All I want to do is talk about COMC

[checkoutmydeals]

I can see a lot of potential benefits if COMC were to offer breaks and conduct them in an ethical and reasonably competent manner.

I think COMC works best if you would do something with your credit other than cash out. I'm fine using my credit to buy singles. But a lot of people would rather open packs. Some people who open packs only want players of a certain team. If there's 30 teams in a sport, and a box of sealed product is $300, they would rather pay $10 for all of the cards of their player's team.

When I talk to real life collectors / dealers about COMC, there is often a great deal of hesitancy to pull the trigger and actually submit anything. A lot of it comes down to the fact that they don't know what they would do with the credit. Their instinct is to cash out, spend the money at Wal-Mart or Target or their LCS, and rip open packs.

[checkoutmydeals]

I'd be interested in the logistics. I think it will either work like:

* The cards in your break are treated as one thing, with one handling fee. You can either add it to a shipment, or you can elect to have the entire pile processed for some price (probably 50 cents a card, but possibly you get 2 week processing instead of 16 weeks). This is similar to the way they treated cards which were rejected for condition issues, back when they did that.

* The cards in your break are processed and added to your account as singles. You can then pay a handling fee of 25 cents (or more) per card to have them shipped, or you can price them. This is similar to the way ePack cards are treated.

* Some sort of hybrid, where you get a list of the cards in your break, and can pick and choose which ones to process, and at which level.

[wubh]

Originally Posted by checkoutmydeals

I'd be interested in the logistics. I think it will either work like:

* The cards in your break are treated as one thing, with one handling fee. You can either add it to a shipment, or you can elect to have the entire pile processed for some price (probably 50 cents a card, but possibly you get 2 week processing instead of 16 weeks). This is similar to the way they treated cards which were rejected for condition issues, back when they did that.

* The cards in your break are processed and added to your account as singles. You can then pay a handling fee of 25 cents (or more) per card to have them shipped, or you can price them. This is similar to the way ePack cards are treated.

* Some sort of hybrid, where you get a list of the cards in your break, and can pick and choose which ones to process, and at which level.

This would make a ton of sense and especially a hybrid version where you pay an upfront shipping cost plus additional processing fees to keep any cards on the platform to sell so COMC would get a cut of the action for the break, come out even or maybe a little bit ahead for shipping, and get their normal fees for cards you don't want shipped.

I can also see a version where if you don't want anything shipped, you can use the S/H fee you paid upfront for submission credit and any cards you don't want listed will then load into their charity account or be discarded.

Since I PC a bunch of teams, I would give this a shot if priced fairly since I rarely ever cash out and when I do, it's usually for Blowout credit, some of which then gets submitted back to COMC.

On a totally different note, I saw a newly listed card get the EX-NM designation for having a nasty print line. Everything else looked good but I can't also rule out additional surface issues.

[sthoemke]

If they do breaks (assuming the cards can be transferred to a COMC account), I hope they will use stock images for base cards. Otherwise I could see processing getting backed up tremendiously.

[xbignick]

Is COMC more likely to respond to corrections if you own the card?

I asked for EX-NM to be reviewed here as card looked good. The next day they added small scratch on front and unknown residue on back. The residue appears to be that glue you can just wipe away so a condition note sucks for it, but fine I guess.



However, I've reported this three times and a correction on it has been ignored. I do not own this corner with the apparent ding(s).

https://www.comc.com/Cards/MultiSpor...ONeal/14785395

[scotthenrichs]

If I owned that Kyler, I would have it sent home and sell it on eBay myself

[xbignick]

Originally Posted by scotthenrichs

If I owned that Kyler, I would have it sent home and sell it on eBay myself

Stopped eBay and just went passive with COMC or else I would. Priced it at like half of recent comps to avoid the hassle and tempt anyone.

[ironfireman]

Originally Posted by aguinness

One of the things I appreciate most about this hobby is that there are so many ways to enjoy it, including many that I'm just not into. Set building, ultra modern, player collecting, flipping, trading, etc. etc. etc. This diversity of interest is a strength of the hobby. Breaking is part of that and while I did a few many many years ago, I discovered it's not something I'm interested in. But I recognize that a decent amount of people are, and if COMC adding breaks to its offerings helps keep the site and the hobby healthy, I'm all for it.

Great points!
I don't break and cringe at the Pelliboy contingent, but hey those guys are in the hobby and I think a lot of them will eventually transition to vintage. Because vintage is awesome!

[iskey]

Just sent my first submission into COMC. One question, is it just me or does it seem strange that you pay sales tax when funding your COMC account? If I fund my account in order to pay for a submission, and I don't make any card purchases, what am I paying sales tax for?

