Out With the Old: Retiring the Old Site

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On August 1st 2012, we began transitioning from Check Out My Cards to COMC.com and running dual sites in parallel.  It has been eight years since we began offering our unique service with Check Out My Cards, and it is with deep pride and a certain degree of sadness that we announce that, as of July 1st, 2013, the old site has been officially shut down and retired, and we will be fully committing to the new site and brand COMC.com.

It has been a tremendous journey that has brought together a team of over 50 unique Team members, close to 3000 sellers, and well over 50,000 buyers!  As a tribute to where we have been as a company, we want to take a moment and relive a few of the crowning moments during the company’s time as Check Out My Cards.

Date Event
Dec 21st, 2005 Check Out My LLC is founded
Aug 1st, 2007 Check Out My Cards launched at the 2007 Nationals
Sept 4th, 2007 Make an Offer function is launched.  During January of the following year, the Counter Offer function is added.
April 9th, 2008 Check Out My Cards moves into a bigger warehouse
Nov 28th, 2008 Check Out My Cards has its first Black Friday sale
July 2nd, 2009 Check Out My Cards adds its one millionth item to the site.  To commemorate, Tim buys the card from the user
Aug 23, 2009 Check Out My Cards partners with Blowout Cards
Mar 12th, 2010 First card valued over $1000 sold on site
May 14th 2010 First official port sale completed.  On September 15th of the following year, the port sale offer system is added
Nov 24th, 2011 Check Out My Cards launches the wildly successful First Time Seller Coupon and Referral program
Dec 3rd, 2011 Check Out My Cards moves into its current warehouse
Aug 1st, 2012 Check Out My Cards transitions to COMC.com
July 1st, 2013 Check Out My Cards is retired

As we gaze across the path that brought us here, it feels right to also see where we stand in the present.  Check Out My Cards laid the groundwork for everything that COMC has become and the switch to COMC has provided us with new tools and options that weren’t possible before.  A short list would include:

  • Being able to filter search results
  • The Promotions Feature including the now frequently used Partial Port sale function
  • The Beckett Grading Service integration
  • The ability to expand into new collectibles such as comics and many yet to come.
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Memories, like candles, light the pathway to the future.  Or something corny like that.

Yesterday, the team at COMC allowed Check Out My Cards to finally retire.  We would love to hear about your personal experiences with the old site and where we have been.  Please feel free to use the Comments box below to fill us in, and help us celebrate the next step into COMC.com’s future.  We’re still expanding the new site experience and we know our users always have a lot of great suggestions for changes and features.  Keep letting us know what you’d like to see and we’ll keep listening and improving.

48 thoughts on “Out With the Old: Retiring the Old Site”

  1. When is the new site going to show the entire card description instead of having to hover over each card? It’s a pain trying to match card numbers when you have to spend additional time. I wish the old site was back, it was better.

    • Hey Dan!

      We took a look at the site today to see what we could do about this. Now that we feature the larger images, we have more room for the text. So no need for hover. Enjoy!

      Grant

    • Hello G. Spriesterbach,

      We are interested to know what our users enjoyed about the old site, and we want to try and bring to COMC as many of the best features of the old site as possible. If you could please send our Customer Service department your thoughts on why CheckOutMyCards.com was better than comc.com, we will take your ideas and suggestions and make sure our Web Team sees your thoughts. Thank you in advance!

      Regards,
      Mark M.

      • Hey Mark
        I have given a zillion reasons why the old site is way better and nothing has been changed.

    • This is my biggest pet peeve. People making comments without any actual information. It is hard to respect a comment like this that adds nothing to the blog and is void of any substance.

      • Who are you…You have been here for a couple weeks and you have pet peeves…..Comc called me and emailed me about my input so there is my zillion reasons

  3. Thanks to COMC for giving my business a solid platform and reason to leave the Beckett Marketplace behind. Our experience with COMC has been mostly positive and we look forward to being a part of the future growth.

    • Hello Tony,

      It has been a pleasure to work with your business as well. We look forward to continuing to improve your experience and providing you a unique, rewarding online experience.

      Regards,
      Mark M.

      • I woke up today and i have 100 cards or so I need to price and after i do two or three I find a reason to get off……at this pace I should have them priced by August…….The new site is brutal.

