eBay Places Investment in COMC

[wubh]

Originally Posted by ironfireman

eBay was probably losing market share to COMC and the projections looked bleak. I used to use eBay, but this year I sold almost 5k cards on COMC. I can't imagine selling 5k seperate cards on eBay. COMC just feels like a better platform and the future. And hopefully, CCOM will get some dev help out of the deal?

I am very curious if there will actually be substantial change/integration (beyond basic stuff like more capacity to list COMC cards for auction or COMC getting favored ebay Live promotion/slots) or if eBay primarily wants COMC to keep operating as is independently and be successful (since it’s such a different way to buy and sell cards) but will now benefit from COMC’s success due to its equity stake. And I have always been and continue to be bullish on COMC’s growth.

I’ve been a heavy COMC user since 2008 and basically only buy PC cards from COMC for many reasons and am OK missing out on things that may only show up on eBay. But I started selling again on eBay earlier this year to take advantage of the significantly higher traffic, lack of listing fees & ability to customize your own listings like making player lots.

My most recent sale was a lot of 3 Lakers rookies from the new 23/24 Hoops for $3. It would have cost me $1.50 using COMC’s fresh pulls program to get the cards processed.

But then it’s a crapshoot between others who might also be sending in those cards and racing towards the bottom on prices or the lack of COMC users searching for Maxwell Lewis and Jalen Hood Schifino in the first place and who don’t want to wait until these cards are less than the processing fee in a month or two.

So these 3 cards weren’t worth it for me to send in to COMC unlike things that move in volume and have a steady price like Shohei or things that are less common like certain #ed cards but don’t get lost in the eBay shuffle but can easily be highlighted via COMCs various search and filter settings. But I am more than happy to throw these on eBay and hope to get a bite and recoup a little bit of the fun of opening product.

But maybe there is another creative vision for buying and selling cards that can only be possible through further COMC & eBay integration that I can’t envision but could benefit from.

[ironfireman]

Also announced on Ebay's site - bold added by me.

eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY), a global commerce leader that connects millions of sellers and buyers around the world, and COMC, an innovator in the sports trading cards space, today announced that the companies have entered a commercial agreement to accelerate the growth of the trading card hobby. The deal also includes an eBay investment in COMC. This partnership reinforces eBay’s deep commitment to supporting sellers and collectors across The Hobby, delivering innovative experiences to help them thrive and fuel their passions.

With nearly 300 employees and 200,000 square feet of distribution space, COMC’s unique model offers buyers and sellers an expert partner with a deep catalog and sophisticated fulfillment capabilities. COMC has a demonstrated ability to effectively manage a high volume of trading cards at multiple price points. eBay’s investment will help unlock access to new services for eBay customers, including making listing easier and more efficient.

“As the ecommerce home for trading cards enthusiasts, we’re excited to work with a company that shares our commitment to innovating for collectors and sellers, so they can do more of what they love,” said Gene Cook, VP of Global Collectibles, eBay. “This investment will help deliver seamless, magical experiences for The Hobby, making it easier for sellers to digitize their inventory and helping buyers find exactly the cards they want.”

“COMC was created to reimagine the collecting experience for trading card enthusiasts by using technology and innovation to remove the greatest pain points, allowing fellow collectors to focus on what they enjoy," said Tim Getsch, CEO and Co-Founder, COMC. "We are excited to utilize eBay’s investment to accelerate our pace of innovation, improving the experience for our customers, employees, and partners. eBay’s faith in COMC is a testament to our talented and passionate team. We’re thrilled to partner with eBay to continue our journey of simplifying collecting, bringing joy to The Hobby, and making it accessible for as many people as possible."

Founded in Seattle in 2005 by Tim and Julia Getsch, COMC’s core values center on fostering an innovative and fun team and culture, to offer collectors an accurate, trusted, efficient experience.

About eBay
eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) is a global commerce leader that connects millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world. We exist to enable economic opportunity for individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations of all sizes. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, California, eBay is one of the world's largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2022, eBay enabled nearly $74 billion of gross merchandise volume. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

About COMC
COMC is a leading marketplace for collecting and selling sports cards, gaming cards, comics, and more. With nearly 300 employees and over 100 million trading cards under management, COMC offers customers premium service and maximum ease to collect online. COMC's innovative “buy now, ship later” model allows customers to collect over time while minimizing shipping costs. Driven into its ethos, the purpose of COMC is to “optimize joy for collectors.” The company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. To learn more, visit www.comc.com.

[base set]

I am amused whenever The Hobby is capitalized. Mmmmm, Kool-Aid.

[bradical]

Originally Posted by ddearing

This. I am/was a HEAVY comc user and I find myself logging in much less because of this. I don't need the extra step. I'm not worried about the extra level of security, but I am very lazy when scrolling through card purchasing. I went from logging in 10-15 times a week to maybe 1-2 times a week.

