Short Rant Against A Few COMC Sellers...

[3124508 on COMC]

Why do some COMC sellers who have the Amazon thumbnail next to their username not allow any offers? It makes no sense to me. Someone please explain how this is logical. :coffee::coffee::coffee:


/end rant

[Swipe79]

You're not the first one to post about it today.

Like I said earlier - makes no sense to me, unless they're trying to lose a customer.

[3124508 on COMC]

You're not the first one to post about it today.

Like I said earlier - makes no sense to me, unless they're trying to lose a customer.

Yep. I was just going to make an 80% offer on a card for my PC, but the seller wasn't accepting offers, so I didn't buy the card. Same thing happened last week, but the card was worthwhile even at full asking price, so I ended up buying it. If I didn't have COMC credit to blow, I would've bought it on Ebay and transferred it just to spite the seller.

[Jonathon M]

I have noticed it too, Personally I don't understand it, but it did stop me from buying the card... It wasn't an essential PC purchase but it was over $50 and if 20% offers were allowed I would have been all over it.

Another funny one... I offered on another card 20% off asking as they also had the amazon thumbnail.... they then countered back.... I countered again at 20% off original price (what they would have got on amazon/ebay)... they declined...lol!

[mjohnatgt]

It's possible the seller isn't "that" knowledgeable about COMC and never turned on offers.

[Jonathon M]

It's possible the seller isn't "that" knowledgeable about COMC and never turned on offers.

Aren't offers set at 50% on default when signing up? Therefore requiring the seller to physically turn them off?

I might be wrong, but I always thought this was the case

[3124508 on COMC]

It's possible the seller isn't "that" knowledgeable about COMC and never turned on offers.

But, to play devil's advocate, they also had to opt in to Ebay and Amazon sales, which is below the offer settings on the Options page.

[3124508 on COMC]

Aren't offers set at 50% on default when signing up? Therefore requiring the seller to physically turn them off?

I might be wrong, but I always thought this was the case

I believe this is also true.

[MyckKabongo]

Not that hard, really. The seller is willing to take the 20% on a portion of cards in return for increased turns, but on the site they want full price.

[jmscoggin]

Not that hard, really. The seller is willing to take the 20% on a portion of cards in return for increased turns, but on the site they want full price.

You are trying to be salty but it isn't working. You stated the facts as we already know them to be, that was pretty simple to do and added zero to the conversation. What we are wondering is why they are that way. Why would a seller be willing to take 20% off on Amazon/Ebay but not direct, it makes zero sense. Please feel free to chime in if you actually have something to add.

[notsublime]

I run into this daily when making offers. I don't understand it at all.

Before eBay, I'd offer between 50% and 80% and do the negotiation thing. Now I just offer the 80% and one would think that since that little symbol is next to their name, it would be an auto accept. So if you think about it, I'm offering more money than I did in the past. But I would guess I'm actually purchasing less cards because of the sellers practices.

If it's set at 100% cost, I buy it on eBay, transfer it back to COMC. If I truly want it for full cost, I might as well collect some eBay bucks.

[Swipe79]

The problem here, is that I can go on to eBay and buy the card there instead of buying on site. I get eBay Bucks and you take a 20% hit in that situation. I'm tempted to do that on any transaction where the user doesn't accept 20% off prices, but is cross-listed.

Not that hard, really. The seller is willing to take the 20% on a portion of cards in return for increased turns, but on the site they want full price.

[3124508 on COMC]

Not that hard, really. The seller is willing to take the 20% on a portion of cards in return for increased turns, but on the site they want full price.

What do you mean by "increased turns"?

[thebrett]

I've wondered the same thing

I'll go buy it on eBay to spite them and I have COMC credit coming out of my ears

[jefflasvegas]

Here is my possible take. I have 10,000 items listed so some cards haven't been adjusted to account for the 36% fees (20 ebay and 20 comc). So if I have a card listed at $10 and am in to it for $9, I would counter an offer at $9. If the offer is declined, I may raise the price so I don't lose money on an ebay sale or turn the card off until a later date.

The vast majority of my offers don't fall into this category but I can see it as logical reasoning.

