S/O: How do you evaluate new papercrafting releases?

If I really love a collection I decide if it would actually be useful to me. For example, all the recent farmhouse collections. I want to buy them because they’re so cute but I’m not scrapping anything farmhouse related. Then I think about whether or not I already have something very similar to it in my stash or if it would work with something in my stash. Then I decide how much of the collection I’ll buy - a collection kit with extra embellishments and extra papers or just a few papers and one pack of die cuts.

But sometimes I go straight from A to Z. Don’t care if it’s useful or if I have something that looks just like it. I don’t feel like being reasonable. I just buy it because I like it. It just depends on my mood.

I get emails of new products from my favorite companies. I look through them, and I consider first, how much I like it, second, do I already have something similar, and finally, I decide whether or not I really need it, and/or how likely am I to really use it.

I don’t buy much these days, because my stash is large enough that not many items make it through the criteria above.

first off - do I like it? could be colours, theme, images...

and if so - the collection kit? something else? or just one or two papers?

Would I reasonably use it? are the colours/themes ones I scrap with?

And do I have similar already in sufficient quantity? This one is usually the one that switches me to a no or a not now.

The only collection recently that really was a yes all the way through was Photo PLay Notting Hill - I love the theme and the colours. We're a family of bookworms and I have nothing similar (book related) in my stash. So that one is sitting in my cart waiting...

If I like it, I buy it.

I tend to buy lines- not every paper or embellishment, but a lot of it. A line speaks to me or it doesn't.
My only exception is Reminisce. I'll buy an odd paper from them now and then.

I also look at do I have a line in my stash that is similar or do I already have that theme covered. I don't need any Valentine paper and I don't need anymore July 4th or St. Patrick Day Paper. I'm pretty well covered on some other themes at the moment. I have way too much Autumn themed stuff but for some reason it keeps calling me.

I too used to be a major impulse buyer, if I liked it I bought it with little regret. After a few major purges over the years and seeing things I just "had to have" get purged because they no longer brought me joy, I have become a lot more conscious of what I buy. I no longer buy entire lines of things unless the entire line is something I will for sure use (I have not bought an entire line of any paper for probably 5 years now). I also haven't bought much 12x12 paper because I was not using it. I've changed over to pocket scrapbooking and smaller albums mainly for space reasons.
If a line or parts of a line speak to me, I will add them to my scrapbook . com cart and if I'm feeling in the scrappy purchasing mood I'll go check the cart. I will then look at my saved items and if they're in stock I may buy them or most of the time I just keep them there (for example, I've had Pink Fresh Keepin' It Real stickers and chipboard stickers and Simple Stories Quarantine collections in my cart since last year and still haven't bought them.) I mainly keep them in my cart hoping they'll go on clearance at some point, and if they don't and they are out of stock oh well.

Most of the time I’ll decide whether it’s aesthetically appealing to me and my style. Then I think if I have an actual use for it, especially with themed collections since I tend to be liters with my paper and embellishment use.

Sometimes I’ll look specifically for a topic like basketball since I have current events to scrap and will at times settle (mainly on color scheme) if there’s one I can use most of what I’d buy.

I do buy less now than in the past. I’m more picky about how much of a collection since I tend to overbuy and underuse.

When I can I try to see how others are using it which also gives me a better look at the colors since they tend to be off (or I feel they are) in manufacturers pictures. I’ll sometimes buy something I wouldn’t normally based on how someone else used it and scraplift it.

I don't think I've ever purchased a whole collection before. I only buy what I think I might use, and that's primarily paper rather than embellishments.

I don't think I'm looking for anything in particular, but I rule out what won't work for me pretty quickly.

If I'm buying online, I don't want anything I can get at JoAnn's for a fraction of the price, so that's most AC lines and anything I'd be buying for a tone on tone B side. Don't get me wrong, I'll buy a lot, but I won't spend.

I usually don't want papers with a large object illustrated (like Shimelle's treehouse or Vicki's sunset). I tend to use a lot of photos, so it makes it difficult to design a layout around. I also usually don't want papers with a too small repeating design. I prefer a larger pattern that can be understood in the outer 2 inches of the page.

I try not to buy themed papers, I don't like orange, and I don't need any more pink.

Surprisingly, that still leaves a lot. If I like it, it goes in my ACOT cart, and then I'll place my pre-order (save 20%) for as much as I can before the shipping jumps above $3.99. I always have too little or much in there, so I'll have to make some decisions about what to cut or whether I love certain papers enough to place the order. I guess that's it.

In skimming the thread, I'm not sure I do evaluate. Basically, if I like it, and I have enough space for it, I buy it. I don't worry about whether I have something similar, or how I'll use it. If I like it, I'll figure that out. That all said, I'm getting a lot more picky as I've been scrapbooking longer. I haven't bought Bella Blvd or Echo Park in ages, because it's not my style anymore, and it's starting to look the sane to me. I do love Carta Bella (which I know is part of Echo Park, but I think of it separately).

I guess the one criteria would be I don't buy individual papers anymore. If I don't like it enough to buy a collection pack, I don't buy it.

I also have to like it enough that I'm willing to put it to the 'two in, one out' test. As in, say I love a Simple Stories collection. If there are 8 double sided papers I like (I'm not counting cut aparts for the purposes of this) I need to find 8 other papers to add to my garage sale bin. The don't have to be the same company, unless that company's paper holder is full. If I hate the cut aparts & don't think I'll use them, that can be a deciding factor when choosing between two collections.

And I now limit how many Christmas collections I let myself get. I think I stick to two; one more serious/preferably faith based, and more 'kid friendly.

Editted to add: I am generally no longer a 'theme'y scrapper. So those types of collections generally don't appeal to me. Even if I'd take a photo/scrap something from Canada Day, I don't particularly want Canada themed paper for it. 

I'm lucky in that most of the time, the collections I won't use don't tend to appeal to me. A good example would be the farmhouse stuff. It's almost like my subconscious can think ahead & realize I won't end up using it, and so that translates to 'I don't like that.' I think that's how the 'check the cut aparts first' thing came to be. 

I don't have a particular process, lol. I am on a budget so I basically buy things if it is cheap and I like it. That's it.

I don't evaluate.. which is the problem 🙃

Is it cute? Do I like it? Onto window shopping/putting into carts/seeing prices and shipping.

Sometimes I think about it for a day or two.. then inevitably shrug and say YOLOOOOOOOOO and hit buy.