As 2024 winds down, I would like to seek out some reader / user feedback to help gear up for more vintage fun in 2025. I have not been writing as much new content lately, but many of the FAQ guides are getting great regular traffic. That’s the idea!
As I work on some behind-the-scenes projects to gear up for 2025 I thought this is a good time to offer up a little Cardhound Year in Review, and to seek some feedback. As usual, there’s a prize up for grabs just for chatting with me.
Here’s How to Enter
- Read this article
- Drop a comment below with an idea for a story or article, a new web site feature you would like to see, or any other feedback or criticism you care to offer
- That’s it! I’ll choose a winner at random for a cool prize pack of hobby supplies and a card or 2 (or 3). Prize value around $100.
Cardhound: The Mission
I launched Cardhound Vintage in March of 2024 with the mission of helping vintage collectors connect, share, and learn the hobby. The first goal was to write lots of “help guide” content for users of the many Facebook groups I help admin, like Vintage Baseball Cards. I started out by addressing some of those essential topics, such as understanding vintage card values, and learning how to sell, pack, and ship cards.
Then I branched out to some fun, crowd-sourced features such as this one about vintage card displays. Many of these are ranking high in Google search, which brings more regular traffic, which in turn helps sustain and grow the site.
Cardhound has free and paid membership options, a Classifieds section, and a Forum with some great Guest Expert content. We also have a fun newsletter (join here to receive it), lots of giveaways (such as the one happening in this article right now!), a Facebook group, and more.
2024 was a whilrwind and a lot of work. I could not have done it without the support of our many sponsors, from T206cards to Burl’s, Legacy Cardz to Boca Card Subs, auction sponsors Cuban Baseball Auctions and Prestige Collectibles, and we even have an official bourbon sponsor! If you’re interested in joining the team as an advertiser, just drop me a note here.
What Worked
Without question, the biggest success story so far is the blog. With over nearly 100 searchable guides and articles, the blog generates 90% or so of total site traffic. That’s surprising to me (see “Challenges” below), but I’ll take it! We are reaching thousands of individual viewers each month, with more organic web search traffic each month.
The stories and articles have generated lots of great discussion online. Various posts have helped people avoid frauds and scams, spot counterfeits, assess and price cards accurately, pack and ship safely, keep up with the latest trends and news, and more. I love to write and so look for more engaging blog content going forward.
Challenges
Unidentified photographer, Jackie Robinson signs his contract, January 24, 1950 Vintage gelatin silver print, 9 1/2 x 7 5/8 in. (24.1 x 19.4 cm) Typed caption affixed to print verso with pencil notations and Keystone Pictures Inc. stamp on print verso. Courtesy of Paul Reiferson.
I naively thought a few things would generate a lot more traffic than they have so far:
- The “Gold Club” paid member Forum has so much potential. There are about 100 Gold members, and I believed in the power of the Forum as a space for people to collaborate and wheel and deal with other trusted members. Some of my favorite people in the hobby are paid members, and I’ll keep trying to find a way to bring this small group together.
- The Forum in general has had its moments, with the Guest Expert sessions being by far the biggest draw. I absolutely loved the session on vintage art and photography with Graig Kreindler and Paul Reiferson. But beyond a few standout moments, the Forum is slow. Is it impossible to compete with Facebook and Net54? I have some ideas . . . see below.
- The Classifieds is intended to be a fun spot for members to list cards for sale. The “idea” is that with enough listings, the page would eventually get boosted in Google and get more organic traffic. It’s a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg situation, and I’ll have some decisions to make about it. Read on.
New Ideas for 2025
Some ideas for a redesign-in-progress:
- A home page redesign that categorizes the different kinds of blog posts (FAQ, News, Feature Stories) so it’s easier to find the content you are looking for.
- Dropping the paid membership fee in favor of accepting annual, voluntary donations–but an account will still be required (anti-SPAM).
- Making the Forum read-only for any viewer, so that even non-members can view the content. This could be a good way to grow membership.
- A few really big names for more Guest Expert sessions–these are so much fun.
- Some big incentives to list Classifieds to see if it can get good traffic–and if not, perhaps retire it.
- More auction partners so I can write some fun previews and help show off some amazing collectibles
- More product reviews and other collaborations with smaller hobby brands
Your Turn!
So, imagine the perfect vintage sports card resource. What features does it have? How does it work? What does it look like? What kinds of FAQ, news, features, or stories would you like to see in 2025? Drop a comment to be entered to win the prize package! Drawing on Saturday, Nov. 16.