[Jonathon M]

Here is my possible take. I have 10,000 items listed so some cards haven't been adjusted to account for the 36% fees (20 ebay and 20 comc). So if I have a card listed at $10 and am in to it for $9, I would counter an offer at $9. If the offer is declined, I may raise the price so I don't lose money on an ebay sale or turn the card off until a later date.

The vast majority of my offers don't fall into this category but I can see it as logical reasoning.

ok, that seems logical.. I have no problems with sellers raising prices if the card has got "hot"... Sometimes an offer alerts you to this (I've done it, and will continue to)... Buyers fault for not grabbing it at original price..

[3124508 on COMC]

Here is my possible take. I have 10,000 items listed so some cards haven't been adjusted to account for the 36% fees (20 ebay and 20 comc). So if I have a card listed at $10 and am in to it for $9, I would counter an offer at $9. If the offer is declined, I may raise the price so I don't lose money on an ebay sale or turn the card off until a later date.

The vast majority of my offers don't fall into this category but I can see it as logical reasoning.

ok, that seems logical.. I have no problems with sellers raising prices if the card has got "hot"... Sometimes an offer alerts you to this (I've done it, and will continue to)... Buyers fault for not grabbing it at original price..

While logical for declining an offer at 80% or above, it still doesn't explain why several sellers simply won't allow for any offers to be made, but are still selling on Ebay and Amazon.

[Swipe79]

This may explain a small percentage of what I've seen, but to be honest - if someone bought the card on eBay you'd be out the money anyways. You'd rather tell them "no" over a dollar and possibly dissuade them from purchasing from you in the future?

As a buyer, I don't know you have $X into the card. I just know that you've declined my offer of 20% off (which would equal an eBay sale) and then see you raise the price afterwards.

Here is my possible take. I have 10,000 items listed so some cards haven't been adjusted to account for the 36% fees (20 ebay and 20 comc). So if I have a card listed at $10 and am in to it for $9, I would counter an offer at $9. If the offer is declined, I may raise the price so I don't lose money on an ebay sale or turn the card off until a later date.

The vast majority of my offers don't fall into this category but I can see it as logical reasoning.

[MyckKabongo]

Do any of you guys work in marketing?

This is like asking why cell phone companies offer new customers a lower rate to new customers or why the same bottle of shampoo costs less at Walmart than it does at CVS. Context matters for pricing.

The seller is willing to take a 20% hit sometimes because higher sales volume helps the business (turns). However, most of the time they want full margin. The card COULD sell on eBay/Amazon for 80% but odds are still higher it will sell for full margin on COMC. If you're selling on eBay odds are you're selling to a new customer outside the COMc system.

You're not entitled to pay less for a bottle of shampoo at CVS just because Walmart has it for less. No smart business is going to offer a discount unless they need to. You're certainly not entitled to a discount at CVS when the shampoo is the same price both places but Walmart pays a lower wholesale price to the manufacturer.

All that said, I will take an 80% offer almost all of the time but it's really not irrational to turn one down.

[MyckKabongo]

Yet another example is when manufacturers attempt to enforce the MSRP, so the retail price is the same at all outlets. The wholesale price and manufacturer margin may be very different but the MSRP is the same. I may sell on Amazon, but I make a higher margin when you buy from your local store so I'm going to insist AMZ charge full MSRP so the local store has a shot to compete.

This is a key point: The listed price for the card is the same both places. You want the card? You pay $10 either way. You can buy on eBay out of spite but many will buy on COMC, giving the seller an extra $2. The buyer isn't really benefitting by spiting the seller--eBay bucks get washed out by not consolidating shipments.

The buyer doesn't have very much leverage when they offer 80%. Not nearly as much as you guys think. I'm guessing that's why you're ranting on here or admitting to buying on eBay purely out of spite.

[3124508 on COMC]

Do any of you guys work in marketing?

This is like asking why cell phone companies offer new customers a lower rate to new customers or why the same bottle of shampoo costs less at Walmart than it does at CVS. Context matters for pricing.

The seller is willing to take a 20% hit sometimes because higher sales volume helps the business (turns). However, most of the time they want full margin. The card COULD sell on eBay/Amazon for 80% but odds are still higher it will sell for full margin on COMC. If you're selling on eBay odds are you're selling to a new customer outside the COMc system.

