People buy playing cards for many reasons other than finding decks to use for bridge and poker playing. When listing you can HELP buyers find your cards with less work if you consider some basics.

*USED is very important and should be described accurately. Find or create a 10 point scale from 10 for perfect or mint unused down to 1 for very worn, soiled, or grubby, perhaps with bends or small tears. Create a template and include this in each listing.

*USED decks must be also be described by completeness (ARE ALL CARDS PRESENT) and wear and presence or absence of the original box

*Type of cards may be standard, tarot, skat, canasta, bridge, or other. A pitch/poker deck retains the jokers. Bridge decks usually come in a two pack and, if used, may have had the jokers discarded.

*BACKS may be pictorial, plain, geometric design, artistic, advertising, or other. This is of major importance in listing because buyers may be seeking a specific back.

*BACK SUBJECT OF PICTORIALS is essential because collectors may seek themed backs. Examples might be cowboys, railroads, dogs, children, pinups, scenery, sailing ships, military subjects, automobiles, horses, or knights.

*Court cards that differ from standard American and British decks may be worth photographing because some collectors really focus on these. Special courts have been used with some casino cards, political subjects, and foreign cards in particular. The diversity of king and queen treatment is worth exploring. Even the letter designating the King, for example, will differ. French R, for Roi, for example, or D for Dame. The illustration below is a Hungarian deck from Piatnik, but it uses French designations.

*When LISTING BACK SUBJECTS  provide a general term as well as specific. Someone seeking HORSES might search for COLT, RACING HORSE, or PALOMINO. If doing a title search one should be able to find HORSE, PALOMINO just in the title without doing a detail search.

*BACK SUBJECT SEARCHING AND LISTING is somewhat of an art. One example will provide hints which you may apply to your material. Suppose you were searching for GUN related cards. You may be seeking hunting themes, gun makers, artistic portrayals, advertising, or other subjects. The seller must give a generic name such as GUN, but may also give a more specific such as PISTOL, REVOLVER,RIFLE,SHOTGUN, or maker name such as WINCHESTER, REMINGTON, or COLT. Colt paired with gun will avoid small horses, for example. SHIPS AND SHIPPING are good subject matter but not good for detail searches because those words tell how items will be sent. Use the most generic names possible other than those. Examples--BOAT, SAILING, GALLEON, BATTLESHIP, WARSHIP,CANOE, CLIPPER, to name a few.

*BRAND NAME OF MAKER is key information for some buyers. Popular makers such as CONGRESS, KEM, PIATNIK, GOODALL, DURATONE, U. S. PLAYING CARD, ARRCO should be named. The Ace of spades frequently tells the maker's name if the box is missing.

*PICTURES are essential. A single picture could show part of the box, a card back, and portions of some card faces. Some listers provide a view of card faces but never show a back.

    Significant information such as the state of this vintage wrapper may require a second photograph. Many times one carefully planned one can do most of what you need.

*SIZE of cards should be specified. It is not always clear that cards are miniatures. PATIENCE, JUMBO, MINIATURE or some term should always be provided to alert the buyer that cards are not standard size. For example, I was irritated to learn that a double deck cruise line set I bought was small patience size decks. Nothing in the listing gave that hint and I did not think to ask.

*SWAP or SINGLE is a special market for collectors who want as many backs as possible. This may be simply collecting themes such as DOGS or it may be a way to afford an expensive deck by buying a single sample from a broken deck. ALWAYS STATE SINGLE CARD OR SWAP (Aussie standard usage) CARD WHEN OFFERING ONLY ONE CARD.

*NAMED decks are pictorial decks with a subject named. For example, a ship may be called THE PIRATE. NELL GWEN, SAILING, BON BONS, THE KISS, THE TROOPER, ROOKWOOD, SITTING BULL and many other names appear on NAMED cards. This is not the same as an advertising card which names a business or a product. In fact, NAMED cards sometimes have advertising added.

CRUISE LINES, AIRLINES, RAILROADS and others are specific areas of collector interest. Again, the interest may be the specific line, or a type of back. For example, one might seek AIRLINE decks of a specific company, or just those which portray aircraft. Give your buyer a clue what is going on.

*GENERAL SEARCH patterns must be used by buyers because cards may be listed in subject matter types such as motion pictures, alcohol related, tobacco related, or other categories. So, PLAYING CARDS may be used with specific words to do title searches. You can reach those who do a title search if you make a title such as "playing cards  pinup cheesecake risque" because you have given the most generic name plus three common searches. Depending on the subject become aware that different words may be used. For example, there is no agreement on how to spell PINUP, PIN UP, PIN-UP.

*ARTIST NAMES should be given when known. For example, William Barribal, Rolf Armstrong, Petty, Elvgren, Varga, Vargas, Parrish, and many others are sought after.

Pictures will be added. Suggestions or comments, particularly errors of fact, should be sent to the writer. SELLERS, feel free to refer to this guide in your listing. Thanks for your support.