Copic Ciao's on a Budget, which set to begin with?

Disclaimer - I am fairly new to Copics, just since last fall.

The main difference in Sketch and Ciao is the barrel shape and the Sketch holds more ink and you won't have to re-fill as often. So really don't think it matters in Sketch vs Ciao. I was looking at either style but for the cheapest price.

I bought my Sketch Set A off of Ebay. I thought the listing was pricey for "moderately" used markers so I made a reasonable offer and the person excepted. I found that the set did not have all colors that I wanted so I ended up buying a few individual markers and now I'm getting ready to order a few more. (but I'm a collector). The Set A does have a good selection of earthtones, greys (5 warm and 5 cool) black and colorless blender.

If you're in the lower 48 states ScrapbookPal.com has the blending three pen sets for $15.72 each (Amazon also has these sets). You could pick which colors family you want now and then add on from there. Also get a black, a colorless blender and a set of greys. Free shipping starts at $25.

I don't know if Joann or Michael's accepts coupons for Copics.

Maybe someone with more knowledge will chime in.

Also I noticed that you've only recently started posting here. Welcome!

GiantsFan gives very good advice. I, too have just started with Copics in the past couple of months. I bought the sets of 3 blendable color families GiantsFan refers to and they are great when you are learning as you don't have to try to figure out what goes with what. Additionally, I bought a set of 6 markers that are sold as "skin tones". Dick Blick had a sale on the sets of 3 that matched Scrapbook Pal's prices, so I bought a number of the sets of 3 from them because my preferred vendor (Scrapbookpal) did not have all the color sets I wanted in stock. I also watched a number of videos and tutorials on beginning Copic coloring before placing my orders and followed their suggestions for putting together my basic set. I am now filling in gaps in my palette and continue to add a few markers from Scrapbook Pal every few weeks - they are the cheapest I have found and their service in impeccable. I found Sandy Allnock's videos very helpful and still refer back to them.

Copics are all about blending, so you need to have at least 2, but preferably 3 markers in the same blending hues for them to really do their magic, None of the pre-selected sets of 36 or 73 markers put out by Copic really have the coloring blending principles in mind. If you have a few extra bucks ($35), I am finding Sandy Allnock's on-line Copics class a wonderful experience. I viewed her "pre-class" which helped me in picking out my original batch of markers.

I am not a Copic expert but I've also heard that the big sets they sell aren't really great because you don't get the blending groups you need. The beauty of Copics is in the blending and if you don't have enough to blend a color, it won't make you happy. I would recommend buying smaller sets (like skin tones or groups of three, plus grays). I'm pretty sure Michael's lets you use coupons on individuals and sets in store (although I think the biggest sets they have are 6 or 8 markers) but I know JoAnn only sells Copics online and they're excluded from all coupons.

I also agree about not buying a big set but looking at lots of 3 markers that you can blend. I started with copics a few years ago and just bought gradually as I could afford them. I started with a couple of sets of reds/pinks and greens as I have a lot of flower stamps I wanted to colour and just built from there.