You're not entitled to pay less for a bottle of shampoo at CVS just because Walmart has it for less. No smart business is going to offer a discount unless they need to. You're certainly not entitled to a discount at CVS when the shampoo is the same price both places but Walmart pays a lower wholesale price to the manufacturer.

All that said, I will take an 80% offer almost all of the time but it's really not irrational to turn one down.

First, the shampoo analogy doesn't seem to hold up, as Walmart and CVS are two different corporations which both own their own shampoo, whereas on COMC the same seller owns his cards while selling through multiple marketplaces. I would assume that wholesale prices vary due to purchase volume, but that doesnt matter, because a COMC seller only has one bottom line number (wholesale price) across all platforms.

Second, while it theoretically would make sense that a seller would only want to lose 20% on some sales, why would they not want an 80% offer that would increase sales to the same extent as an EBay sale would? This is especially true when considering that the ratio of EBay to direct COMC sales, and the likelihood of that card selling on eBay later anyway. For example, the card I didnt purchase on COMC yesterday has 2 eBay watchers and will likely be purchased though ebay, so why not sell it now and net the same amount?

[Jonathon M]

Good points. Didn't really look at it that way. Not something I would do, but it's understandable in a way. Again, I personally don't see benefit in it within my selling strategy

[MyckKabongo]

Second, while it theoretically would make sense that a seller would only want to lose 20% on some sales, why would they not want an 80% offer that would increase sales to the same extent as an EBay sale would? This is especially true when considering that the ratio of EBay to direct COMC sales, and the likelihood of that card selling on eBay later anyway. For example, the card I didnt purchase on COMC yesterday has 2 eBay watchers and will likely be purchased though ebay, so why not sell it now and net the same amount?

It's a fair point--this is why I personally would take the 80% offer bird in hand. However, many sellers don't properly value inventory turnover because they aren't good at sourcing flips.

For some, especially those with higher end cards they just want to protect margin. They're going to hold the line on the list price and if it sells on eBay so be it but every full price sale on COMC is a "win" they may not have gotten if they'd accepted an 80% offer earlier.

[3124508 on COMC]

It's a fair point--this is why I personally would take the 80% offer bird in hand. However, many sellers don't properly value inventory turnover because they aren't good at sourcing flips.

For some, especially those with higher end cards they just want to protect margin. They're going to hold the line on the list price and if it sells on eBay so be it but every full price sale on COMC is a "win" they may not have gotten if they'd accepted an 80% offer earlier.

I understand this completely. That's why I'm so overjoyed when I get a cart sale. Last week I sold a card for $100 via the cart that I would've gotten $80 for via eBay or probably $75 for if I negotiated with someone direct though the site.

[usasportcards]

I would've bought it on Ebay and transferred it just to spite the seller.

I am going to sound like the newbie here (because I am - ha) - Can you transfer the card from Ebay to COMC without having to have it shipped with the $3.99 shipping charge through Ebay? :coffee:

[3124508 on COMC]

I am going to sound like the newbie here (because I am - ha) - Can you transfer the card from Ebay to COMC without having to have it shipped with the $3.99 shipping charge through Ebay? :coffee:

Yeah. The COMC and Ebay thread has more info, but basically you select the Local Pickup option at checkout and put your COMC username in the Special Instructions/Transaction Info box, and the card will be transferred to your COMC account.

[jmscoggin]

For some, especially those with higher end cards they just want to protect margin. They're going to hold the line on the list price and if it sells on eBay so be it but every full price sale on COMC is a "win" they may not have gotten if they'd accepted an 80% offer earlier.

This actually makes a lot of sense, wish you had led with it.

I understand this completely. That's why I'm so overjoyed when I get a cart sale. Last week I sold a card for $100 via the cart that I would've gotten $80 for via eBay or probably $75 for if I negotiated with someone direct though the site.

Me too. I used to love every sale but the first thing I do now when I sell a big card is check to see how it sold, I curse a little when it is Ebay/Amazon and am extra happy when it is direct. 20% is a sizable margin, especially when coupled with the other fees.

[Swipe79]

I purchased a card yesterday with eBay Bucks, chose free local pick up, sent them a message letting them know to transfer to my COMC account. The card arrived into my COMC account rather quickly and I got my eBay Bucks!

eBay bucks get washed out by not consolidating shipments.


