All I want to do is talk about COMC

[TripleCrown24]

Originally Posted by checkoutmydeals

Do we ever think they will do a cheaper upload fee again? What do you all do with your <$1 cards? I have some heritage inserts and such that usually go for around a $1 - $2 in the last 3 years, but now I feel like its not even worth sending them in anymore. What do any of you do sell as a lot?

I wouldn't count on them ever coming off the 50 cent minimum price point. Labor is scarce and expensive, and COMC makes significantly more income from $10 and up cards than $1 and under.

If there are to be processing sales in the future, they're likely to be in the form of making Select or Elite options slightly cheaper, or naming some hot players / recent sets and processing those slightly faster.

As for what to do with the cards, you might sell them as group lots. Slightly better ones maybe fill a 9 pocket page from the same set / player / team and try to sell on eBay. Or you can try to sell box lots at a local auction house (like the kind where a room full of people bid on stuff, or if a local card shop has a consignment bid board). Or you can find some kids in the neighborhood / family / local school / local church / local hospital or thrift store and donate the cards to them. Or you can dump them in the ocean, like Topps did with their 1952 high series cards.

This is so true. Minimum wage in WA state will be north of $15/hr starting next year. When you consider the process for each card listed (assigning an item number, identification, scanning, etc), an employee would have to perform those tasks 30 times in an hour for COMC to even cover the labor costs. Yes, they get the 5% commission but only if the card sells which is far from a guarantee.


For the cheaper stuff, I've used eBay, Sportlots, sold at shows, and sold in bulk. Each has their perks and their drawbacks. Ultimately, boils down to how much time do you have and how "motivated" you are to sell (in terms of competitive pricing vs other sellers)

[thenightman]

Originally Posted by UCCF

I guess it's free storage, or storage at 1 cent per month plus the enhanced security fee. But yeah, at some point if you never sell it then you're going to have to have it sent back to you. And you're never going to sell it asking 50x what the eBay price would be.

Would be quite interesting if COMC came out tomorrow and said, "We will hold your card for 12 months and if it doesn't sell we will send it back, at that point you will be unable to put the card back on our platform".

Obviously that'll never happen, but it would be interesting to see the reaction.

[Saraste]

Originally Posted by thenightman

Would be quite interesting if COMC came out tomorrow and said, "We will hold your card for 12 months and if it doesn't sell we will send it back, at that point you will be unable to put the card back on our platform".

Obviously that'll never happen, but it would be interesting to see the reaction.

What would Rookies_n_Jerseys do with his 1991 Upper Deck Ziggy Palffy cards?

[Boo]

Originally Posted by thenightman

Would be quite interesting if COMC came out tomorrow and said, "We will hold your card for 12 months and if it doesn't sell we will send it back, at that point you will be unable to put the card back on our platform".

Obviously that'll never happen, but it would be interesting to see the reaction.

They should just increase the storage fee after a year or two and increase the fee to return cards to the owner. So they only thing they get are cards that people actually want to sell.

[checkoutmydeals]

Would be quite interesting if COMC came out tomorrow and said, "We will hold your card for 12 months and if it doesn't sell we will send it back, at that point you will be unable to put the card back on our platform".

In the month of November, about 90% of the cards I sold had been in my account for more than 1 year.

Of the sold cards which were in my account less than 1 year, about 80% were flips where the card was originally submitted to COMC prior to November of 2021 (that is, they had COMC item numbers lower than 105000000).

So, about 98% of the items I sold in November had been at COMC for more than 1 year. In contrast, about 14% of the items I sold in November had been at COMC for more than 10 years (that is, they had COMC item numbers below 9400000).

[checkoutmydeals]

They should just increase the storage fee after a year or two and increase the fee to return cards to the owner. So they only thing they get are cards that people actually want to sell.

The seller who is asking $100,000 for a card is already paying 3000 times as much rent as the seller who is asking $2.51 for a card.

Increasing the storage fee by 2 cents isn't going to affect the person asking $7500 for a card. It's going to affect the person asking $3 for a card (if they have a premium account), or the person asking 99 cents for a card (if they have a free account).

Maybe some of the cards will be priced down to the free storage threshhold ($2.50 and 75 cents respectively). And others will be bumped up ($4 to $5 for the premium account, $2 to $3 for the free account). Then maybe a bunch of those are bought by the premium accounts for 75 cents and repriced at $2.50. Or they're bought by a retail buyer for 75 cents, who takes delivery and you never see them again.

The end result is that a bunch of cards which used to be 99 cents to $1.25 are now $2 to $3, and a bunch of cards which used to be $3 to $4 are now $5 to $6. But the $7500 Mike Trout is still $7500. Unless the seller bumps it to $8500 to compensate for the additional fees.

[checkoutmydeals]

increase the fee to return cards to the owner. So they only thing they get are cards that people actually want to sell.

