COMC & the 1 cent undercutting

[zdawgs]

I find it really annoying seeing the person who undercuts others on a listed card by a penny especially on items greater than $2 or so. I purposely buy the item that costs a penny more. What do others do?

[shrevecity]

Go on with life and not worry about it.

[mjohnatgt]

I put my cards on sale 20% off instead of changing my prices, usually.

[pjrussell]

When buying I actually look at the cards and buy the one that looks the best.

When selling again I look at other cards. If the lowest price card is off center then I would price mine higher.

[zdawgs]

[QUOTE=shrevecity;19037851]Go on with life and not worry about it.[/QUOTE

Good advice, tried it, but still find it annoying

[mc1]

When buying I actually look at the cards and buy the one that looks the best.

When selling again I look at other cards. If the lowest price card is off center then I would price mine higher.

Exactly. Sometimes the lower priced copies are all beat up and should have condition notes.

Many, mamy times I have sold my copies and they arent the lowest priced copies. They are likely better centered with better corners.

[sthoemke]

What of they undercut the other seller by 2 pennies?

[Budler]

I find it really annoying seeing the person who undercuts others on a listed card by a penny especially on items greater than $2 or so. I purposely buy the item that costs a penny more. What do others do?

Almost always I go for the cheapest. My exceptions have been a few sellers that I will even pay ten cent more then buy from them.

So are you the seller that had a card I want for $2.75 and the other guy had it for $2.74. Then your Min offer is $1.75 but you rejected my offer of $2.73?

Stuff happens do not take it personally.

[DynaEtch]

So is this the COMC equivalent of bidding $1 more on Price is Right? :p

When buying I actually look at the cards and buy the one that looks the best.

When selling again I look at other cards. If the lowest price card is off center then I would price mine higher.

I do this also. Heck there can be cards in the regular bucket for a card that have obvious damage, such as paper loss or corner wear. It is certainly not the case that all cards in the bucket are the same, but that said the format COMC has of listing a bunch of the 'same' card together in groups just begs for a race to the bottom, by its very nature.

The above is a moot point when it comes to uncirculated stock image cards though, such as common base from epack. As a seller you are competing with literally the same card being sold as the rest in the bucket. Makes no sense as a buyer to pay more than the lowest priced one as the buyer in this case.

[checkoutmydeals]

I'm not sure there's anything I can do which someone won't find really annoying. However, I try not to provoke them unnecessarily.

For cards under $2.50 base price (where I don't pay storage fees), I usually ignore other seller prices entirely and have various price points. Example, 37 cents, 72 cents, 97 cents, $1.24, $1.69, $2.13, $2.49, $2.50. I could share all of the fascinating reasons why I've chosen those price points, but some people might find it really annoying.

Suffice it to say that in my mind, it's similar to a dealer setting up at a show with a quarter box, a $1 box, a $2 box, a $3 box, and so forth. I might have a card in my dollar box that another dealer has in their quarter box. Or another dealer might have it in their $3 box. But I have my reasons for sticking it in the dollar box, and that's where it is.

For items over $2.50 base price, where I do pay rent, I endeavor to price items rationally where they might be expected to sell. They might be priced to be competitive with other dealer asking prices on some other venue, such as eBay, or TCGplayer, or Beckett Marketplace. The card might be priced at a certain percentage of High Beckett (maybe 50% to 75%).

If another copy of the same card in approximately the same condition is priced close to my target price, I might price it close to theirs to jockey for position. Say there's a card with a Beckett price of $20, a lowest eBay Buy It Now of $15. Under normal circumstances, I might price mine at $14.74 (so it shows as $14.99 to people on the site), or around $12.56 (so that it cross posts to eBay at $14.99) depending on how strongly I feel about the card.

However, if someone has one on COMC for $10, I have several options.

I can price mine slightly below $10, say $9.74 or $9.99.

I can price mine precisely at $10, so I'm not undercutting the other seller.

I can ignore the other seller and price mine around $12.56 to $14.74 anyway. That way, if the other copy sells, mine might then be the cheapest.

If I feel really, really strongly about the card, I can buy the $10 copy and reprice it at $14.74 (or even more), along with the other copy which I have.

Some other thoughts on the matter:

* People talk about a race to the bottom, but I believe it's more a race to the middle, or what economists might call a regression to the mean. If an item is priced way too low, someone will buy it and either take physical possession or reprice it higher. If 3 copies are priced way too low, someone will buy all 3, or 3 people will buy them individually. If an item is priced way too high, it will sit unsold until the price comes down, or a cheaper copy comes along, or the market changes and people are willing to pay that price.