I am going to sound like the newbie here (because I am - ha) - Can you transfer the card from Ebay to COMC without having to have it shipped with the $3.99 shipping charge through Ebay? :coffee:

[Swipe79]

I price that 20% into my asking price on the high end stuff. If they get around to lowering the fees - which they really need to do on these transactions - I could drop some of my prices by that percentage.

If they do drop the fees, I hope they allow you to opt in/out on Amazon and eBay separately.

I curse a little when it is Ebay/Amazon and am extra happy when it is direct. 20% is a sizable margin, especially when coupled with the other fees.

[Swipe79]

I've purchased my last few PC adds on eBay instead of COMC - seller won't accept/negotiate on the price, so I would rather get my eBay Bucks and pay the .25 shipping up front than purchase on site.

[alpine]

You brought up a valid point OP. I changed my COMC settings. Thanks. :)

[jmscoggin]

I've purchased my last few PC adds on eBay instead of COMC - seller won't accept/negotiate on the price, so I would rather get my eBay Bucks and pay the .25 shipping up front than purchase on site.

You actually had me talked into this until I realized that I'd have to use real world money to do so. I've got $5k in play money to use on COMC. It hurts far less when using it, especially when it also saves the 20% cash out.

[mcgahee21nfl]

Do any of you guys work in marketing?

This is like asking why cell phone companies offer new customers a lower rate to new customers or why the same bottle of shampoo costs less at Walmart than it does at CVS. Context matters for pricing.

The seller is willing to take a 20% hit sometimes because higher sales volume helps the business (turns). However, most of the time they want full margin. The card COULD sell on eBay/Amazon for 80% but odds are still higher it will sell for full margin on COMC. If you're selling on eBay odds are you're selling to a new customer outside the COMc system.

You're not entitled to pay less for a bottle of shampoo at CVS just because Walmart has it for less. No smart business is going to offer a discount unless they need to. You're certainly not entitled to a discount at CVS when the shampoo is the same price both places but Walmart pays a lower wholesale price to the manufacturer.

All that said, I will take an 80% offer almost all of the time but it's really not irrational to turn one down.

ALL OF THIS ^^^^

The posts in this thread are extremely funny.. Because half of you are writing that you will intentionally not buy something you want to show the seller. You are talking about them being "irrational", yet you are getting offended and being irrational, chopping off your nose to spite your face... all for what you feel is someone else being irrational and there being no logic to it?? Anyways, funny reads.

You can add me to the list of the sellers who don't take 20% off of every item they sell, yet opted in to Amazon & eBay. I adjust my prices all the time now, based on how often my cards are selling on Amazon & eBay. I had pushed up most of my cards by 20% to account for Amazon & eBay... but a lot of the items I didn't change at all. Some I will lose $ on if they sell at 20% off, others I will make a little bit. So far I think I have a happy medium going where buyers can get good deals, and at the same time I can get views I might not have gotten otherwise.

All said and done, feel free to make an offer. I think I'm set at 75% offers right now, and often accept 75%.. but don't be surprised to see your offer declined, and the price get raised. This is a market, where you as a buyer can use the tools available to you to buy the card (offer, click buy) and as a seller you can use the tools available to you to sell a card (price as you want when you want). Not sure how people don't understand all of this as its very basic. Glad to see so many people have figured out the right way to do it though, while not understanding any of it at all....

[jefflasvegas]

This may explain a small percentage of what I've seen, but to be honest - if someone bought the card on eBay you'd be out the money anyways. You'd rather tell them "no" over a dollar and possibly dissuade them from purchasing from you in the future?

As a buyer, I don't know you have $X into the card. I just know that you've declined my offer of 20% off (which would equal an eBay sale) and then see you raise the price afterwards.

By me turning down an offer or countering, it alerts you that I'm not interested in selling at your buy price. Using a stock analogy, I want to sell Apple at $105, just because the highest buy price is $96, doesn't mean I should sell. I can be patient and get a price I'm more comfortable with down the road.

I look at my sales over a period of time, say a month or a black friday special. It's worth to lose money on a small percentage of sales if the overall sales increase covers the loss. Example: Black Friday, I lost money on ten flips, but had increased sales (sixty flips compared to normal weekend of fifteen). So looking at flips for that four day window, my sales were $150 more than the costs even though I was down $20 on the losers.