When I started on COMC, they had a deal where you could pay one lump sum (I think $50 or $100) to have every unsold card you ever submitted returned to you. It was one of the reasons that I was willing to send so many cards to the site when they were relatively new and unknown.

One reason they were willing to offer this is that COMC stores cards in batches, so all of the cards a seller originally submitted are in the same batch.

Eventually they did away with this offer. Probably because it requires about as much work to pick the specific cards out of a batch which are owned by the original owner as it does to pick specific cards out of the same batch which are owned by someone else.

If they want to return all of the items I originally submitted, say, 2 years ago or longer, for some price like 10 cents per card, that would be fine by me, but it will only reduce my port size by maybe 2 or 3 percent. Almost none of the items affected are going to be more than $25 or so. If they do this with everyone, the current shipping backlog will balloon from a couple hundred thousand items to a couple dozen million. So good luck to any retail buyers who want their shipment to arrive before, say, 2024.

[Budler]

All I can say is: Boy!!! things have changed in the world of card collecting since I started.

E-bay: When started had mainly the small-time sellers just to get rid of stuff. Now it is just a store front for a lot of businesses. Rules have changed a lot.

COMC: Started for the small guy trying to get rid of the extras they had. Now it appears they are just looking for ways to make money. Again, becoming a store front/warehouse for many sellers. Rules have changed a lot.

LCS: They are all over the place. Now you have to drive miles just to find one.

Shows: It appeared there was one or two within driving range every weekend. Now longer drives and maybe every month or two.

All of them (above) appear to be focus on the money side of the hobby. It is getting harder to find a lot of the low-end stuff. Higher fees and shipping cost has all but put the low end-stuff. They appear to be put again in the closets or basements. Then the cost of new stuff. There is no low-end stuff anymore.

This is just IMO as everyone has a different way of thinking.

[Dalston]

Originally Posted by Budler

It is getting harder to find a lot of the low-end stuff. Higher fees and shipping cost has all but put the low end-stuff. They appear to be put again in the closets or basements. Then the cost of new stuff. There is no low-end stuff anymore.

Not sure I agree with anything in this passage other than the cost of wax increasing. It's never been easier to find a lot of the low end stuff. It's all on eBay, COMC, and Sportslots now. If you name any single card low or high end, it's become way easier to find copies for sale than it was.

There is a ton of lower end modern stuff caused in part by massive print runs. COMC has over 10,000 different 2020s cards priced at 50c or less in simplified mode (i.e. including the 25c shipping fee). There are about 4,000 different serial numbered cards just from the 2020s priced at $1 or less in simplified mode.

You might want to think about how you are adjusting for inflation and purchasing power. Per the St Louis Fed data, a dollar today has the purchasing power of roughly 75c of 2010 dollars and roughly 55c of 2000 dollars. When you look at things that way, it's clear that wax and high-end cards have become a lot more expensive in real terms. It's far less clear that low-end cards have become more expensive. In fact, for people that are thoughtful about how to save on shipping (which has also become more expensive in real terms) I strongly suspect they have become cheaper.

[Dalston]

Originally Posted by checkoutmydeals

Would be quite interesting if COMC came out tomorrow and said, "We will hold your card for 12 months and if it doesn't sell we will send it back, at that point you will be unable to put the card back on our platform".

In the month of November, about 90% of the cards I sold had been in my account for more than 1 year.

Of the sold cards which were in my account less than 1 year, about 80% were flips where the card was originally submitted to COMC prior to November of 2021 (that is, they had COMC item numbers lower than 105000000).

So, about 98% of the items I sold in November had been at COMC for more than 1 year. In contrast, about 14% of the items I sold in November had been at COMC for more than 10 years (that is, they had COMC item numbers below 9400000).

Agree I'm not sure what the point of sending everything back would be for anyone. This morning I sold a 1995 Sportflix Artist's Proof of Mattingly for $49.74 that I sent in about 18 months ago. I was pretty confident it was going to sell eventually at that price so never reduced the amount. With that sort of card, why would it be in COMC's interests, let alone mine, to ship it back to me after 12 months?

FWIW, 20 of the last 50 cards I sold were cards I submitted or purchased to flip more than a year ago. And I've only been selling at all seriously on COMC for 30 months...

[Budler]

Originally Posted by Dalston

Not sure I agree with anything in this passage other than the cost of wax increasing. It's never been easier to find a lot of the low end stuff. It's all on eBay, COMC, and Sportslots now. If you name any single card low or high end, it's become way easier to find copies for sale than it was.

There is a ton of lower end modern stuff caused in part by massive print runs. COMC has over 10,000 different 2020s cards priced at 50c or less in simplified mode (i.e. including the 25c shipping fee). There are about 4,000 different serial numbered cards just from the 2020s priced at $1 or less in simplified mode.

