Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I sign-up for an account?
2. Does it cost anything to Sign Up and create a Showcase?
3. How to Use this Site, Instructions on How to Add Items to the Site and Manage Your Preferences
4. How is my privacy protected?
5. What type of items can I share in my Showcase with other Collectors?

How do I sign-up for an account?

Signing up for an account to post pieces from your collection, or to comment on items in someone's Showcase, is very quick and simple. Just click the SIGN UP link in the upper menu, review the Terms & Conditions of this site, then fill out the form at the bottom of the page. Click the Sign Up button when done and you will be emailed your login and password promptly.

Does it cost anything to Sign Up and create a Showcase?

Creating a Showcase and displaying your collection is free, however there are some restrictions placed on free accounts to conserve bandwidth and drive space. The chart below outlines the differences between a free Showcase account and a Premium Showcase Account:

To learn more about our Premium Services, or to sign up for this service, please CLICK HERE.

How to Use this Site, Instructions on How to Add Items to the Site and Manage Your Preferences

After you have Signed Up for an Account you are sent an email with your login information. A password is selected for you at the time you sign up, but it can be changed to whatever you prefer once you first login to the website. Follow the Login link from the Registration email, or click the 'LOG IN' button in the upper menu on this website, and enter the Username and Password you were emailed.

After you successfully Log into the website, the upper menu buttons will change slightly, with the SIGN UP and LOG IN buttons being replaced with an ADMIN TOOLS button. Hovering over the ADMIN TOOLS button will give you access to manage your Account.

First, if you would like to update your preferences on the site select the 'Edit My Profile' button. From this screen you modify your User Name and Password, determine how you want to be know on the site (either by your First and Last Name, or your Username), and also manage your collection preferences. Collection preferences will help us customize certain parts of the site for you, in terms of ebay auctions we display, highlighting things we think you are most interested that were posted by other collectors, and so on. When you make changes to this page please be sure to click the UPDATE YOUR PROFILE button at the very bottom of the page.

Second, you can also manage other site preferences which help make the site more useful to you. Also under the ADMIN TOOLS button is another button called 'Edit My Preferences'. Click that button and you will see many options to choose from. Each site preference is explained on that page, but please Contact Us if you have any questions.

Last, and most important, is button labeled 'Manage My Showcase'. It is from this section that you manage the items you wish to display on the sports cardCollectors.com website. Depending on whether or not you are a premium member defines some of the features, but in general the way our system works can be outlined as follows:

Registering for an Account created a Main Showcase for you. To display your collection in the Main Showcase you must fist create individual Showcases with which to add your sports card collectibles. The individual Showcases help you to keep your collection organized for yourself as well as our website visitors. Once you create your first showcase you are all set to start uploading items from your collection. And don't worry, if you choose to reorganize your Showcases later you can move items from one Showcase to another. A Showcase or an item in a Showcase can be hidden from view if you choose by leaving the 'active' checkbox unchecked.

From the Manage My Showcase page you would want to start by clicking the 'My Showcase' link to get started. First, there will be a note at the top of the page letting you know that you do not have a description set for y our Showcase. This isn't necessary, but it does serve as an introduction to your Showcase when people browsing the site first find your Showcase on the site. So mentioning something about your collecting habits or how you got started is encouraged. By default, your Showcase is not active to give you the chance to set it up and then activate it. Activating your overall Showcase is done by clicking the Edit Decription link on the page and checking the 'Active' checkbox and saving your changes.

Now to the fun part, adding your collection to the site. As we mentioned previously you need to create individual Showcases to organize your collection, so the first thing you need to do is click the 'Add Showcase' link and give your Showcase a Title (required) and a Description if you would like to have one. Click the 'Add Showcase' button at the bottom when you are finished and you will be returned to the main My Showcase page and you should see your first Showcase listed in the Your Showcases section. If you ever need to edit the Description of the new Showcase, or make it active or inactive on the site, just click the 'Edit Showcase Description/Details' link to make your changes.

