How do you feel about long detailed Instagram posts?

[dengbang]

Instagram is a big part of our hobby and can be used to advertise cards for sale but Im not sure I understand the need to write page long descriptions as to why one's cards is "special". It may be a way to boost card value but most of the time the description is a reach at best.

I may be way off here, but seeing more and more people I know do this is starting to become an eyesore. Curious to know how other members here feel about this.

[AbraCalabro]

I think those posts can, at large, be summed up in one line:

"I'm going to be selling this card, or one like it in the near future, this is why you need to throw money at me."

Is that the case 100% of the time, no, but IG has got to be the most disingenuous, two-faced crowds I've ever seen. Most of these guys pretending to be genuine hobbyists are pigs wearing lipstick.

[Deadshot]

I don't like writing long IG posts and typically I won't read them either. If I want to read long-form stuff, I'll log on here.

[darz90scardz]

Wish I could remember the account, but there’s a guy that posts essays and always ends off using the same template of “this set had odds of X meaning any player was a whopping 1 in X packs [mindblown emoji]”

But it didn’t matter if it was a 1:4 insert or 1:400. He was still gona blow dat mind.

[dengbang]

Is that the case 100% of the time, no, but IG has got to be the most disingenuous, two-faced crowds I've ever seen. Most of these guys pretending to be genuine hobbyists are pigs wearing lipstick.

It really throws me off because some of these accounts are people that I've seen around the forums for more than 10 years. They were definitely collectors at one point, but Instagram must have changed their outlook or something.

I don't like writing long IG posts and typically I won't read them either. If I want to read long-form stuff, I'll log on here.

This was my thoughts as well, most people that scroll IG are just looking for short attention span entertainment.

Wish I could remember the account, but there’s a guy that posts essays and always ends off using the same template of “this set had odds of X meaning any player was a whopping 1 in X packs [mindblown emoji]”

But it didn’t matter if it was a 1:4 insert or 1:400. He was still gona blow dat mind.

I do notice multiple accounts posting pack odds of both modern and 90's inserts and why so and so is special. It's a shame because there are some nice collections out there that should just let the images speak for themselves.

[TranquiloCards]

I tend to ramble a bit in the description when I post a card. I'm likely excited about attaining or posting it. But, I've sold maybe 1-2 cards on IG in the couple years I've been on there. I sell almost exclusively on eBay, so anyone reading my IG description is not my buyer audience.

Posting cards without a description seems too stale for me, personally. I follow plenty of great accounts that don't say anything about their posts, too. But, I've had lots of interactions from people replying to what I'm saying. I've also learned a lot from people's descriptions about their cards and engaged with them about it as well. And I'm a big fan of seeing pack/player odds for my own knowledge.

I'm sure some people are pumping for a sale, but I tend not to follow accounts like that. At the very worst, people don't have to read the descriptions if they're just there for the cards. I enjoy the chance for learning, teaching, or interaction.

[darz90scardz]

I tend to ramble a bit in the description when I post a card. I'm likely excited about attaining or posting it. But, I've sold maybe 1-2 cards on IG in the couple years I've been on there. I sell almost exclusively on eBay, so anyone reading my IG description is not my buyer audience.

Posting cards without a description seems too stale for me, personally. I follow plenty of great accounts that don't say anything about their posts, too. But, I've had lots of interactions from people replying to what I'm saying. I've also learned a lot from people's descriptions about their cards and engaged with them about it as well. And I'm a big fan of seeing pack/player odds for my own knowledge.

I'm sure some people are pumping for a sale, but I tend not to follow accounts like that. At the very worst, people don't have to read the descriptions if they're just there for the cards. I enjoy the chance for learning, teaching, or interaction.

I love your page though. Your descriptions are more about discovering unique attributes of a given card that are often only noticeable in-hand. The attention to detail stuff like that is right up my alley. Nevermind the fact you take great photos.

Won’t speak for others, but what I had in mind are those really belabored captions that come off as disingenuous, almost to the point they read as slapstick. I don’t know, there’s something humorous about someone trying to convince you of the “importance” of a card, especially when it’s multiple paragraphs.

I also realize that some of those pages I’m describing are actually genuine. Maybe I’m just an asshole, but in those cases, it’s even funnier to me.

[TranquiloCards]

I love your page though. Your descriptions are more about discovering unique attributes of a given card that are often only noticeable in-hand. The attention to detail stuff like that is right up my alley. Nevermind the fact you take great photos.