      • Lee, I don’t understand your confusion. It takes maybe 5 seconds to price a card. If you’re getting distracted after 15 seconds, I doubt it is the site that is the issue.

      • EXACTLY and although I never used the Beckett Market Place I’m also thankful for this platform known as COMC to compete on for business and BTW Thanks Tony for keeping me on my toes as we compete against each other for business.

  5. With the old site now redirecting, the Bulk Price Editing tool no longer works. Can we get this fixed ASAP, please?

  6. I would like to chime in that I think one of the reasons the people liked the oldsite better was because of the colors. Many people find the new white theme very hard on their eyes. I would consider adding a “themes” feature or just the ability to change the background color

    • Hello Nathan,

      This is an interesting idea. I have forwarded it along to our Web Team for consideration. Thank you for your suggestion, and if you have any others, feel free to keep them coming!

      Regards,
      Mark M.

  7. Being primarily a buyer, I dearly miss the “bulk shipping” method that the old site offered. Now, being forced to choose the more costly shipping methods, I cannot purchase the sheer number of cards I did before. My business with this site will quickly and significantly decrease!

    • Hello Richard,

      While the old bulk shipping option has gone away, we do have a new program in place to help off set the cost of placing larger orders. As of July 1st, for every 100 cards purchased and shipped, you will receive $5 of store credit on the first of the following month. This can be used to purchase cards, cover shipping costs, ect.

      Regards,
      Mark M.

  8. I got back into the hobby in 2009 after reaching a birthday that rhymes with nifty (the first one). I decided I wanted to collect complete baseball sets from my youth being 1959 to 1977. One day in early 2009 I was surfing the web looking for sites to buy cards from and saw some really positive things being said about this site. So I signed up on April 21, 2009 and went on a buying binge and had my first shipment of 400 cards sent to me on June 1, 2009. I then took advantage of the Express Promo and sent my first batch in and those went live on July 1, 2009. My first card sold on July 4, 2009 (oh boy I feel a promotion coming on).

    Since then I have come a long way towards achieving my goal and CheckOutMyCards is a very large part of the reason I have been able to do this. It has provided me with a place to sell cards that I have upgraded, to purchase upgraded cards and has even provided enough profit to offset shipping and processing costs.

    I have become very comfortable with the new site and really like most of the changes that have been made; congratulations to COMC on an outstanding site that continues to improve and thanks again for providing us all with a great way to enjoy the hobby.

    • Hello cocoscards,

      These are the kinds of stories that are truly a joy to hear. We are humbled and very happy to hear that are enjoying the service, and we hope to only continue to make your time on our site better. Thank you for your kind words.

      Regards,
      Mark M.

  9. COMC is fun but you guys spend too much time congratulating yourselves. This blog is starting to come off as conceded. I don’t like your “Nobody Else Does This” campaign. It feels like you’re saying “We’re your only option so deal with it”. I don’t buy from companies because they’re the only ones available, I buy from them because they’re the best.

    • I had to check the date to make sure it wasn’t April Fool’s. You’re being serious? It’s a marketing blog – of course they’re suppose to talk about themselves. Their marketing campaign of “Nobody Else Does This” is perfect because, well, no one does what COMC does. There are a lot of really sensitive people on here…

      • Why i am responding to you I have no idea, but i deal mostly in vintage so in order to price a card I have to look at the condition of all cards on the site in 3 different categories (Not graded,vg/exc and poor/fair)…so in all actuality it probably takes a minute or two to price each card.and i do not like the new site.

    • COMC is the best at what they do. Not only because they are the only ones doing it but also because they are constantly improving the service. I have been in the hobby since 1979 and feel that COMC is as important to us as eBay is in terms of access to cards. I see great success for your buyers, sellers and you in the future. Keep up the great work COMC!

      • Hello Jeremy,

        We greatly appreciate these sentiments. Your enthusiasm is exactly what makes working at COMC worthwhile. We look forward to continuing to improve the site and making the service THE place to buy and sell collectibles online. If you have any thoughts on how we can better serve, don’t hesitate to send your thoughts to our Customer Service Department.

        Regards,
        Mark M.