* If a card is really desirable, and the price is rational, it really doesn't matter if the price for this copy or that copy is a penny cheaper or more expensive. Eventually, they'll all sell.

* If a card isn't really desirable, it might take years to sell no matter what the price is. Pricing one copy a penny cheaper or a quarter cheaper or a dollar cheaper won't sell the card, unless it's priced at something like a penny. Penny cards still sell. But even 2 cent cards will sit these days if there's no demand for them.

[jlzinck]

I wish my life were so carefree that this would bother me for 1 second

[vthobby]

I wish my life were so carefree that this would bother me for 1 second

:)!:D

That made me laugh! Thank you.

My philosophy: I literally always price it a penny cheaper. Just 'cuz. My biz, my right.

:cool:

[Dalston]

I find it really annoying seeing the person who undercuts others on a listed card by a penny especially on items greater than $2 or so. I purposely buy the item that costs a penny more. What do others do?

There is at least one seller that seems to price their cards at one cent more than the lowest on the site, which is downright weird. I find the one cent undercutting annoying too, but at least that is explicable.

Which is to say sometimes when you buy the one that is 1c more you may be buying the card of mimicker. Or perhaps the seller that does it is specifically marketing to you ;)

Digression - what baffles me most of all are the experienced folks on this board that don't have a COMC account or a Sportlots account (although I can understand the latter for people who buy exclusively high-end stuff). Amazing how often a poster with a post count in the thousands bemoans not being able to make an offer on a COMC item on eBay, not knowing that its at least 15% cheaper on COMC and quite often has a bigger discount because its on sale.

[dgrochester55]

* People talk about a race to the bottom, but I believe it's more a race to the middle, or what economists might call a regression to the mean. If an item is priced way too low, someone will buy it and either take physical possession or reprice it higher. If 3 copies are priced way too low, someone will buy all 3, or 3 people will buy them individually. If an item is priced way too high, it will sit unsold until the price comes down, or a cheaper copy comes along, or the market changes and people are willing to pay that price.

* If a card is really desirable, and the price is rational, it really doesn't matter if the price for this copy or that copy is a penny cheaper or more expensive. Eventually, they'll all sell.

Agreed. I starting selling on COMC a little over a year ago and enjoy learning the nuances. I love finding a card with decent value that has raced to the bottom to the point where is it under 10 cents, buying a few and holding them for somewhere between 25-50 cents. If it is a good player and you do it right, those cards will sell, even if it is months later.

Also, if I open a pack from the junk wax era or early 80's and the card of a player like Ryan, Griffey Jr., or Bonds is in gradeable condition, I will list it at 1.00-2.50, even if the lowest is well below that. My thought is that it gives me time to decide whether to grade it, or if not, hope it is attractive to someone else who might have grading in mind. They usually sell in a surprisingly short time.

[sthoemke]

I'm not 100% certain, but doesn't the lowest priced card usually have a better chance of being sent to ebay? I know that isn't always the case, and their are exceptions, but that might be one reason to price just a cent lower. (plus the fact that most normal purchasing habits will be to select the lowest priced card to buy)

[Dalston]

I'm not 100% certain, but doesn't the lowest priced card usually have a better chance of being sent to ebay? I know that isn't always the case, and their are exceptions, but that might be one reason to price just a cent lower. (plus the fact that most normal purchasing habits will be to select the lowest priced card to buy)

I believe that's true. The main exception I believe is non-sports cards where for some reason the same one gets listed until it sells on eBay. AFAICT, for sports cards multiple copies are sometimes but not always available, but this should always include the lowest priced.

The reason I don't like the one cent lower brigade is that I think it's a negative sum game. There are many people that like to feel they are getting a bit of deal when they buy a card. If there are two or more cards within a cent of each other and the card doesn't sell all that often there is a tendency to think that they aren't both going to sell and wait to see if one of them goes on sale.

For that reason, unless it is a card that predictably sells multiple copies a month, i tend to price 10%+ under the lowest available on the site unless I'm holding out for a higher price.

[MyckKabongo]

I try not to get into penny wars and when I undercut its usually by at least a quarter, no less than .10.

[bradical]

COMC - the perpetual race to the bottom.

Pro Tip: If you see someone undercutting your prices, keep dropping yours. When they drop theirs again. Swoop it up. Then raise the prices.

[Budler]

COMC - the perpetual race to the bottom.

Pro Tip: If you see someone undercutting your prices, keep dropping yours. When they drop theirs again. Swoop it up. Then raise the prices.

I sure wish there was a race to the bottom on the cards I have on my watch list. (approx. 2,400) Prices have gotten to the point where I have all but quit buying. A lot of the 2,400 cards have been on site for years.