Won’t speak for others, but what I had in mind are those really belabored captions that come off as disingenuous, almost to the point they read as slapstick. I don’t know, there’s something humorous about someone trying to convince you of the “importance” of a card, especially when it’s multiple paragraphs.

I also realize that some of those pages I’m describing are actually genuine. Maybe I’m just an asshole, but in those cases, it’s even funnier to me.

Thanks, that means a lot coming from you as I thoroughly enjoy your collection+posts as well. I definitely understand the kind of account you reference. My favorite is when there's some long winded explanation about a card, which is seemingly up front about being personally important to the person acquiring it. Then at the waaay end of the description, it just says "Available FS/FT". It's like gushing about your child and how proud of them you are, then at the end including "...but I don't really care if they live or die". I don't think some people realize how transparent their (selling) intentions are.

[tastycardsandwich]

For me it depends on what's being said. I don't mind reading a longer caption if it's a cool personal story about the card, what it means to you and how you acquired it.

Not so keen on reading a long caption detailing why the card is "important" that ends with "available."

For my posts I tend to mix it up. If I have a story related to why I bought a card / how I obtained it, I'll tell it and try to keep it short. If I'm just posting a card because I like a card and feel like posting it, I'll go much shorter. Maybe just a sentence or two.

I've sold three cards on instagram. Two were accidental in that in both cases I posted a printing plate (I used to collect PP's and had over 100 at one point) that happened to match someone's PC, which led to a deal. The other card I sold via instagram was when someone else made a post looking for cards to complete a set and I happened to have one. I've never posted cards fishing for sales. My bio says "All cards NFS."

But, long story short, shorter captions are preferred.

[cookies]

if someone has a cool story about the card, or just wants to explain why they love it, i’m all for it. makes it more enjoyable to me.

if it’s just a shameless sales pitch then no thanks — but i simply avoid following accounts that do that.

[FrankAZHP]

Depends on what it's about. If it's a story about why they liked it when they were a kid or something then great. If it's cards for sale then I'm not interested. Then again I don't follow many accounts that sell what they post. Most accounts I follow are player/team collectors, or people doing the same as me (showing their PC).

[mindcycle]

There are definitely a few types of long winded IG posters, most of which we've covered here I think, but here's my list..

1. "The passionate collector" - The guy that genuinely has a cool story to tell about acquiring a card, about a player, team, etc.. but just gets carried away sometimes.

2. "The used car salesman" - The guy that tells you how iconic, important, or special a card is. Or how they just acquired their "grail". Then two days later you see it listed with an auction house.

3. "The next PMG guy" - The guy that writes a book to try and convince you that color blast (or insert the latest Panini SSP here) is the next PMG. They usually just spent way too much on these cards during the hype phase.

4. "The self proclaimed hobby ambassador" - The guy that thinks the whole collecting community, including all card manufactures and businesses, are watching them and their collection. They write books on how the serial # of a card they own fits perfectly into the universe and can also stop world hunger. Sadly this isn't the case, and all they really did was buy Jordan, Lebron and Brady cards prior to the boom.

5. "The investor" - Yeah i'm going there.. The guy that copy/pastes the latest ESPN hype article of a first or second year player, usually with stats from a single big game, and then goes on to let you know how they're "loading up". The photo is a stack of freshly graded PSA 9 and 10 Prizm fastbreak cards they'll be listing on eBay and in an IG story sale soon. Bonus points if the photo is taken at a card show with a stack $20 bills fanned out on a display case.

[threepointplay]

Oh god, I hope I am not too guilty of this!

Is a couple of paragraphs like this OK?



I personally quite enjoy collectors sharing some insight into their collection & rationale for their pickups when the post a new card. I suspect like others, I spend way too much time thinking about what I want to be buying, the direction it is going, what I want it to look like in a few years etc etc! So seeing & hearing about how others are building their collection, whilst also learning why they added a particular card is interesting to me.

As to accounts regularly filling their storyline and my feed with sales posts...yeah well those accounts get unfollowed pretty quickly. I have no objection to the odd sale story post; but I am not interested in following accounts that are simply trying to usurp the fees incurred by listing on the main marketplaces.

[AbraCalabro]

Is that the case 100% of the time, no, but IG has got to be the most disingenuous, two-faced crowds I've ever seen. Most of these guys pretending to be genuine hobbyists are pigs wearing lipstick.