To add items from your collection click the 'View/Add Items' link for the Showcase you wish to work in. If this is your first time in the new Showcase there will be no items for you to edit and the first thing you must do is click the 'Add New Item' link. First you need to select the Main Image for this item and you do that by clicking the 'Browse...' button beside the Main Image field. Browse your computer for the image file you want to use and select it. Any Item you add can have up to 3 additional images (6 if you are a premium member), and if you wish to show more images than the Main Image you need to give each image a Title and also Browse your computer for the images you wish to use. Next give this Item a Title (required) and a Description (not required). If you are not a premium member you may put a price in the 'For Sale Status' field if you wanted to, but you would not be promoted in the Classifieds area. If you are premium you would be promoted there. If the item is not for sale then simply leave the field as NFS (Not For Sale). The remaining drop menus help to classify and Specify the type of sports card collectible you are posting. You can leave these selection boxes as 'Not Specified' if you like, but selecting the appropriate parameters will aid in advanced searches on the site, and also give more information about your Item to people viewing Items in your Showcase. If you are ready to post this Item to the site then check the 'active' box as well. Finally, be sure to click the 'Add sports card Item' button at the bottom of the page and the Item will be added to your Showcase. Depending on how large your images are, and how many you are uploading, determines how long it takes for the upload to occur. After the Upload is complete you are returned to that Showcase and you will see that new Item displayed. If you ever wish to return to that Item to make changes just click on the thumbnail or Title of the Item.

When in a Showcase, if you are a Premium member, you can also take advantage of the 'Multiple Image Upload' link at the top of the screen. When using this page you may upload up to 6 Item Images at a time and then go back and edit each Item to make them active on the site. This does save time when you have large updates to release.

PLEASE NOTE that deleting anything from the site really permanently deletes it. There is no retrieving an Item, or a Showcase. Please be aware of this, and use the 'active' checkboxes when you wish to temporarily hide something from site visitors.

There are also a few other things you can do from the 'Manage My Showcases' page. For one, you can also manage you 'Featured Showcase Items'. A Featured Showcase Item is an Item shown on your Main Showcase page on the website. As a Premium Member you can have up to 12 of these, and as a non-Premium Member you can have up to 6. If you are a Premium Member there is also a link to 'Manage My For Sale Showcases' which will get your Items listed in the Classifieds. Finally there is one last feature available to all Members, and that is to 'Edit Your Want List' which allows you to announce to other collectors what you are hoping to add to your collection.

As always, if you have any questions please Contact Us and we will do our best to help you out as quickly as possible.

How is my privacy protected?

We promise that we value your privacy as much as you do. When you are signing up for an account you have the option to state that you wish to be known on the site by either your First and Last Name, or the Username you created. Whichever you select is what we'll show when someone visits your Showcase or finds pieces of yours in the site search. We also never show your email address anywhere on the site. Site visitors may only contact you through the email form within your Showcase, and when they do their email is visible as the Sender of the email. Your email is never shown unless you choose to reply to their email.

What type of items can I share in my Showcase with other Collectors?

It's a bit subjective, but we do have some guidelines for you to follow.

• Any items you choose to display in your Showcase must be sports card related. If the item is not sports card related and we discover the item we'll contact you and ask that the item be removed. In some cases we will remove the item for you.
• You must own whatever it is you are posting to your Showcase. That means you cannot create a Showcase of items you would like to own or collectibles you used to own and have sold. You must own the items posted or you will run the risk of having your Showcase shut down. This site is a celebration of the hobby, and the items each of us collects, and at no time will we allow you to show items that are in someone else's possession. It is deceiving and misleading. Anyone who sees another Showcase member breaking this rule should immediately Contact Us.
• Acceptable items can be anything related to sports card. This includes, but is not limited to, x, y, z. As you might imagine this list is incomplete and we are just providing it to you some examples. If anyone feels someone is posting items which are not sports card related please Contact Us.

We'll continue to add to this list as we get questions which seem relevant. Above all else, we expect anyone visiting this site to treat others with respect. Anyone found to be acting in an unprofessional way will be banished from the site. So please have fun! That's why this site was created!