All I want to do is talk about COMC

[RealDocStrange]

Well a positive (?) sign with new pricing, I guess.

Sent a stack of “fresh pulls” as selects on Wednesday morning, they arrived on Friday morning and were added to my queue by Friday afternoon. This has normally taken 7-10 days for past year or so.

Now, select is now 4 weeks instead of 2 so I’m not gaining much if anything on the total timeline but seems they are getting to packages quicker


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jerryw]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

So is the shipping yet again getting way behind schedule?

Standard shipment, due to ship: 10/23

238,000 items ahead, and that number is falling like 5k a day it seems like.

Unless they pull one of those 200k items ahead -> shipped randomly, again.

I got an email just the other day telling me shipping was late and gave me a 5 dollar credit towards next shipping cost. 🍆🍆🤦🤦

[Saraste]

Originally Posted by jerryw

I got an email just the other day telling me shipping was late and gave me a 5 dollar credit towards next shipping cost. 🍆🍆🤦🤦

The question with that is, if they are doing the usual shipping promotion around the Black Friday sale, will the shipping credits be stackable?

[boxbuster7]

more like will the shipping credits even work

[Saraste]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

more like will the shipping credits even work

I'm not quite as cynical as you have become lately. But then again I have modest expectations knowing things can run wonky with them.

[yoyosh]

I'm putting together what is probably my last COMC submission, and just wondering wtf they are actually thinking? There's been absolutely no improvement to the site or service in years and yet they keep taking away advantages of using the site/service.

What do you guys think?

-Trying to get more higher end cards and less of the super common modern base stuff?
-"Since Fanatics and the grading companies are going with higher prices, so should we!"

Genuinely confused, and think a lot of collectors (like me) who send a lot of $2 cards are just going to be done with COMC

[finfangfan]

I just processed two items for shipping and Items Ahead of My Order = 310,283.

You have to wonder how high that number will get after Black Friday/Cyber Monday week next month.

[Chrominator]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

I just processed two items for shipping and Items Ahead of My Order = 310,283.

You have to wonder how high that number will get after Black Friday/Cyber Monday week next month.

What's happening for BF??

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by Chrominator

What's happening for BF??

Traditionally the biggest shopping week of the year so number of items being shipped should spike even higher than current 300k.

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by Saraste

I'm not quite as cynical as you have become lately. But then again I have modest expectations knowing things can run wonky with them.

It is 85% of posters here in the last few months. Not just me.

[yoyosh]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

It is 85% of posters here in the last few months. Not just me.

What’s your plan w COMC moving fwd BB?
Thanks for buying so many of my cards since 2017!

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by yoyosh

What’s your plan w COMC moving fwd BB?
Thanks for buying so many of my cards since 2017!

been slowly cutting back my inventory. Should be under 100k by EOY

no problem

[seanrs1]

Is there a way to add top loaders to an order after it's been placed. I placed an order last week. I wrote customer service 3 times. No response yet. Seems like customer service no longer cares.

[yoyosh]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

Is there a way to add top loaders to an order after it's been placed. I placed an order last week. I wrote customer service 3 times. No response yet. Seems like customer service no longer cares.

You sir seem to have answered your own question. Sad!

[Chrominator]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

Is there a way to add top loaders to an order after it's been placed. I placed an order last week. I wrote customer service 3 times. No response yet. Seems like customer service no longer cares.

You're prob better off w/o. More opp for dings while handling.

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

Is there a way to add top loaders to an order after it's been placed. I placed an order last week. I wrote customer service 3 times. No response yet. Seems like customer service no longer cares.

I wouldn't worry - they usually ship cards securely with toploaders even if you don't request them from my experience

[seanrs1]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

I wouldn't worry - they usually ship cards securely with toploaders even if you don't request them from my experience

So I actually clicked the box to add the top loaders for the 3 cards. But I don't think it went through as I was not charged for them.

Hopefully someone responds soon. I don't think the cards are expected to ship until the 30th.

Why is customer service so bad now?

[NatsSBR]

Originally Posted by yoyosh

I'm putting together what is probably my last COMC submission, and just wondering wtf they are actually thinking? There's been absolutely no improvement to the site or service in years and yet they keep taking away advantages of using the site/service.

