Apps & tools
Card collection spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is free, portable and entirely under your control. It is also the reason most collections are documented once and never again.
What a spreadsheet does well
It is free, it works offline, and you own it — no subscription, no export problem, no data held by a company. For a small collection of cards you already know well, that is a perfectly good answer.
It is also good for the records an app does not need to hold: purchase dates, cost basis, and notes about where a card came from.
- Free, offline, and entirely portable.
- Good for cost basis, purchase dates and provenance.
- Works for a small, static collection.
- No subscription and no dependence on a company's roadmap.
Where it breaks down
Two jobs are the problem: identification and valuation. A spreadsheet cannot tell you what a card is, and it cannot tell you what it is worth — both have to be entered by hand and updated by hand.
The consequence is predictable. Values are entered once and never refreshed, so the collection total drifts out of date; and adding a card requires research before the row can be filled in, so the entries stop.
- No identification: every card has to be researched first.
- No valuation: every value is manual and goes stale.
- No photographs: the record is text only.
- Entries stop as soon as upkeep exceeds the benefit.
If you build one anyway
The columns worth having are the ones that would change a decision: player, year, set, card number, parallel, grade, value, and the date the value was checked. Everything else is optional.
The realistic approach for most collectors is a hybrid: an app for identification and current values, and a spreadsheet for cost basis and provenance — the fields an app has no reason to hold.
How it works
Three steps from a phone photo to a finished image
Scan the card
Point the camera at it — raw, sleeved, in a binder or in a slab.
Confirm the match
Check the player, year, set and parallel Zenith read.
See the value
The card lands in your collection with a market value attached.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is a spreadsheet good enough to track a card collection?
For a small collection of cards you know well, yes — it is free, portable and yours. It breaks down when you need identification or current values, because both have to be researched and maintained by hand.
What columns should a card spreadsheet have?
Player, year, set, card number, parallel, grade, current value and the date the value was checked. Those are the fields that change a decision; everything else is optional.
Why do card spreadsheets get abandoned?
Because every entry needs research first — identification and a value — and values need refreshing to stay meaningful. When upkeep exceeds the benefit, the entries stop.
Can I use both a spreadsheet and an app?
Yes, and it is a sensible split: the app for identification and current market values, the spreadsheet for cost basis, purchase dates and provenance — the records an app has no reason to hold.
Try it on your next photo
Free to download on the App Store. iPhone and iPad only.