It really throws me off because some of these accounts are people that I've seen around the forums for more than 10 years. They were definitely collectors at one point, but Instagram must have changed their outlook or something.

lol

I know some of them were on Body Odor forums for sure.

[AbraCalabro]

There are definitely a few types of long winded IG posters, most of which we've covered here I think, but here's my list..

1. "The passionate collector" - The guy that genuinely has a cool story to tell about acquiring a card, about a player, team, etc.. but just gets carried away sometimes.

2. "The used car salesman" - The guy that tells you how iconic, important, or special a card is. Or how they just acquired their "grail". Then two days later you see it listed with an auction house.

3. "The next PMG guy" - The guy that writes a book to try and convince you that color blast (or insert the latest Panini SSP here) is the next PMG. They usually just spent way too much on these cards during the hype phase.

4. "The self proclaimed hobby ambassador" - The guy that thinks the whole collecting community, including all card manufactures and businesses, are watching them and their collection. They write books on how the serial # of a card they own fits perfectly into the universe and can also stop world hunger. Sadly this isn't the case, and all they really did was buy Jordan, Lebron and Brady cards prior to the boom.

5. "The investor" - Yeah i'm going there.. The guy that copy/pastes the latest ESPN hype article of a first or second year player, usually with stats from a single big game, and then goes on to let you know how they're "loading up". The photo is usually of a stack of freshly graded PSA 9 and 10 Prizm fastbreak cards they'll be listing on eBay and in an IG story sale soon. Bonus points if the photo is taken at a card show with a stack $20 bills fanned out on a display case.

lmao - you should write a book on this stuff, so accurate

[TranquiloCards]

There are definitely a few types of long winded IG posters, most of which we've covered here I think, but here's my list..

1. "The passionate collector" - The guy that genuinely has a cool story to tell about acquiring a card, about a player, team, etc.. but just gets carried away sometimes.

2. "The used car salesman" - The guy that tells you how iconic, important, or special a card is. Or how they just acquired their "grail". Then two days later you see it listed with an auction house.

3. "The next PMG guy" - The guy that writes a book to try and convince you that color blast (or insert the latest Panini SSP here) is the next PMG. They usually just spent way too much on these cards during the hype phase.

4. "The self proclaimed hobby ambassador" - The guy that thinks the whole collecting community, including all card manufactures and businesses, are watching them and their collection. They write books on how the serial # of a card they own fits perfectly into the universe and can also stop world hunger. Sadly this isn't the case, and all they really did was buy Jordan, Lebron and Brady cards prior to the boom.

5. "The investor" - Yeah i'm going there.. The guy that copy/pastes the latest ESPN hype article of a first or second year player, usually with stats from a single big game, and then goes on to let you know how they're "loading up". The photo is usually of a stack of freshly graded PSA 9 and 10 Prizm fastbreak cards they'll be listing on eBay and in an IG story sale soon. Bonus points if the photo is taken at a card show with a stack $20 bills fanned out on a display case.

Let em know how you really feel

It seems like people don't mind the long posts as long as they're genuine, informative, fun. Especially since that stuff is very easy to skip over if you just want to see photos. Makes sense to me.

[dengbang]

I think mindcycle hit it on the head with types...especially the self proclaimed ambassador

Reminds me of the dude perfect videos, they need to make one for the sports cards people on Instagram...pretty sure we know someone for each of those descriptions
Dude Perfect Basketball Stereotypes

[mindcycle]

lmao - you should write a book on this stuff, so accurate

Oh god, I hope I am not too guilty of this!

Is a couple of paragraphs like this OK?

I think this falls into #1 on my list, which I myself am definitely guilty of, lol. But nothing wrong with a little backstory or getting excited over a huge pickup, and that I would say 100% qualifies as a huge pickup, congrats!

Let em know how you really feel

It seems like people don't mind the long posts as long as they're genuine, informative, fun. Especially since that stuff is very easy to skip over if you just want to see photos. Makes sense to me.

Yeah I agree, I certainly don't mind long posts shared from a passionate individual.

I think mindcycle hit it on the head with types...especially the self proclaimed ambassador

Reminds me of the dude perfect videos, they need to make one for the sports cards people on Instagram...pretty sure we know someone for each of those descriptions

That's pretty good, I hadn't seen that one but pretty accurate, lol

[waxandpax90s]

There are definitely a few types of long winded IG posters, most of which we've covered here I think, but here's my list..

1. "The passionate collector" - The guy that genuinely has a cool story to tell about acquiring a card, about a player, team, etc.. but just gets carried away sometimes.