I'm not saying this is "The Reason" for COMC's current issues, but the company is dealing with several different macroeconomic problems that affect their business, all at the same time:

1) Inflation is probably affecting their sales in a BUNCH of different ways. The reduction in the value of a dollar makes it easier for people to justify buying lower-end cards. Fulfilling those orders still costs money because a picker has to get it from their warehouse, pack it, and ship it. When they sell low-end cards that sat for a long time, they are getting almost no revenue on that, and they probably don't break even on shipping (especially from eBay sales). This means they actually LOSE money every time someone buys one of those junk wax commons on eBay, which probably happens a lot. These aren't loss leaders because a bunch of those sales are probably impulse buys from infrequent customers.

They can't really push up shipping costs to compensate because buyers hate paying high shipping. They also can't increase the markup from COMC price to eBay price without creating a seller revolt. The best way for them to generate more revenue per sale is probably to hike the low-end processing prices by 30% to disincentivize buyers from sending the lowest of low-end. I don't think it's an accident that the new standard price per card is almost exactly the amount of net credit people get from $0.75 cards (the most expensive with free storage).

2) Inflation is also hurting their ability to pay employees a competitive wage, especially being in an area of Washington State with a very high cost of living. That's going to make good employees really hard to recruit and retain, especially those with skills that are very marketable outside the collectibles industry. At the wages they were offering for software engineers the last time I saw a vacancy there, anyone they hired might have been the lowest-paid coder in Redmond. Unless they start offshoring, or at least hiring remote workers from a cheaper part of the USA, they are not going to be able to do much to improve the site. I suspect (no proof, just a hunch) that they are trying to compensate by having unskilled or very-low-skilled coders use AI to write code for some of their updates, which is a terrible, terrible idea. Lots of companies are doing this, and it backfires most of the time.

3) Interest rates are on the way down, and I have no idea what the percentage of their revenue this represents, but I bet an important part of their business model is generating interest on the store credit balances we all leave on the site. They need to keep this money pretty liquid to cover payouts, which means they are probably earning something in the 3.5-4.5% range. That could be cut in half by the end of next year, in an environment where the economy will likely be much shakier and people's discretionary budgets for buying trading cards might not be great. They are probably preparing for leaner times.

The bottom line is that I think they offer a great service in theory, and I am rooting for them to succeed, but a lot of issues in the economy are affecting them and I bet it's making it very hard for them to deliver like they used to. eBay already made an investment in them a year or two ago... I will not be surprised if COMC gets bought out in the next 2-3 years.

[DynaEtch]

On 10/24 I got an email from COMC about my shipment….your order is being packaged, with an expected ship date of 10/23. COMC being COMC I guess.

[seanrs1]

Customer service finally sent me back a message after a week of trying to contact them trying to add top loaders to my 3 card order. I was not happy with the response below.




"Thank you for contacting us! All orders are packed safely and securely by our professional team. Exact packaging methods vary based on the value and the quantity of cards in the order.

We are unfortunately unable to add toploaders or change the contents of an order once it has been placed. We apologize for any inconvenience.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to visit https://comc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us and feel free to browse our growing list of Help Center articles!

Best Regards"

[Budler]

Originally Posted by NatsSBR

I'm not saying this is "The Reason" for COMC's current issues, but the company is dealing with several different macroeconomic problems that affect their business, all at the same time:

1) Inflation is probably affecting their sales in a BUNCH of different ways. The reduction in the value of a dollar makes it easier for people to justify buying lower-end cards. Fulfilling those orders still costs money because a picker has to get it from their warehouse, pack it, and ship it. When they sell low-end cards that sat for a long time, they are getting almost no revenue on that, and they probably don't break even on shipping (especially from eBay sales). This means they actually LOSE money every time someone buys one of those junk wax commons on eBay, which probably happens a lot. These aren't loss leaders because a bunch of those sales are probably impulse buys from infrequent customers.

They can't really push up shipping costs to compensate because buyers hate paying high shipping. They also can't increase the markup from COMC price to eBay price without creating a seller revolt. The best way for them to generate more revenue per sale is probably to hike the low-end processing prices by 30% to disincentivize buyers from sending the lowest of low-end. I don't think it's an accident that the new standard price per card is almost exactly the amount of net credit people get from $0.75 cards (the most expensive with free storage).

2) Inflation is also hurting their ability to pay employees a competitive wage, especially being in an area of Washington State with a very high cost of living. That's going to make good employees really hard to recruit and retain, especially those with skills that are very marketable outside the collectibles industry. At the wages they were offering for software engineers the last time I saw a vacancy there, anyone they hired might have been the lowest-paid coder in Redmond. Unless they start offshoring, or at least hiring remote workers from a cheaper part of the USA, they are not going to be able to do much to improve the site. I suspect (no proof, just a hunch) that they are trying to compensate by having unskilled or very-low-skilled coders use AI to write code for some of their updates, which is a terrible, terrible idea. Lots of companies are doing this, and it backfires most of the time.