  11. I am highly disappointed you decided to get rid of the old site, I much rather preferred how easy it was to use the old site, It was alot more user friendly and straight forward. Not to give us the option to use the old site anymore makes no sense to me. I used the old site every day for my account. Very dissapointed

    • I’m the opposite. I love the new site. But I also embrace change. To anyone whose depressed about the inability to use the old site anymore – got off your horse and wagon and join the present!

    • Hello Josh,

      We are looking to carry over as many of the best parts of the old site as possible while opening up the possibility to make further improvements to the service. Are there any things in particular from the old site that you miss? Please feel free to email our Customer Service team your thoughts and we would be happy to pass them along to our Web Development Team for consideration.

      Regards,
      Mark M.

  12. It has been a pleasure working with you. The hobby has benefited from your product and service offerings. COMC congrats on what you have accomplished and best of luck moving forward.

    Blowoutcards.com

    • Hello Thomas,

      Thank you as well. It has been equally pleasant to work with you and your company. Here’s to many more years of bettering the online market for collectibles!

      Regards,
      Mark M.

  13. I’m not sure what was so great about the old site to be honest I don’t even remember it. The only things that have changed for me are the higher prices on processing and the idiot proofing of shipping. I think you cats are doing well. I read through alot of these comments and we should all remember that why comc does make money they are doing a great service for collectors and sellers. It’s not all that easy to sell sport cards. I’ve posted adds on Craigslist and there’s not much there. You can set up auctions all day on eBay but lets face it after your 50 free your paying the same 2 have comc do the work. Plus u don’t have to deal with those buyers that love to tell u the cards damaged. We all no eBay favors the buyer. While I don’t always agree with comc on policy and new features they always seem to suprise me with how great they make the new service. There are lots of places to sell your cards but none that take time out to answer your questions and take your feedback and use it. Comc really was built by its users in my eyes, while comc still has to make money I feel they do listen to there users and follow there suggestions. You guys do some crazy s**t from time to time but you always make it right in the long run. Keep up the good work and thank you all for this great service.

  14. I REALLY wish the port sale option was still available in the classifieds.

    Have had zero successes with promotions

  15. It might have been nice to have a heads up before this was done! I personally like the old site a lot better. And not to mention it was cheaper buying on the old site. Pay a extra $0.25 on the new site per card vs $0.15. Its not that much if you are only buying a few cards. But when you buy close to 400 cards its a big chunk. If I would have knew you was 100% doing away with the old site I would have bought several other cards really fast (because I could get them cheaper) and had my order shipped (that will now cost me a extra $30 or so just to cover the shipping!!!!). So needless to say im not really that happy. Sorry to say but you guys dropped the ball on this one. All you had to do is give a little heads up……….

  16. This site is great for high $$ cards, but not commons. Why would I pay 50c for a 1987 or 1988 Topps card? Condition isn’t important to me so much as filling a spot for my sets. I used to get cards for 10 or 15c on the old site, now they are 50c to 1.00 or more. Even with shipping I still did better the old site.

  17. As more or less of a “flipper” (although from time to time I send cards in) I will say that it was easier to flip with the old site. The difference in “price” of the low end cards seems to make them sell worse. What looks better? a 10 cent card, or a 35 cent card? Hense, which one sits in the portfolio longer..? (It’s a low end example, but I believe it gets the point across). I do agree above when someone mentioned a way that we could choose the colors and background of the site. The bright white is a little hard on the eyes and the red color is ugly in my opinion.
    One thing to comes to mind is that one of the reasons of changing shipping was that so many shopping carts were being emptied after seeing the shipping price. Although it sounds like quite a few were emptied, how many less cards are selling due to the extra 25 cents? (an equal or less amount of cards are being sold tht would have sold using the old shipping even if some carts were emptied? Just a thought, I may be wrong) Some people bought a lot more on the old site due to the shipping, and it doesnt sound like it will transfer here very well. It seems undercutting has gotten worse due to the lower end cards not selling to well. (due to the shipping maybe..?0
    These are just what i’ve noticed. I do not know if it is 100% accurate.
    An idea I have heard a few times is a bulk shipping option that promotes low end cards as well as high end cards. Maybe a 10 cent shipping price on cards under 25 cents. EX (A Jeff Bagwell base for for 10 cents, shipping makes it 20 cents. 20 cents looks better than 35 right..? plus not 100 copies of the same card on the site then. Correct?) And then maybe 15 or 20 cent shipping for cards 75 cents and under. (EX: a card priced at 50 cents, shipping makes it 70.) and then above 75 (above a dollar?) you do 25 cents like you do now, and to promote the high end cards maybe free shipping of cards over $50 or $100? I feel like this will promote buying and shipping of lower end cards, and take some copies off of those so sellers make a little more while promoting higher end sales as well. Comc makes a little more due to shipping more cards, and sells more as well.
    Thank you for listening to us all. It means a lot to know that you guys are listening to us, and I hope you take this idea into consideration. I hope this post isn’t long enough to annoy you guys haha, I tend to be long sometimes. 🙂

