COMC sellers/buyers. How do you feel about the new changes?

[CollectorsCorner]

http://blog.checkoutmycards.com/2012/07/15/preparing-for-growth-simplifying-fees/#comments

I will have to see how it plays out, but I buy and sell a lot on there at the moment and these don't look so good to me.

 

[markakis8]

wait, am I reading this right, it's only $2.99 flat rate to have the cards shipped to you now, regardless of how many cards you have?

EDIT: nevermind, they are charging their own shipping fee when you buy a card now? THATS F-ING STUPID! Then on top of that you have to pay $3 to have them shipped to you when you've already paid a per card fee.

 

[markakis8]

I don't think they have been in business long enough to starting pull ebay tactics on their users. This is going to hurt them.

 

[DeliciousBacon]

I don't like the addition of the shipping charge to the purchase price at all. Right now I have around 1700 cards that I need to have shipped to me; an extra 25¢ shipping charge on each would have cost me an extra $400+ up front to buy them all. I don't think anyone could absorb that sort of extra hit.

A few of the people arguing against the changes write so poorly and have no understanding of basic grammar concepts; they actually make me want to argue against them even though I agree with him. If you use "2" to mean "to" or "too", and can't use apostrophes properly, I sure as hell won't buy baseball cards from you.

 

[CollectorsCorner]

Maybe someone that understands better can clear this up.

Any time I purchase a card I get hit with an extra .25? Or only cards I have shipped to me will get the extra .25

 

[George_Calfas]

Bye bye low end sales.

 

[thelesquad]

If I read that correctly, it could possibly hurt sellers just as much. They would have to take the hit if buyers were to get the price buyers want. For example, if a seller wants $.75 for a card, it would get listed at $1.00. If a buyer wants it at $.75 and seller agrees, the seller would only get $.50.

 

[JackLondon]

On the plus side, I was on the fence about sending in about 100 cards.

Now with these new rules, it makes no sense (or cents) for me to waste my time.

Thanks, COMC! (patent pending on the catchphrase)

 

[nyc3]

They all start with the right idea saying things like "eBay alternative", but in the end ALWAYS wind up like worse than ebay.

 

[longbomberz]

LOL, I just sent in my first ever order today. That sucks.

 

[coltsfan23]

If I read that correctly, it could possibly hurt sellers just as much. They would have to take the hit if buyers were to get the price buyers want. For example, if a seller wants $.75 for a card, it would get listed at $1.00. If a buyer wants it at $.75 and seller agrees, the seller would only get $.50.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if sellers are able to pass on the costs to the buyers. My guess is that it'll negatively effect the low-end market on COMC, but we'll see!

 

[MansGame]

Bye bye low end sales.

This...

They all start with the right idea saying things like "eBay alternative", but in the end ALWAYS wind up like worse than ebay.

and this...

 

[katieneack]

I think everyone is misunderstanding the new shipping option. It really has no effect to sellers or buyers once you get over how confusing it is. Right now, when you have your cards shipped to you you pay a flat rate + a per card fee. That is still the case except you are paying the per card shipping fee up front instead of when you request shipment. And if you flip a card, you will get the full cost of the card (including shipping) back from COMC when you sell it. You will not be charged the per card shipping when all is said and done if you flip a card. It is essentially an interest free loan to COMC though.

I don't think that the shipping has any effect on what sellers will get for low-end cards either. If you list a card for a dollar, and you have 50% auto accept on, the buyer will be able to offer $0.75. $0.50 of that will go to the seller and $0.25 is the per-card shipping the buyer is paying. That is not any different than it was for the seller. The only disadvantage is the increased processing fee. But wouldn't getting rid of the storage fees for cards listed below a certain amount offset some of that increased expense as well?

 

[subject to change]

I think everyone is misunderstanding the new shipping option. It really has no effect to sellers or buyers once you get over how confusing it is. Right now, when you have your cards shipped to you you pay a flat rate + a per card fee. That is still the case except you are paying the per card shipping fee up front instead of when you request shipment. And if you flip a card, you will get the full cost of the card (including shipping) back from COMC when you sell it. You will not be charged the per card shipping when all is said and done if you flip a card. It is essentially an interest free loan to COMC though.