I love the site. Appreciate the content that has been published.
My initial thought is a ‘welcome kit’ for new collectors in the hobby. Perhaps a landing page that links to several articles and also a place to ask questions like ‘does $x seem like a fair price for this card’ and perhaps some collectors would be willing to monitor that.. I know I would. More seasoned collectors can help new collectors from overpaying and/ or get in contact with top sellers.
Super cool idea! Will explore it.
I have learned so much from the content on here. Thank you.
Great to hear! If there’s any topic you would like to see covered, or a new tool or resource you would like to see, drop me a line.
I like your site and intend to use it more in 2025
Thanks much! It has been a fun first year.
Matt, 95% of my use of the site is information and more information. I have come back to it several times and reference it in facebook groups. From removing gum stains to grading, the content is rich. I have sold one card here but generally get no interest. Not sure if its the cards, the price or lack of traffic. Is it possible to advertise the classifieds more in the FB channel to get more traffic? I also love the forums. I did struggle a little bit with the Q&A layout but having access to a diverse set of long time collectors and experts is worth every penny of the membership. Regardless of which way you take the site, paid memberships or not, I’ll continue to access and promote Cardhound.
Thanks for your support this year! I think your comment speaks to one revision I have planned–reorganizing the home page so the articles are in categories, which should make it easy to find what you’re looking for.
Matt, 95% of my use of the site is information and more information. I have come back to it several times and reference it in facebook groups. From removing gum stains to grading, the content is rich. I have sold one card here but generally get no interest. Not sure if its the cards, the price or lack of traffic. Is it possible to advertise the classifieds more in the FB channel to get more traffic? I also love the forums. I did struggle a little bit with the Q&A layout but having access to a diverse set of long time collectors and experts is worth every penny of the membership. Regardless of which way you take the site, paid memberships or not, I’ll continue to access and promote Cardhound.
Matt, this may be somewhat unrelated to the evolution of Cardhound but tossing it out. I belong to probably 10 different FB card sites. Loyal to Vintage Baseball but while mostly a seller, I do buy oddities. The flood of stuff that comes in the feed and disappears if you refresh is overwhelming. Perhaps the right answer is trust the quality of 1 or 2 sites and be done. Is there any thinking about an article that coaches FB buyers vs sellers? Is there a way to increase membership here by allowing potential buyers to get a ballpark value on a card or item before pulling the trigger? That may rub some sellers wrong but with all the public information out there on market values maybe Cardhound could be an option? May be a mountain you don’t want to climb.
I have thought a lot about ways to draw in FB users, and almost all of the site membership is directly from FB groups. I though the grade estimate Forum might take off, but nothing has really clicked yet. I’ll keep working on it because I would really love for the site to be more than JUST a blog / news site.
I have found the site to be very educational as I have started focusing more on vintage cards and expanding into graded cards. One idea for bringing buyers/sellers/traders together…maybe allow users to post their want lists? Not suggesting people list hundreds of cards, but perhaps that one special card they are looking for or something generic like “1961 Topps”.
Appreciate you bringing this site to life!
If you are a site member (free!) you have access to the Collectors Club Board that does have wish list and buy / sell / trade Forums. The tough part has been getting people to use it regularly. Facebook and social media are already in your face, and so it is more intuitive to just use those for cards too. But personally I love the idea of a smaller, tight, solid community–so I will keep working to figure out how to make the Forum work.
An articles on set building. What constitutes high numbers or rarer series for various years. Which years have really rare high numbers or single prints that make them hard to complete and which are less challenging.
Article highlighting of there are specific years where certain players pricing is out of line with what you would expect (e.g. 1967 Brooks Robinson) and why.
A comprehensive resource detailing all series of all years (and which are more scarce–it’s not always the highs, I only recently learned!) would be super cool. Thanks.
Perhaps an “Oddball” section of some sort. The Wacky Wednesday concept in the FB group often sees some very rare or unusual issues offered each week. I’m sure others who specialize in Vintage have that same focus. 1947 Homogenized Bond, 1964 Auravision, 1972 Sunoco Stamps, etc. There’s seems to be a “cult-swell” of curiosity regarding these types of sets. And it might be fun to explore their history (both accurate and fictitious), pricing trends and popularity regarding them.
Also, the entire mythos surrounding uncut sheets might be worth exploring.
Just my 2¢, but what do I know? 😉
I do think that themed sales (Oddball Week etc.) is worth a try for sure.
Thanks Matt,for all your hard work..this is a great site with a lot of valuable info..always look forward to reading your insights,Craig Radford
Appreciated–thanks!