    • edit* A shipping base price of $3.00 still, just a lower add on price to the lower end cards, a 15 or 20 cent price on cards under $1, and the normal .25 for cards above $1. I understand that this would take time to create and complete, but I feel it’s a win-win in the long run.

  19. Hello Folks,

    Happy Independence Day! I just wanted to take a moment and say that I have spoken with our Web Team about the Bulk Price Editor. This is one of the projects that we are working to migrate over from the old site for you. This feature should be recreated in the near future. I hope you are all having a wonderful celebration, and we will be back in the office tomorrow!

    Regards,
    Mark M.

  20. how soon many of you forgot what a PIA beckett was when they “changed”. They couldn’t even have one site running for more than 10 minutes. After that fiasco, I never went back. COMC had comc.com and checkoutmycards.com running together for almost a year! There was plenty of notice of when the old was being retired. I don’t do as much buying anymore so I really cannot make too many comments on the buying and shipping issues. One thing I would like is a place on the front page which will explain more on the 2 types of accounts you can have. Based on some of the comments, people still don’t understand the simplified vs advanced. The blogs are great, but once 3 new ones are posted the old are off the front page, I don’t know how many people know to check the archives. I know I see more notices on facebook and twitter, but I only go to them a few times a month now so mass emails or postings directly on comc are my only news outlets (and blowoutcards).
    I can’t wait for ta bulk editor to be added, the old one was great. I am anticipating using the the mailbox optoin soon too.
    One thing I noticed is when I am drilling down into someone’s port (IE sport, year, auto, rc, etc) I lose the options on the side where the other sports and years are located. I have to use the back button or start all over again. I am not a fan of having to do that. It seem like a time waster.

    • I didn’t forget! I was paying $250 a month to be on there…spent years listening to broken promises and “changes” that made things worse! I know I made the right choice because several of the biggest and loudest rockstars from Beckett are now selling here…even after they initially bashed COMC and its sellers. It’s all good now… in the words of Bruce Willis….. “Welcome to the party pal!”

  21. How about a seller tool to easily (one click) price their card 1 penny cheaper than the competition?
    or at least the Inventory Manager should tell what the lowest price of the competition is.

      • Actually, a race to the bottom benefits both all parties: buyer,seller,COMC
        COMC cards tend to be overpriced, and this will help to find equilibrium
        More sales, more customers, etc

  22. hello,
    I enjoy browsing the site and have made a few purchases..There is only one thing that is keeping me from buying a lot more cards..I do not like the idea of having money on account to make offer on cards. .I understand you want serious offers, but there must be a way where the sellers can rate the buyers(ratings based on deals where offers are made) and to waive the the money on account if a buyer shows they do buy(when a price is agreed on by both partied) and they have been proven to be good customers, e.g. they make fast payment when a price is agreed on in the offer and not doddle around

    • coolz if you enjoy making less money for your cards then please price them all for 25 cents and I will buy most of your inventory. Business 101 warns strongly against a race to the bottom which devalues products for no reason. If you feel COMC cards are overpriced then lower yours to where you think they will sell and if your competition can’t compete you’ll make a fortune. As I said, most of my inventory tends to be in the lower end of the price range but there are plenty of times I am more than happy to let someone else take less and wait for the next buyer to come along.
      But stating that selling for less money is a benefit to the seller… I guess they didn’t teach us that at the IU business school.

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