good...But where's the TTM thread!!??

[mcflysportscards]

rushspencer Wrote:Looks good...But where's the TTM thread!!??

Wouldn't that be included with the In Person Through the mail Autos?

[the cardboard fan]

McFlySportsCards Wrote:

rushspencer Wrote:Looks good...But where's the TTM thread!!??

Wouldn't that be included with the In Person Through the mail Autos?

Yes, In Person/Through the Mail Autos

[rushspencer]

Oops! I guess I skipped over that one...

[bonds20001]

OMG!!!
Common sense!!!
Great..combining all these in one sticky
THANK YOU!!!!

[flood and fire]

Sticky-is-unstuck bump

[fltankgirl711]

Restick it!!!

[ceocards]

I did, but it won't show up as stuck until tomorrow morning (don't ask my why, but stickies/locks only refresh every night).