[newcokeandtaco]

Originally Posted by iskey

Just sent my first submission into COMC. One question, is it just me or does it seem strange that you pay sales tax when funding your COMC account? If I fund my account in order to pay for a submission, and I don't make any card purchases, what am I paying sales tax for?

This explains it:
https://comc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ar...ged-sales-tax-

[iskey]

Originally Posted by newcokeandtaco

This explains it:
https://comc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ar...ged-sales-tax-

Thanks I appreciate the link. And I do appreciate COMC handling the sales tax on the front end so you don't have to worry about it when buying or selling.

I still think it's odd in the following scenario: You fund your account for a future purchase. You decide not to make the purchase and need the money back.

Seems like you should be refunded your sales tax if nothing was bought or sold and they just held the money akin to a bank account. I'm obviously not an accountant, but I wonder if they're interepreting the law correctly.

[checkoutmydeals]

Thanks I appreciate the link. And I do appreciate COMC handling the sales tax on the front end so you don't have to worry about it when buying or selling.

I still think it's odd in the following scenario: You fund your account for a future purchase. You decide not to make the purchase and need the money back.

Seems like you should be refunded your sales tax if nothing was bought or sold and they just held the money akin to a bank account. I'm obviously not an accountant, but I wonder if they're interepreting the law correctly.

If you fund your account, you can request a refund of unused credit within a certain amount of time. I think 30 days. I presume you are refunded the amount you paid for that credit, which would include sales tax.

Yes, it's kind of weird that you have to pay sales tax when you add new funds, but it's better than paying sales tax on every transaction on the site.

If you want to fund your account without paying sales tax, you could send some beefy items for auction. They don't charge any up front fees, so once the items sell, the credit will show up in your account, and you can spend it as you see fit.

Of course, you can't know how much credit you'll wind up with, or how much your items will sell for, but it could be an interesting option for anyone who wants to freeroll COMC.

[bbogan99]

Doesn't seem to be much sales volume discussion last few weeks - does that mean everybody's doing well, or everybody's dead in the water?

Personally, after a pretty good run Nov-Mar, April went off a cliff, May was passable b/c I basically ran sales all month, and June has been an unmitigated disaster. I'm on track to move less than 2% of what I thought was a not-too-bad port (everything I send should sell somewhere between a couple and a bunch of times per year, based on their data), and even sales don't seem to be helping, even on top of taking an average 20% off base of everything the other night. I'm barely even getting offers.

I'm sure some of it is seasonal, some of it is market/economy. If anything more than a sliver of it is this dumb captcha, somebody needs to lose a job...

[mc1]

Originally Posted by bbogan99

I'm sure some of it is seasonal, some of it is market/economy. If anything more than a sliver of it is this dumb captcha, somebody needs to lose a job...

[bbogan99]

Originally Posted by mc1

Well, THAT'S useful.

[Budler]

Originally Posted by bbogan99

Doesn't seem to be much sales volume discussion last few weeks - does that mean everybody's doing well, or everybody's dead in the water?

Personally, after a pretty good run Nov-Mar, April went off a cliff, May was passable b/c I basically ran sales all month, and June has been an unmitigated disaster. I'm on track to move less than 2% of what I thought was a not-too-bad port (everything I send should sell somewhere between a couple and a bunch of times per year, based on their data), and even sales don't seem to be helping, even on top of taking an average 20% off base of everything the other night. I'm barely even getting offers.

I'm sure some of it is seasonal, some of it is market/economy. If anything more than a sliver of it is this dumb captcha, somebody needs to lose a job...

I have only sold 2 cards in the last 3 months but again I just have a few more cards for sale. This last group was sent in over 6 months ago. I had some really nice cards but it toke several months to sell. It takes months for me to sell cards I send in SO I'm not good at picking out cards to send in.

I'm just waiting for the next Sale and then see what I will do with buying from COMC.

[wubh]

I’m 5-15% lower than my normal range these past few months but still moving cards steadily.

But I’ve built up a large port and my average individual sale has been around $2.50 for many years now. And folks who post in the observations from local shows thread on the baseball forum have noticed for a while that low end/bargain box hunting has been going very well while mid and especially higher end is struggling.

I think I’m selling just as many $1-$5 cards as always but sales definitely seem slower for things above that mark.

[tribefan]

After 7 days:
Status:
Tracking: Not Shipped Yet
Date Requested: 6/6/2023
Estimated Ship Date: 6/28/2023
Items Ahead of My Order: 277,049

Originally Posted by tribefan

79 card economy shipment requested today

Status:
Tracking: Not Shipped Yet
Date Requested: 6/6/2023
Estimated Ship Date: 6/28/2023
Items Ahead of My Order: 360,817

[theshowandme]

Economy Rushed

Tracking: Not Shipped Yet
Date Requested: 6/12/2023
Estimated Ship Date: 6/15/2023
Items Ahead of My Order: 14,259

[Budler]

Originally Posted by wubh

I’m 5-15% lower than my normal range these past few months but still moving cards steadily.