I don't think that the shipping has any effect on what sellers will get for low-end cards either. If you list a card for a dollar, and you have 50% auto accept on, the buyer will be able to offer $0.75. $0.50 of that will go to the seller and $0.25 is the per-card shipping the buyer is paying. That is not any different than it was for the seller. The only disadvantage is the increased processing fee. But wouldn't getting rid of the storage fees for cards listed below a certain amount offset some of that increased expense as well?

While there is already a per-card shipping fee, this is definitely a significant change. At the current shipping rates, it is only $.15/card for bulk shipping, or $.20/card for the basic shipping level, plus the shipping fee. However, the first ten cards are not currently subject to the per-card fee. These would both be eliminated, with a flat $/25/card fee on each and every card, on top of the flat shipping fee. If you're buying high dollar cards, the extra few dollars probably don't make much difference. However, as a team/player collector, I have been buying up junk inserts (base refractors, cards numbered /3000, etc) that people never bother to list on ebay. When you're talking about a $.30-.50 card, the extra $.10-.15 per card is a significant percentage increase on the overall cost of buying.

From a buyers perspective, I think the one thing that hasn't been discussed much is the impact of raising the free storage cap to $.75 for non-premium members and $2.50 for premium members. It always seemed like the storage fees gave sellers some added incentive to negotiate on prices, especially on lower end cards. With the raised cap, I think many sellers will be more inclined to raise many prices up to the storage cap, and then sit on the card for months on end in hopes of getting their full asking price, rather than looking to quickly move their inventory.

I think the end result is not just the death of low end sales, but also a general stagnation of cards on the site. As a buyer, I've bought a few hundred cards off of COMC. A very small handfull of those cards were ones I "had to have" and would have been willing to pay above market value for. The vast majority of my purchases were simply cards that I didn't have, liked, and were at a price point that made it worthwhile for me. The combination of the increased cost and presumed changes to how sellers price/negotiate will probably cause me to take my money elsewhere.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

The shipping costs were SO Far below eBay, who cares about another 10-20 cents?

The majority of what I bought on COMC is between $3-10 ea. I did buy a # of $1 refractor cards too, that would have cost $3+ shipped on eBay. Shipping 30 cards has cost me about $7-8. So now it's going to cost $10-12? WHO CARES! eBay shpping on 30 cards would be well over $60! Plus the card prices are generally lower!

 

[ballerskrip]

The shipping costs were SO Far below eBay, who cares about another 10-20 cents?

The majority of what I bought on COMC is between $3-10 ea. I did buy a # of $1 refractor cards too, that would have cost $3+ shipped on eBay. Shipping 30 cards has cost me about $7-8. So now it's going to cost $10-12? WHO CARES! eBay shpping on 30 cards would be well over $60! Plus the card prices are generally lower!

And this opinion is exactly what they are hoping for.

Where do people looking to re-sell fit in? If a card is re-sold on the site 5 times, the site will profit ANOTHER $1.25 for taking $.25 per instance for shipping which will never happen. Truthfully I think it is a joke.

I had another stack of cards to send in, I might not do so any longer.

 

[ljw29]

Was working on a .25-1.00 box full of stuff, might just have to list it on Ebay all with a BIN of $1.00 instead

 

[George_Calfas]

Reading the posts have been very interesting. I did see that COMC intends on running a special the month this launches.

If you’ve been waiting for a processing special, I have good news about the week of the National. We realize not everyone gets to go, so we’re going to open this year’s special up to everyone. =)

 

[longbomberz]

And this opinion is exactly what they are hoping for.

Where do people looking to re-sell fit in? If a card is re-sold on the site 5 times, the site will profit ANOTHER $1.25 for taking $.25 per instance for shipping which will never happen. Truthfully I think it is a joke.

I had another stack of cards to send in, I might not do so any longer.

FWIW this is false. On their blog they said once a card is bought and the .25 cent S&H fee is paid for, it has a sort of forever stamp on it where the .25 cent fee is only charged once no matter how many more times it is resold