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Is Sportlots still relevant?

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predatorkj

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
11,871
2
I'm still buying to finish sets. IMO, as long as set collectors/player collectors exist, so will sportlots.
 

Rabs

Member
Jan 25, 2011
616
0
Land O Lakes, FL
I'm still buying to finish sets. IMO, as long as set collectors/player collectors exist, so will sportlots.
I just bought about 15 cards I needed of Orakpo I didn't have and haven't seen on eBay or COMC in a while. I super collect him so it was nice to see all those cards listed. My first every purchase on Sportlots and I hope they were all listed correctly or else I might have some duplicates. I wish all cards had photos on there though.
Yep, still relevant. I like the free Loot option they have which I finally figured out how to use last night.::facepalm::
How does that work exactly?

If you're not too concerned about condition, Sportlots is awesome.

COMC sticks a .25 shipping fee on each card (you either pay it when you buy the card (simplified) or when you ship the card (advanced)).

That adds up pretty fast. On Sportlots, if you try to minimize the number of sellers you're buying cards from, you can really reduce your overall shipping fees. In those cases, Sportlots ends up more of a bargain than COMC.
Why do you say that about the condition of cards from Sportlots? Are they not in great condition typically?

I'm confused on what you said about COMC adding a 0.25 shipping fee per card. A few weeks ago I shipped about 60 cards all at once to me that I purchased on COMC for a flat rate of $3.
 

olerud363

Active member
Jun 14, 2010
3,212
14
Ontario, Canada
I'm confused on what you said about COMC adding a 0.25 shipping fee per card. A few weeks ago I shipped about 60 cards all at once to me that I purchased on COMC for a flat rate of $3.

COMC used to have a flat shipping starting rate plus 25 cents per card. Quite a while ago they changed it to the $3 flat rate, which includes Canada. It's an unbeatable deal for an unlimited number if cards.

The only exception that I've experienced is for COMC mailbox submissions. For regular cards they add 45 cents apiece, for slabbed cards a buck is added per card.

I stopped buying from Sportlots when the USPS rates jumped a while ago and people started charging $7+ to ship to Canada.
 

CollectorsCorner

Super Moderator
Feb 13, 2009
30,779
0
I'm confused on what you said about COMC adding a 0.25 shipping fee per card. A few weeks ago I shipped about 60 cards all at once to me that I purchased on COMC for a flat rate of $3.

When you buy a card. The seller might be asking $2 but it shows up as $2.25 so you are paying .25 per card you buy for the shipping but they have it masked to look like you are just paying $2.25 for the card even though it is for sale at $2
 

Techniq

New member
Jan 2, 2014
966
0
South San Francisco, CA
I just started using sportlots.. So far it has been great for buying small lots of certain players.

Only thing frustrating is having to find 1-3 people that together have all the cards you want to minimize shipping. Takes a bit of time time but once I find 2 or 3 that have a lot of what I want its easy.
 

tribefan26

Member
Jul 7, 2010
574
0
Like if I placed a card from Eddie in my cart, and I go back to the home page and search another set, I need to remember I'm buying from him or else I'll end up buying cards from 20 different people and pay out the ass on shipping when I could have just used a couple of sellers and saved on shipping.

If you do a search - the filters come up on the right of the screen. You can specify an individual seller ot use the 4th choice "shopping cart sellers" It will limit the choices to only those you have already selected from. I've used it a couple of times to fill up orders after I have what I really want. I think beyond the affordability in general if you get orders into the 25 and up range for each seller shipping can be very affordable.
 

vwnut13

Active member
Apr 19, 2009
8,004
0
Vermont
When you buy a card. The seller might be asking $2 but it shows up as $2.25 so you are paying .25 per card you buy for the shipping but they have it masked to look like you are just paying $2.25 for the card even though it is for sale at $2


I just put in an order for 24 cards on Sportlots and paid $14.02 shipped.


I just checked COMC, they only had 18 of the cards, and it would have cost me $19.96 shipped for those 18 cards.
 

Rabs

Member
Jan 25, 2011
616
0
Land O Lakes, FL
I just put in an order for 24 cards on Sportlots and paid $14.02 shipped.


I just checked COMC, they only had 18 of the cards, and it would have cost me $19.96 shipped for those 18 cards.

I'm still confused by this. How COMC works is you purchase as many cards as you want and they just sit there until you decide to have them sent out to you all at the same time, therefore spending a $3 flat rate for shipping on ALL the cards. I have done this several times for large lots of cards and only paid $3 shipping.
 

CollectorsCorner

Super Moderator
Feb 13, 2009
30,779
0
I'm still confused by this. How COMC works is you purchase as many cards as you want and they just sit there until you decide to have them sent out to you all at the same time, therefore spending a $3 flat rate for shipping on ALL the cards. I have done this several times for large lots of cards and only paid $3 shipping.

You pay .25 per card as you buy them to put in your port. You are buying a card for $2.25 the seller is getting $2 and COMC is getting .25 for shipping.
 

rsmath

Active member
Nov 8, 2008
6,086
1
You pay .25 per card as you buy them to put in your port. You are buying a card for $2.25 the seller is getting $2 and COMC is getting .25 for shipping.

Isn't it pretty ridiculous that if you buy 10 cards on COMC, your effective standard shipping rate is $5.50 ($0.25 per card plus $3 standard shipping fee), whereas if you buy 10 cards from a single sportslot seller, the typical shipping rate is usually around $2?
 

