How It Works
The platform behind the collections.
The Collecting Site is a web-based catalog and community platform purpose-built for hobbyist and professional collectors. It gives you a structured, searchable, shareable home for every object in your collection — along with the community context to make that collection come alive.
Getting Started in Four Steps
Create a free account
Sign up with your email address. Your 30-day free trial starts immediately — no credit card is required. During the trial you can create one collection with up to 15 items, upload photos, and explore every feature of the platform before deciding whether to subscribe.
Create your first collection
Choose a collection type (stamps, coins, books, action figures, diecast, sports cards, toys — or build a fully custom one from scratch). Each type comes with a pre-built set of attributes relevant to that collecting field. You can add, remove, rename, or reorder every attribute to match exactly how you think about your collection.
Add your items
Each item has a name, description, condition, location, and any custom attributes you've defined. Upload multiple photos per item. Organise items with tags. Mark items as private if you don't want them visible to the public — or keep the whole collection private while you're still building it.
Share and connect
Make your collection public when you're ready. Other collectors can browse your items, like their favourites, leave comments, and search within your collection by any attribute you've marked as searchable.
Custom Attributes — the Heart of the Platform
Most collection tools give you a fixed set of fields. The Collecting Site gives you a fully configurable attribute system so your catalog reflects the way experts in your field actually think about items.
Attribute types include text, number, date, location, dropdown (select), checkbox, multi-checkbox, colour swatch, and image URL. You control which attributes are visible to the public, which are searchable (enabling a full filter interface on your public collection page), and which are required when adding new items.
Some examples of what collectors actually track:
Platform Features
📷 Photo Galleries
Upload multiple photos per item. Visitors can browse a full image gallery and vote on their favourite shots. Images are stored securely and served from your own domain.
🔍 Advanced Search & Filter
Any attribute you mark as searchable becomes a filter on your public collection page. Visitors can narrow a collection of thousands down to exactly the items they care about — by year, grade, country, or any custom field.
🏷 Tag System
Tag items and collections with freeform keywords for cross-collection discovery. Tags are visible publicly and help other collectors find related content across the entire site.
💬 Community Comments
Registered members can leave comments on public collections and items. This creates a living record of collector knowledge — provenance tips, identification help, valuation discussions, and historical context all accumulate over time.
🔒 Granular Privacy
Set privacy at the collection level or the individual item level. A public collection can still contain private items — useful for keeping high-value pieces off public view while sharing the rest of your collection with the world.
💡 Collection Templates
Don't start from a blank slate. Choose from pre-built templates for stamps, coins, books, action figures, diecast models, sports cards, toys, movies, banknotes, and more. Each template includes the field set that experienced collectors in that field actually use.
🏆 Voting & Likes
Visitors can upvote or downvote collections and individual items. Highly voted content surfaces on the homepage, giving great collections natural visibility without any algorithm gaming.
📊 Admin Dashboard
Manage all your collections, items, subscriptions, and account settings from a single clean dashboard. View analytics on your collection activity, manage two-factor authentication, and update your profile — all in one place.
💾 Export & Import
Your data is always yours. Export your collection at any time directly from the dashboard. Already catalogued items elsewhere? Import an existing collection to get up and running without re-entering everything from scratch.
Simple, Honest Pricing
Per Collection
per year · cancel anytime
- Unlimited items per collection
- Unlimited custom attributes
- Unlimited photo uploads
- Full search & filter on public page
- Granular privacy controls
- Community comments & voting
- Ad-free experience while logged in
- 30-day free trial — no card needed
Each additional collection you create is priced separately at $12/year. Pay only for what you use.
Security & Privacy
Your data is stored on servers you never have to think about. Passwords are hashed using industry-standard bcrypt. All payments are processed by Stripe — we never see or store your card details. Account activity is logged for your security, and you can enable two-factor authentication via email for an extra layer of protection.
We do not sell user data. We do not show ads to logged-in subscribers. We do not use dark patterns to trick you into paying for things you didn't want. Read our Privacy Policy for the complete picture.
Still have questions?
Check our FAQ for answers to common questions, or get in touch directly.