I haven't had to do the CODE the last few days from my desktop browsers.

[bryanscs]

Originally Posted by bradical

I haven't had to do the CODE the last few days from my desktop browsers.

Me either!

[rms13]

Originally Posted by NYBBFAN

Maybe eBay can advise COMC on logistics. COMC could use some help there.

I might consider doing business with comc again if I can get my cards faster then 2 months after I pay for them

[FT35]

We can only hope any platform changes could be beneficial/less expensive to us as customers. Unfortunately however one only needs to look at the 2 brand names involved here—COMC and eBay—to realize that the beefed up partnership has likely formed to find new ways to charge us MORE than we already pay.

[frenchquarter]

Originally Posted by FT35

We can only hope any platform changes could be beneficial/less expensive to us as customers. Unfortunately however one only needs to look at the 2 brand names involved here—COMC and eBay—to realize that the beefed up partnership has likely formed to find new ways to charge us MORE than we already pay.

Bingo!

[kingchromium24]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

Maybe they want users to download their app?:
https://blog.comc.com/2023/07/26/the-comc-app-is-here/

Their app is TERRIBLE

[JimEd14]

Originally Posted by rms13

I might consider doing business with comc again if I can get my cards faster then 2 months after I pay for them

On Sunday, I placed a pretty varied 10 card order, a few slabs, a few raws ... 90s through 2010s. All baseball.

Originally said 26k orders were in front of me.

Shipped out in 2 days and tracking says the estimated delivery is this Saturday.

So, maybe it's worth another shot?

[HarryLime]

Everyone from Trimpocalypse is getting away scott free and making out like bandits. Such horse malarkey.

Arthur

[anusinha]

Originally Posted by JimEd14

On Sunday, I placed a pretty varied 10 card order, a few slabs, a few raws ... 90s through 2010s. All baseball.

Originally said 26k orders were in front of me.

Shipped out in 2 days and tracking says the estimated delivery is this Saturday.

So, maybe it's worth another shot?

They typically process 12-15k orders per day.

[base set]

Arthur’s sig inadvertently has an interesting take on this news: “ I wish these cards would scan themselves.” I used to think COMC had built some sort of automated scanner for all the incoming cards. I don’t think that is the case - but a capital infusion could possibly help them add automation technology, I would think. Could be a win-win.

[whitmm]

Originally Posted by base set

Arthur’s sig inadvertently has an interesting take on this news: “ I wish these cards would scan themselves.” I used to think COMC had built some sort of automated scanner for all the incoming cards. I don’t think that is the case - but a capital infusion could possibly help them add automation technology, I would think. Could be a win-win.

Someone still needs to catalog everything. Have to make sure that your cards get attached to your account. Still have to make sure the automated scanner is labeling the cards correctly, some type of proofing

[thenightman]

Originally Posted by ironfireman

eBay was probably losing market share to COMC and the projections looked bleak. I used to use eBay, but this year I sold almost 5k cards on COMC. I can't imagine selling 5k seperate cards on eBay. COMC just feels like a better platform and the future. And hopefully, CCOM will get some dev help out of the deal?

Thanks for that! I haven't laughed that hard in a solid minute. I know you're just speculating, so I'm not giving you crap. It's just there's no way COMC was taking enough market share from eBay that eBay was like, "WE GOTTA GIVE THEM MONEY!!!"

[ironfireman]

Originally Posted by thenightman

Thanks for that! I haven't laughed that hard in a solid minute. I know you're just speculating, so I'm not giving you crap. It's just there's no way COMC was taking enough market share from eBay that eBay was like, "WE GOTTA GIVE THEM MONEY!!!"

Well, they are both probably making good money, but I think that COMC is a better system going forward for trading cards and eBay can see that so they are investing in it.

[thenightman]

Originally Posted by ironfireman

Well, they are both probably making good money, but I think that COMC is a better system going forward for trading cards and eBay can see that so they are investing in it.

In what way is COMC better?

[baseballbunez]

This has the potential to be one of the largest shifts to this industry, something actually that makes too much sense to not push forward with. If the integration is able to get worked in seamlessly and COMC gets enough to invest in additional automation/employment to handle the added volume, this is a real game changer for sellers. The amount of inventory that can be listed and come to market is beyond significant by taking away a lot of the hurdles to listing that currently exist on eBay, many sellers just do not have the time to list their full inventory let alone ship the items promptly when they do sell

For day to day sellers, just send your inventory all in to COMC to input the data/imaging/descriptions/price comp. Click a button to list on eBay, then whenever item sells no shipping needed just leave it all up to COMC.