I do not raise the price if you turn down my counter but have seen people do that. I would turn the card "off" for the rest of the month and reprice it a later date.

[3124508 on COMC]

You brought up a valid point OP. I changed my COMC settings. Thanks. :)

Too bad you're not one of the sellers I've been wanting to buy something from. :)!


ALL OF THIS ^^^^

The posts in this thread are extremely funny.. Because half of you are writing that you will intentionally not buy something you want to show the seller. You are talking about them being "irrational", yet you are getting offended and being irrational, chopping off your nose to spite your face... all for what you feel is someone else being irrational and there being no logic to it?? Anyways, funny reads.

You can add me to the list of the sellers who don't take 20% off of every item they sell, yet opted in to Amazon & eBay. I adjust my prices all the time now, based on how often my cards are selling on Amazon & eBay. I had pushed up most of my cards by 20% to account for Amazon & eBay... but a lot of the items I didn't change at all. Some I will lose $ on if they sell at 20% off, others I will make a little bit. So far I think I have a happy medium going where buyers can get good deals, and at the same time I can get views I might not have gotten otherwise.

All said and done, feel free to make an offer. I think I'm set at 75% offers right now, and often accept 75%.. but don't be surprised to see your offer declined, and the price get raised. This is a market, where you as a buyer can use the tools available to you to buy the card (offer, click buy) and as a seller you can use the tools available to you to sell a card (price as you want when you want). Not sure how people don't understand all of this as its very basic. Glad to see so many people have figured out the right way to do it though, while not understanding any of it at all....

As someone who has both had offers accepted by you and declined only to see the price raised, I agree with everything you're saying. But this thread isn't about sellers like you, but instead those sellers who won't even allow offers of 80% and are also selling on Ebay. I understand why you wouldn't have Auto Accept on, and at the end of the day I appreciate that you're still willing to consider my offer that would net you the same on COMC as it would on Ebay. Some sellers aren't, and those are the ones I'm ranting about. :)

[Nuurgle]

When I noticed they added the Amazon symbol by usernames, I raised my auto-accept to slightly above 80% specifically to avoid site users who are cherry picking the auto-accept at the 20% off level. I still accept lower offers and have an auto-accept around 80%, but if I have a $50 card with an A by my name, and there are 2 other people at $42 and 45 with no A, 9 times out of 10 someone's going to try for the $40 auto-accept when they would have ignored the higher priced card in the past. If I could turn the A off without having to disconnect, I would, and would likely set my auto back to 80%. It just feels like they took the game out of it.

[3124508 on COMC]

When I noticed they added the Amazon symbol by usernames, I raised my auto-accept to slightly above 80% specifically to avoid site users who are cherry picking the auto-accept at the 20% off level. I still accept lower offers and have an auto-accept around 80%, but if I have a $50 card with an A by my name, and there are 2 other people at $42 and 45 with no A, 9 times out of 10 someone's going to try for the $40 auto-accept when they would have ignored the higher priced card in the past. If I could turn the A off without having to disconnect, I would, and would likely set my auto back to 80%. It just feels like they took the game out of it.

Not to be a d!ck, because I'm legitimately curious, but isn't the bolded a good thing? You're not going to get $50 for your card if they're on the site for $42 and $45, so instead of someone buying the other sellers item, they're now buying yours for what the market has dictated as the card's value.

Are you saying that you do this so people purchase the other two copies of the card before yours, so your card can be the only copy on the site and be priced at $50?

If my above comment is true, I suppose this would make sense then if you have a sit and wait selling strategy.

[Nuurgle]

It's a fair point. I'm typically not in a rush to sell and I'd prefer to have the offer and make the decision then. It might be something I priced a bit higher, but if it goes on Amazon or ebay then so be it because it's getting that $50 selling point out there.

As a buyer, I've played the game of "should I find a few other cards and make a 70% offer on the lot and risk the retaliatory price raise, or do I just offer 80% and hope they're an Amazon seller" before, and it was fun. It sucks a bit feeling like part of that risk is gone.

I'm not a big time seller or buyer, like many others on here, but it's how I view things I know it won't apply to all situations. I can definitely see it from the other side but it's not my preference.

