In my never-ending pursuit of organization, I almost did something the other day that is a traders worst nightmare.
Sending a fellow blogger the wrong trade package.
So because of that, I am the process of making a spreadsheet of the bloggers that I've traded with, so I can immediately tell what blogger corresponds to what blog and what they collect. I had a feeling eventually I was going to get confused (for me, that really isn't that difficult), but up until this point I had just saved emails that I had gotten in folders in my Gmail account. When I would prepare a trade package I would look for their name in my folders and then from there figure out what blog they write, go to the blog and find out what they need.
A recipe for disaster. Yes, I know. I'm still new to this.
I don't know why, but for some reason I was putting together a trade package for Sportscards From The Dollar Store while looking at the want lists for $30 A Week Habit. Yes they both collect Blue Jays, so I don't think Doug would have minded recieving those, but there was also a stack of 2013 Topps Series 2 that he did not need.
So my questions is, "How do all of you keep track with who collects what, and who belongs to what blog?"
Do you do a spreadsheet like I'm doing? Or do you rely on your memory? Or is it something else?
There is a happy ending to this story. Doug got the correct trade package...and Robert has some Blue Jays needs and Topps Series 2 needs headed his way.
Old-school me has a little black book. (Actually it's a little blue book).
ReplyDeleteIt has names, addresses, blog names and collecting interests. And lots of scribble marks -- you people move too much.
I keep an giant Excel spreadsheet with the blog, address, user name, and all the trades I've completed - one page per person.
ReplyDeleteIt's all memory for me, though I often go back and check wantlists, since set needs change frequently. I need to do a spreadsheet for addresses, though, since I make it hard on myself by always having to track them down.
ReplyDeleteLike Night Owl, I keep an old school style list.
ReplyDeleteLike a child of the nuclear age, I keep that list as a word doc.
In my email contacts I have a separate folder for bloggers. There I have each persons name, address, screen name, blog name, blog site(w/ link to blog) and email link. Easy to make changes and additions.
ReplyDeleteRight now I have 119 listings.
I guess I should have a paper back-up though.