I’ve been a member since early–glad to re-up at $20 even if you make it free! I love the blog content but I really do hope you can get more traffic into the Forum. I’m surprised it has been this tough to attract enough regulars to make it work. It’s a good interface and the idea of sustained all-vintage chat is really appealing to me. I’ll keep a lookout for new guest expert sessions etc. Thanks!
Hey Matt. I enjoy all the info you give out on this site too.
You may have written on these ideas, but thought I’d mention them.
1. My understanding is that some grading co made their guidelines stricter for higher grades. How does this help/hurt now that cards are being held to a higher level. I understand “buy the card not the grade,” but it’s frustrating getting a card back, and it’s nicer than 50% of other cards out there with a higher grade.
2. I see people mention, “ if it doesn’t measure it’s trimmed.” Maybe an in depth article on how to look for the factory cut on cards, and there is a real difference between trimmed and minimum size cards.
If you already did these, refreshers would be great!
https://cardhoundvintage.com/psa-sgc-and-the-old-label-new-label-trend/
Old label / new label
https://cardhoundvintage.com/vintage-faq-understanding-a-grades-from-sgc-and-psa/
“A” grades info–thanks!
I’d love to see in-depth articles by experts on classic baseball card sets that are generally regarded as superior by collectors – T206, T3 Turkey Red, Goudey, 1952/56/65/71/80 Topps, 1951 Bowman, etc. I’d also love to see in-depth articles by experts on more obscure ‘oddball’ sets. This would give a chance for obsessives to share what they have learned with the small subset of the population that cares and cares alot!
Yeah I would like to round up some willing experts for some deep dives–are you volunteering? : )
Matt keep up the great work. Whenever i finish my Latin checklist we can figure out a way to put up on the site.
That would be cool. Maybe we could share a draft with some of the key folks and crowdsource some info!
Thank you Matt! It’s great to have a trusted resource for advice on baseball cards. In my experience, every person who has ever found a baseball card thinks they are rich – so they want to sell you their cardboard garbage in a most convincing and genuine way! It’s a strange phenomenon: no one gets change from a dollar and thinks they’re rich, even though people collect coins .. so any way: knowledge is power, and so is money. So don’t give it away because you didn’t do your homework on cardhoundvintage.com
You have supplied fantastic knowledge to the group! I constantly learn with each article. As someone who has never bought or sold cards, I just don’t have the confidence to sell and quite frankly am still emotionally attached to my cards. How does one get past these issues?
I would say . . . start small for sure. Once I decided the let some lesser stuff go to consolidate into bigger cards, it got easier and easier with practice. Most of what I sold off, I could buy again in a second if I wanted to.
Matt, you have done an incredible job with this site! The information you provide is very helpful for all levels of collectors. Thank you for putting this together.
One of the things I find most interesting in various groups is what various collectors collect and why did they chose that to collect? For example, I collected as a 10 year old a long time ago. When my youngest son turned 8 or 9, he became interested in collecting and to encourage him and spend time together, I also restarted collecting. But I struggled for a time trying to decide what to collect. Somehow just buying packs and opening them together and then stashing away in a binder was not very satisfying, so after a while I decided to collect the 1962 Houston Colt 45s team. Why? Because my brother, dad and I attended the opening day game on April 10, 1962. It was the start of MLB in Texas. It made a huge impression on me then and still does 62 years later. It took me more than 20 years and countless hours of online and library research to put together a quality collection of every player to take the field, coaches, managers, scouts and front and back office personnel for that team.
I’ve read similar stories about folks who collect the Mets, Pilots, etc or who collect only closing pitchers and so forth. I find these fascinating. Stories about why we collect baseball and not stamps or coins or whatever give insight into what really drives us to search, order, catalog, trade, sell and maybe even dispose of those things we once treasured.
Stories like this make our hobby human and not just an investment vehicle.
Thanks again for all you do and thanks for taking time away for parenting. You’ve got your priorities straight.
I’ll definitely try for more “collector features” soon–they are fun.
Matt, appreciate all the efforts to generate the content and I have learned quite a bit from several different articles and features.
A bit late to the game here, so some ideas already taken.
*Some “why do I collect” articles could be cool
*I like (and used) the section where you could submit a few photos and ask for opinions/ideas on card grades
* I used the classifieds for a couple cards, which didn’t sell, but I like the idea of posting on a site with trusted vintage collectors
* I think many of us like learning about vintage cards, so maybe a monthly section on some card trivia, or even a “guess the card” with some clues given…
Keep up the good work!