Rabs

Member
Jan 25, 2011
616
0
Land O Lakes, FL
You pay .25 per card as you buy them to put in your port. You are buying a card for $2.25 the seller is getting $2 and COMC is getting .25 for shipping.
But as a buyer the price of the card is what I'm paying for the card. Since I know the shipping rate will be $3 no matter how many cards I buy, if I pay $2.25 for a card then that is the amount for the card alone due to the flat shipping rate. Does that make sense?
 

olerud363

Active member
Jun 14, 2010
3,212
14
Ontario, Canada
But as a buyer the price of the card is what I'm paying for the card. Since I know the shipping rate will be $3 no matter how many cards I buy, if I pay $2.25 for a card then that is the amount for the card alone due to the flat shipping rate. Does that make sense?

That's how I look at it. You can't say the shipping is 25 cents multiplied by the # of cards, plus $3. It isn't completely accurate. The 25 cents is built into the card's price, not added on when you get it shipped the way most other sites work.

If I pay $2 for a card on COMC, it doesn't matter to me that 25 cents goes to COMC and $1.75 goes to the seller. The bottom line is that I got a card I wanted for a price I was okay paying.

The $3 flat rate shipping becomes negligible if you think per card on an order consisting of dozens of cards.
 

CollectorsCorner

Super Moderator
Feb 13, 2009
30,779
0
But as a buyer the price of the card is what I'm paying for the card. Since I know the shipping rate will be $3 no matter how many cards I buy, if I pay $2.25 for a card then that is the amount for the card alone due to the flat shipping rate. Does that make sense?

You are correct. I also count it as part of the card price same as I do on eBay and anywhere else that I buy a card from. But the fact is you are paying .25 per card plus $3 for shipping.
 

Rabs

Member
Jan 25, 2011
616
0
Land O Lakes, FL
That's how I look at it. You can't say the shipping is 25 cents multiplied by the # of cards, plus $3. It isn't completely accurate. The 25 cents is built into the card's price, not added on when you get it shipped the way most other sites work.

If I pay $2 for a card on COMC, it doesn't matter to me that 25 cents goes to COMC and $1.75 goes to the seller. The bottom line is that I got a card I wanted for a price I was okay paying.

The $3 flat rate shipping becomes negligible if you think per card on an order consisting of dozens of cards.

You are correct. I also count it as part of the card price same as I do on eBay and anywhere else that I buy a card from. But the fact is you are paying .25 per card plus $3 for shipping.

I treat eBay the same way. People sometimes gripe about how high sellers shipping fees are and therefore don't bid on an auction. But to me, I don't care if I buy a card for $10 with free shipping or the same cards ends with a $5 auction price and $5 shipping. I am paying the same amount for the card regardless.
 

vwnut13

Active member
Apr 19, 2009
8,004
0
Vermont
You pay .25 per card as you buy them to put in your port. You are buying a card for $2.25 the seller is getting $2 and COMC is getting .25 for shipping.


But when it comes to base cards, you normally pay $0.18 each on SportLots. On COMC you are going to pay at least ~$0.40 for a base card. That quarter that COMC takes for shipping is making a difference there.


Here's just one example. Say I want 20 2012 Bowman Derek Jeter #1 cards.

SportLots - $0.18 Each, $3.60 for 20, $2.25 for Shipping - $5.85 Total

COMC -
$0.55-$0.60 Each, $11.70 for 20, $3 for Shipping - $14.70 Total


And it's not like COMC has better variety than Sportlots. As I posted earlier in this thread, I just placed an order for 24 cards from one seller on Sportlots. Only 18 (75%) of those cards were available on COMC, and each and every once cost more than I paid on Sportlots.
 

Rabs

Member
Jan 25, 2011
616
0
Land O Lakes, FL
But when it comes to base cards, you normally pay $0.18 each on SportLots. On COMC you are going to pay at least ~$0.40 for a base card. That quarter that COMC takes for shipping is making a difference there.


Here's just one example. Say I want 20 2012 Bowman Derek Jeter #1 cards.

SportLots - $0.18 Each, $3.60 for 20, $2.25 for Shipping - $5.85 Total

COMC -
$0.55-$0.60 Each, $11.70 for 20, $3 for Shipping - $14.70 Total


And it's not like COMC has better variety than Sportlots. As I posted earlier in this thread, I just placed an order for 24 cards from one seller on Sportlots. Only 18 (75%) of those cards were available on COMC, and each and every once cost more than I paid on Sportlots.
This is assuming you only buy from one seller on Sportlots though right? If not your shipping would be much higher.
 

gracecollector

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
6,559
215
Lake in the Hills, IL
I have 156,000+ inventory on there and move stuff that I'd never be able to move elsewhere. For the most part, it is the internet's most cost-efficient way to buy singles!

It seems to me COMC holds that title. The combined shipping from multiple sellers and being able to see the actual card you are buying make (eliminating regret purchases) make it more cost-efficient than sportslots for me.
 

TGutta

Active member
May 30, 2010
3,067
1
Minnetonka, Minnesota
Is it worth it to list cards for sale on Sportlots? I have bought some cards there a few times with good experiences. Mostly low end base I need to fill sets. What do the fees look like there as a seller? Would love to move a bunch of cards I just have sitting around.
 

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