3) Interest rates are on the way down, and I have no idea what the percentage of their revenue this represents, but I bet an important part of their business model is generating interest on the store credit balances we all leave on the site. They need to keep this money pretty liquid to cover payouts, which means they are probably earning something in the 3.5-4.5% range. That could be cut in half by the end of next year, in an environment where the economy will likely be much shakier and people's discretionary budgets for buying trading cards might not be great. They are probably preparing for leaner times.

The bottom line is that I think they offer a great service in theory, and I am rooting for them to succeed, but a lot of issues in the economy are affecting them and I bet it's making it very hard for them to deliver like they used to. eBay already made an investment in them a year or two ago... I will not be surprised if COMC gets bought out in the next 2-3 years.

4. Cost of office space and warehouse. At one time they had 4 different warehouses. Not cheap there.

Back in 2011 I thought their model of business was a very good idea, but I have seen many road bumps that would happen as they grow. They happened. I sent Tim a list of things I thought he needed to keep an eye out for.

All business has the same issues that is why most fail. Their idea is a very good one so it has made it this far but who know what they will turn into or fail.

All I heard from them are auctions, auctions, auctions. (fast turn around and money flow is fast). Also surprises me is they are not pushing Pokémon more as it is the big thing now and they have high dollar stuff.

[boxbuster7]

I think COMC is making money hand over fist. I think they're just incompetent and maybe expanded too quickly into areas that might have less overhead costs (ebay live, grading, etc.) instead of focusing on their bread and butter which is what made them success in the first place

[base set]

Just wanted to mention that for me, COMC is working great. I collect cards that usually aren’t worth real money. I do this by stupidly ripping retail, which makes grocery runs a fair bit more enjoyable. I then, after some years pass, submit my super low leverage “hits” like an Ohtani or Judge insert to COMC.

I submitted 700-ish cards this year, almost all in the $0 ~ $5 value range, but fairly carefully based on Player, 4 year sales, and current COMC inventory. So things like /199 Lava Wave TC Platinums of 8th inning All-Stars don’t get sent in; having a serial # on a card doesn’t make it automatically salable.

Perhaps 100 of the cards went directly to flippers sometimes within minutes of pricing them. Perhaps 10% of those have become a successful flip for the flipper.

Another couple hundred cards have sold with no flip, often through ebay. I price to move, not to display. Usually.

Meanwhile 100+ cards have come off my wantlists with plenty of store credit left to go for a nice 3 digit card I want for a checklist completion, or for more $0 insert checklist completions a month-ish from now. I won’t even bother shipping cards to me till February or so however. But when one is collecting cards plenty of years since issue, a few months of waiting hardly matters.

Every time I check in on things there I routinely see lots of bad decisions such as cornering all available copies of a 15 year old base card of an already forgotten player with 1 four year sale? - to name just one. Noobs gonna noob I guess, and some of the flipper decisions look dubious too.

All in all, I am glad COMC exists. I don’t have time to sell Baseball Cards otherwise. Long may it run.

[alexlazarevich]

I agree with what base set says above. I like COMC and use it a lot. It has problems, but so does eBay. I was a case breaker a decade or more ago and sold everything on Ebay. I got scammed dozens of times on eBay. I never once got scammed on COMC. And COMC doing all the scanning and shipping, oh baby, that really saves me tons of time, as I do have a non-card job that is my main focus for making a living. I use COMC now to sell my lifelong collection, slowly over time. But I also flip on COMC. I'm not good at it, about half the time I'm wrong and sitting on stuff longer than I want, or have to sell it at a big loss. But I've been right sometimes too. I was lucky to be awake when Nick Kurtz hit 4 HRs in that game, and I got a ton of his PreRCs on COMC that I'm still able to sell for a big win. It's fun for me - a hobby.

I was lucky enough to have a lot of cards on COMC when Covid hit. Man, that was an amazing time. Cards went through the roof! You guys remember what happened to base cards, or should I say, "bass cards". Oh man, what a fun time that was. One could not miss on a flip. People went nuts over sports cards. Absolutely bonkers. Heh. What a world we live in...

[NatsSBR]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

I think COMC is making money hand over fist. I think they're just incompetent and maybe expanded too quickly into areas that might have less overhead costs (ebay live, grading, etc.) instead of focusing on their bread and butter which is what made them success in the first place

I'm sure their gross revenues overall are looking good. I suspect they are profitable, too, but with a need to control costs eating into their quality of service.