You might want to think about how you are adjusting for inflation and purchasing power. Per the St Louis Fed data, a dollar today has the purchasing power of roughly 75c of 2010 dollars and roughly 55c of 2000 dollars. When you look at things that way, it's clear that wax and high-end cards have become a lot more expensive in real terms. It's far less clear that low-end cards have become more expensive. In fact, for people that are thoughtful about how to save on shipping (which has also become more expensive in real terms) I strongly suspect they have become cheaper.

I should have put on a disclaimer. It all depends on what you are looking for. My want list is around 20,000 cards. I have around 10,500 cards now so about 1/3 of all the cards that I want to collect. (Did I buy all the cheap cards? maybe). I would say 75% of the cards on my want list are out of my range. Hoping to find a few of them a lot cheaper than they are now.

Sure there are a lot of cheap cards on COMC but do I want them. NO

Yes I have changed my mind on prices and upped them over 50% more from just 9 months ago. While my budget for cards have had to stay the same. The last few years I have been waiting 9 to 12 months to have my COMC purchases shipped home to save on shipping.

I was collecting before the internet so I know how easy it is to find cards now days. Not all of the zillion cards are listed on the internet but a lot are. Out of the 20,000 cards on my want list, only approx. 3,000 are on COMC. A lot fewer on the other sites now days. So 17,000 cards (I cannot find) and a lot of them are the cheap ones.

Did you ever write letters asking a card shop out of state. Just to ask if they had any cards you may need? Yes it was before the internet. Then it was really hard to find cards. cheap or high

[dustin42]

I got this tracking message today for a package being delivered to them today.

We were unable to deliver your package at 2:18 pm on December 1, 2022 in REDMOND, WA 98052 because the business was closed. We will redeliver on the next business day. No action needed.

Guess they decided to not receive packages today.

[dustin42]

Originally Posted by dustin42

I got this tracking message today for a package being delivered to them today.

We were unable to deliver your package at 2:18 pm on December 1, 2022 in REDMOND, WA 98052 because the business was closed. We will redeliver on the next business day. No action needed.

Guess they decided to not receive packages today.

It was the USPS being dumb Now shows this.

Your item was delivered to an individual at the address at 2:29 pm on December 1, 2022 in REDMOND, WA 98052 to COM C. The item was signed for by

[Sonnys88]

Some recent COMC stats for timing if anyone wants to know.

Requested a PayPal cash-out on 11/28 - was deposited in my PayPal on 11/30.

Had a submission delivered to COMC on 11/28 - was acknowledged / entered by COMC on 12/1.

[mjohnatgt]

Wow. I requested a shipment 11/26 and it was delivered today to the Florida Panhandle. Had some items I will bring with me to the card show tomorrow. Great timing.

[TakaTanakaGiant]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

Wow. I requested a shipment 11/26 and it was delivered today to the Florida Panhandle. Had some items I will bring with me to the card show tomorrow. Great timing.

What shipping service level did you request? Also, how many cards?

[mjohnatgt]

Originally Posted by TakaTanakaGiant

What shipping service level did you request? Also, how many cards?

Economy Rushed. 45 items, mostly comics I bought during the pre-Thanksgiving Day sale.

[thenightman]

Never mind.

[ckjr4929]

I have a few items which I submitted as select, but now I want to price them over $100. In the past when I've done this, I clicked save price when it said upgrade to elite for $2.00. But today I saw reprocess as elite in the menu drop down. I assume the fee is the same so is there any difference between upgrade and reprocess?

[mjohnatgt]

Reprocess as Elite is when they go back into the warehouse, and re-scan your card with the black background to give it a higher resolution scan. So if you submitted it yourself and are happy with how it presents, reprice as Elite is fine. If you want to run it at auction at some point, you may need to Reprocess as Elite or you might have to pay the fee again.

[ckjr4929]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

Reprocess as Elite is when they go back into the warehouse, and re-scan your card with the black background to give it a higher resolution scan. So if you submitted it yourself and are happy with how it presents, reprice as Elite is fine. If you want to run it at auction at some point, you may need to Reprocess as Elite or you might have to pay the fee again.

Thank you! One of the cards is a refractor card so I tried reprocess for the first time since I think the scan will be come out much better with the black background.

I have been leery to use send to auction since ending auction prices can be really random sometimes, but I have a few cards of hot players worth $50 and up so I might try auctions for the first time by submitting to the upcoming Cards for the Holidays event.

[wshaley]

How long does it take for them to list a card at auction after you make the request?? thanks

[gmoney328]

347k ahead of mine for shipping. Most I've seen in a good while. Business must have been good over the holiday.

[checkoutmydeals]

How long does it take for them to list a card at auction after you make the request?? thanks

Sometimes a few days, and sometimes a few weeks. I think they generally aim for 1 week.

[thenightman]

Originally Posted by gmoney328

347k ahead of mine for shipping. Most I've seen in a good while. Business must have been good over the holiday.

I just got under 100k. They say it'll ship Dec. 19th. If they hit that day, I'll be impressed.