But I’ve built up a large port and my average individual sale has been around $2.50 for many years now. And folks who post in the observations from local shows thread on the baseball forum have noticed for a while that low end/bargain box hunting has been going very well while mid and especially higher end is struggling.

I think I’m selling just as many $1-$5 cards as always but sales definitely seem slower for things above that mark.

Several of the forums that I read. There are members stating their sales are up when other complain theirs are down. Without any other information. Then other members try to explain why.

I have over 2400 cards on my watch list at COMC now. The last 2 months a lot of them has sold (not to me) so there are people out there buying. What I see they are 50% the cards from $2.50 to $5.00 and the others are cards over $20.00.

Disclaimer: These are cards that I would buy not an overall view.

[checkoutmydeals]

I compared my sales from June 1-12 2022 with my sales from June 1-12 2023.

Total sales are almost identical, within 2% of each other.

Number of items sold is 27% higher in 2023 vs 2022

Median Selling price per item is significantly lower in 2023. 64 cents vs $1.49.

Looking at items selling over $2.50:

Number of items over $2.50 was 23% higher in 2023 vs 2022

In 2023, 7% of items sold were over $2.50. In 2022, it was 13% of items.

The dollar volume from items over $2.50 was nearly identical - within 6%.

The percentage of sales from items over $2.50 was nearly identical - 42% vs 43%.

I'm not sure if any of this can be extrapolated to the larger market. Part of the reason I am selling so much cheap stuff is that I have a higher emphasis on cheap stuff. But part of the reason I have a higher emphasis on cheap stuff is that those are the items which are selling.

For the past few days, I've been running a 25% off sale, which tends to bring out flippers and people who sort their COMC searches by "lowest price". But part of the reason I am having the sale is that sales were a bit sluggish for the first few days of June. Not falling off a cliff, but slightly lower than I'd like my daily average to be.

[bbogan99]

Originally Posted by checkoutmydeals

I compared my sales from June 1-12 2022 with my sales from June 1-12 2023.

Total sales are almost identical, within 2% of each other.

Number of items sold is 27% higher in 2023 vs 2022

Median Selling price per item is significantly lower in 2023. 64 cents vs $1.49.

Looking at items selling over $2.50:

Number of items over $2.50 was 23% higher in 2023 vs 2022

In 2023, 7% of items sold were over $2.50. In 2022, it was 13% of items.

The dollar volume from items over $2.50 was nearly identical - within 6%.

The percentage of sales from items over $2.50 was nearly identical - 42% vs 43%.

I'm not sure if any of this can be extrapolated to the larger market. Part of the reason I am selling so much cheap stuff is that I have a higher emphasis on cheap stuff. But part of the reason I have a higher emphasis on cheap stuff is that those are the items which are selling.

For the past few days, I've been running a 25% off sale, which tends to bring out flippers and people who sort their COMC searches by "lowest price". But part of the reason I am having the sale is that sales were a bit sluggish for the first few days of June. Not falling off a cliff, but slightly lower than I'd like my daily average to be.

All very interesting - thanks. I just came back on in August after about a five-year hiatus from the site, so I don't have last June to compare to. My per-item sale price has dropped some - from about $3-ish to $2-ish, but that's undoubtedly because I've had to constantly run sales to move anything. What's distressing is that my port's probably twice as large now as in Nov-Jan, but sales are definitely not following suit.

[RustyGreerFan]

Originally Posted by UCCF

I just hope that if and when this happens they resource it appropriately, and we don't end up back at 30 week processing for orders and 6 months to get something shipped out because everyone there is dealing with breaks.

Are you really concerned about this? There's nothing in COMC's history that would suggest it as far as I know. Maybe you're referring to the pandemic, but the two situations aren't even remotely similar.

[RustyGreerFan]

Originally Posted by theshowandme

I will be disappointed if they start using the platform for breaks.

What are we doing?

Why will you be disappointed?

[aguinness]

Originally Posted by bbogan99

All very interesting - thanks. I just came back on in August after about a five-year hiatus from the site, so I don't have last June to compare to. My per-item sale price has dropped some - from about $3-ish to $2-ish, but that's undoubtedly because I've had to constantly run sales to move anything. What's distressing is that my port's probably twice as large now as in Nov-Jan, but sales are definitely not following suit.

My sales are down in the past two months but I wouldn't even try to explain with just a single reason or even two. My port is tiny compared to most, so it is likely more likely to have random fluctuations in sales, plus as I've sold through the years my focus has shifted numerous times. Currently, I have more long-term holds on COMC than I have cards for sale.