[jbrandonw]

I've wondered the same thing

I'll go buy it on eBay to spite them and I have COMC credit coming out of my ears

You think buying one of his cards for the full asking price is spiting him? Lol

[mcgahee21nfl]

Too bad you're not one of the sellers I've been wanting to buy something from. :)!




As someone who has both had offers accepted by you and declined only to see the price raised, I agree with everything you're saying. But this thread isn't about sellers like you, but instead those sellers who won't even allow offers of 80% and are also selling on Ebay. I understand why you wouldn't have Auto Accept on, and at the end of the day I appreciate that you're still willing to consider my offer that would net you the same on COMC as it would on Ebay. Some sellers aren't, and those are the ones I'm ranting about. :)

But I am also that seller too. I don't always have 75% offers on... I go through periods where I turn the offers off completely. I had them off around a month ago, turned them on to 50% a coupe weeks ago, and have gradually went from there up to the 75% I'm at now. I'm searching for a happy medium.

[mcgahee21nfl]

You think buying one of his cards for the full asking price is spiting him? Lol

thebrett's comment is about as childish as it gets. It is literally the epitome of chopping of your nose to spite your face. ironically it is coming from someone who has been going around to the various eBay/COMC threads pointing fingers and calling people babies for complaining about every last thing. what a joke.

[Swipe79]

If you decline the 20% offer and are selling on eBay/Amazon - it makes no sense to me to tell someone no if they make an offer of 1-20% off on the card. If some of you have convinced yourselves otherwise - more power to you. I've been having people reject 10-15% off offers from me - they don't raise their price afterwards - and they don't counter.

I can buy the card at full price on eBay and get 2% (or more on promos) cash back, plus additional cashback through eBates. On a $100 card, I'm at least going to get $3-4 back or possibly a lot more if there is a promo. When I buy that card on eBay - you get 80% of the asking price.

By me turning down an offer or countering, it alerts you that I'm not interested in selling at your buy price. Using a stock analogy, I want to sell Apple at $105, just because the highest buy price is $96, doesn't mean I should sell.

[Swipe79]

The seller would only get 80% of the value of the card if it sold on eBay - that's the point.

You think buying one of his cards for the full asking price is spiting him? Lol

[htn315]

By me turning down an offer or countering, it alerts you that I'm not interested in selling at your buy price. Using a stock analogy, I want to sell Apple at $105, just because the highest buy price is $96, doesn't mean I should sell. I can be patient and get a price I'm more comfortable with down the road.

I look at my sales over a period of time, say a month or a black friday special. It's worth to lose money on a small percentage of sales if the overall sales increase covers the loss. Example: Black Friday, I lost money on ten flips, but had increased sales (sixty flips compared to normal weekend of fifteen). So looking at flips for that four day window, my sales were $150 more than the costs even though I was down $20 on the losers.

I do not raise the price if you turn down my counter but have seen people do that. I would turn the card "off" for the rest of the month and reprice it a later date.

If you want to sell apple at $105 but have ebay/amazon turned on you need to change that price to $131.25 otherwise you're getting $84 if some random ebay/amazon person comes and buys it.

[Jonathon M]

But I am also that seller too. I don't always have 75% offers on... I go through periods where I turn the offers off completely. I had them off around a month ago, turned them on to 50% a coupe weeks ago, and have gradually went from there up to the 75% I'm at now. I'm searching for a happy medium.

Thanks for the deal on the Parker mate. Sweet PC addition for me...

[jefflasvegas]

If you want to sell apple at $105 but have ebay/amazon turned on you need to change that price to $131.25 otherwise you're getting $84 if some random ebay/amazon person comes and buys it.

Very true. However, I'm trying to manage a 10,000 card port. So most of my higher dollar cards will be priced 131.25 in that example but my penny stocks will take losses on occasion which I'm fine with. By receiving an offer an a card that doesn't have at least a 25% markup, it helps me rectify that :) My goal is not to make a large profit but to minimize my losses.

[thebrett]

thebrett's comment is about as childish as it gets. It is literally the epitome of chopping of your nose to spite your face. ironically it is coming from someone who has been going around to the various eBay/COMC threads pointing fingers and calling people babies for complaining about every last thing. what a joke.

As childish as IT gets everyone.

Luckily McGahee is here to keep me in check.

For fun, let's see some examples of me calling people babies.