2. "The used car salesman" - The guy that tells you how iconic, important, or special a card is. Or how they just acquired their "grail". Then two days later you see it listed with an auction house.

3. "The next PMG guy" - The guy that writes a book to try and convince you that color blast (or insert the latest Panini SSP here) is the next PMG. They usually just spent way too much on these cards during the hype phase.

4. "The self proclaimed hobby ambassador" - The guy that thinks the whole collecting community, including all card manufactures and businesses, are watching them and their collection. They write books on how the serial # of a card they own fits perfectly into the universe and can also stop world hunger. Sadly this isn't the case, and all they really did was buy Jordan, Lebron and Brady cards prior to the boom.

5. "The investor" - Yeah i'm going there.. The guy that copy/pastes the latest ESPN hype article of a first or second year player, usually with stats from a single big game, and then goes on to let you know how they're "loading up". The photo is a stack of freshly graded PSA 9 and 10 Prizm fastbreak cards they'll be listing on eBay and in an IG story sale soon. Bonus points if the photo is taken at a card show with a stack $20 bills fanned out on a display case.

I feel like #4 is about one specific account most of us know of and it's incredibly accurate

[bcspecialist]

Guilty of writing long paragraphs. For the most part it is because I am excited about the card whether it is something I am collecting or trying to sell. Maybe I do end up rambling quite a bit . Hopefully people will just skip over what they don't like to read.

I do also like writing down the pack odds because that information is always interesting to me. One of the reasons why I like to look thru Becketts.

[SacKingsCards]

Oh god, I hope I am not too guilty of this!

Is a couple of paragraphs like this OK?

I personally quite enjoy collectors sharing some insight into their collection & rationale for their pickups when the post a new card. I suspect like others, I spend way too much time thinking about what I want to be buying, the direction it is going, what I want it to look like in a few years etc etc! So seeing & hearing about how others are building their collection, whilst also learning why they added a particular card is interesting to me.

Funny, that to me is a pretty "average" length for a post. A few sentences, rather than a couple paragraphs, which is not too long at all imo. Incredible card btw, I didn't realize they had a dual auto pairing.

I completely agree with the bolded. I actually prefer a long post to a short one, give me a collector writing paragraphs upon paragraphs about the story behind their pickup, why they like the card they chose to acquire, why they collect that player/team/set, what part of their sports fandom that card connects to, etc. I am disappointed when I see a Instagram post with minimal length. I don't just want to see pictures of cards...I could go to eBay or COMC if I just want to see an array of different cards. There's almost no purpose in that imo.

But maybe I just feel that way because I could write ten sentences about any card, from a base card to an MJ 1/1 logoman auto (not that I could ever own that). And I do generally try to share the info I mentioned above in my posts. Though I have mostly stopped posting on Instagram, but that's another story.

[NY_AL]

I've been known to post some long ones myself....as a collector, not as a used car salesman...lol. Unfortunately, not all my cards are superfractors, so in most cases, I feel some more written content would be appropriate But really, I'm not posting to get a lot of people to read it. If one or two people found it interesting/informative, then it was worth the time to type it....and I hope it was worth their time to read it. And if no one reads it, I'm not losing any sleep over it. It's all in good fun and just not that serious. I take the same approach when going through my feed and stories. There's a very influential and respected member of the hobby community that likes to post long strings of stories using data and stats backing up his claims of hobby/sports related topics. Sometimes I really enjoy them and read each story. Other times, when the topic doesn't interest me or I just don't feel like reading, I just keep swiping. Really doesn't bother me at all.

[MAMASCOOKINPC]

I write long winded descriptions in all caps talking shit on my Kwame page .

I havn’t posted on my marbury page in years but I’d keep it short unless it’s a card I always wanted or looks better or worse in hand. I read PC guys descriptions. I don’t read those pump n dump guys descriptions

[SHowley2003]

I’m very selective as to who I follow on IG, probably to selective at times. But those people I follow it’s because I appreciate their content. So if they are going to take the time to write a lengthy post or create a video I’m going to take the time to appreciate what they are sharing.

[watashiwa05]

I’m very selective as to who I follow on IG, probably to selective at times. But those people I follow it’s because I appreciate their content. So if they are going to take the time to write a lengthy post or create a video I’m going to take the time to appreciate what they are sharing.

This is how I feel too. I like hearing and talking about cards. Happy to read a paragraph or two from people who have something to say.