For those buying in to breaks, just have all the cards sent to COMC. If you want to grade any, can have them handle that. If you want to spin them off, click a button and get them all listed without any of the hassle or ever taking possession.

[Stech36]

Originally Posted by baseballbunez

This has the potential to be one of the largest shifts to this industry, something actually that makes too much sense to not push forward with. If the integration is able to get worked in seamlessly and COMC gets enough to invest in additional automation/employment to handle the added volume, this is a real game changer for sellers. The amount of inventory that can be listed and come to market is beyond significant by taking away a lot of the hurdles to listing that currently exist on eBay, many sellers just do not have the time to list their full inventory let alone ship the items promptly when they do sell

For day to day sellers, just send your inventory all in to COMC to input the data/imaging/descriptions/price comp. Click a button to list on eBay, then whenever item sells no shipping needed just leave it all up to COMC.

For those buying in to breaks, just have all the cards sent to COMC. If you want to grade any, can have them handle that. If you want to spin them off, click a button and get them all listed without any of the hassle or ever taking possession.

What you’re describing is current day COMC.

There are two things that would really increase the usage of comc that this integration could help.

1. Reduce the fee for items sold on eBay through buy it now. Right now, if you list a card for $100 on comc, the card will be listed for $115 on eBay. If it sells on eBay, the comc seller will get $95 due to the 5% comc transaction fee. Then on top of that, to cash out, seller has to pay 10% and nets $85.50 on a card that sold for $115 on eBay. So essentially a 25% fee. If they could knock that down to 15% it would MASSIVELY change the game. Even if they could knock it down to just 18-20%.

2. Allow best offers direct from eBay.

[HarryLime]

Am I in Crazytown? You used to be able to fill up a thread 10x this size with people vowing never to use COMC again due to their nefarious undertakings that got exposed by BODA. My how time alters memories.

Arthur

[baseballbunez]

Originally Posted by Stech36

What you’re describing is current day COMC.

There are two things that would really increase the usage of comc that this integration could help.

1. Reduce the fee for items sold on eBay through buy it now. Right now, if you list a card for $100 on comc, the card will be listed for $115 on eBay. If it sells on eBay, the comc seller will get $95 due to the 5% comc transaction fee. Then on top of that, to cash out, seller has to pay 10% and nets $85.50 on a card that sold for $115 on eBay. So essentially a 25% fee. If they could knock that down to 15% it would MASSIVELY change the game. Even if they could knock it down to just 18-20%.

2. Allow best offers direct from eBay.

Sure, with a fraction of the eyes and an outdated system. eBay as many faults as it has is miles ahead on both customer count and ease of use. Many don't even know what COMC is still, everybody knows eBay. Getting the best of COMC (card storage/imaging/processing) and the best of eBay (customers(!)/ease of payment/marketing/etc) to combine is setting us up for the game changer IMO

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by ironfireman

Also announced on Ebay's site - bold added by me.
....
eBay’s investment will help unlock access to new services for eBay customers, including making listing easier and more efficient.

making it easier for sellers to digitize their inventory and helping buyers find exactly the cards they want.”
.....

I wonder if this means ebay will eventually make the Trading Card Singles category like COMC's buckets. When listing a card on ebay you'd select 1) which card from their menu, then 2) condition. So the all the cards are 'digitilized' into these buckets a sense. Ehh. Im fine with the way ebay does it now, as both buyer and seller.

[ronzo]

I figure eBay wanted COMCs card database. Switch over to listing cards from checklists and just adding photos. No more keyword spamming, false titles, false descriptions, etc.

They now have example images of a ton of cards so false listings should be easily flagged.

I'm surprised they haven't done this sooner.

[wubh]

Originally Posted by thenightman

In what way is COMC better?

I'm a heavy COMC user so I'm very biased.

If I want some Brandon Crawford refractors, I will be overwhelmed on eBay. If I want something specific (say a 2022 TC Sepia), I can find a bunch and then make my choice (but that card will likely be cheaper on COMC).

But if I just want to browse Crawford Chrome parallels, see what catches my eye, buy something cheap, etc then COMC is the clear winner in my book.

I can sort/search easily by type of refractor, year, price, serial #ed or not, set, if it's also autographed or a relic, etc in ways that would be super difficult on eBay. And then I can use store credit and bundle shipping.

If you're a very selective buyer or focus on higher end, then eBay will likely be better in terms of price, quantity, and availability. But I have a bunch of low end team, player, and set PCs so COMC meets my needs really well. And I personally like the site & app design more than eBay.

[StateEx]

Originally Posted by HarryLime

Am I in Crazytown? You used to be able to fill up a thread 10x this size with people vowing never to use COMC again due to their nefarious undertakings that got exposed by BODA. My how time alters memories.

Arthur

I suspect that COMC gets some grace as an alternative to eBay, which has its own set of problems.