A Post With Only Good Things In It

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Thanks for writing so many comments to our previous post letting us know your feedback.  We are really reading all of them, we’re listening, and we’re still having discussions about the best way to achieve our goals together.  On that note:

GOOD THING #1

2012 National Collectors Convention Processing Special
COMC has been around for 5 full years now, so we thought folks might appreciate this deal.
-Give us your cards in a 550 Count Box.  We’ll give you 5 Week processing, starting from the day we receive it at the show, for only $55.  Maximum of 5 Boxes per customer.
Don’t cram cards into boxes, please; if it’s so full we’ll worry about card damage we’ll ask you to take some cards out.  We’ll have a limited supply of boxes at the show to give out, or you can bring your own.
Please make sure your account is funded with store credit before dropping off.  If you’ve got more than five boxes of cards you’d like to hand off, you can also use One Month service at $0.25/card, $5 minimum, no batch fee (One Week, One Day, and all other services will not be available for items dropped off at the National).
• The $55 flat rate is in place of what would have been the normal $0.20/card fee – it does not cover extra fees such as toploader removal charge, oversize/special size item charges (poker chips or coins for example), or condition notes.

GOOD THING #2

This deal is available to you even if you aren’t attending the National. 
Not everyone can go to Baltimore.  Postmark your shipment of up to five 550 count boxes during the National week (August 1-5) and when we receive them we’ll get to work for $55 a box, 5 Week processing time.
• Please clearly label the boxes “5th Anniversary Special” and write your username on the box
• Limit five 550 count boxes per household
• Any submitted cards exceeding five 550 count boxes will be processed as requested with our normal services
• The $55 flat rate is in place of what would have been the normal $0.20/card fee – it does not cover extra fees such as toploader removal charge, oversize/special size item charges (poker chips or coins for example), or condition notes.

GOOD THING #3

Tim is available to talk with at the National.
If you’d like to sit down at booth #2440 with COMC’s CEO for half an hour of his time, send an email to timewithtim@comc.com and let us know what days you’ll be there and what hours will be best for you between 10am and 6pm.  We’ll email you back a reserved slot.

GOOD THING #4

We’re about to start beta testing our new item services.
On August 1st we’ll start accepting items for several new listing categories.  We’ll be starting slowly, and we’re looking for people who are interested in helping us build out these services.  A dedicated blog post will outline what items will be included in this test, and how to get involved.

GOOD THING #5

Try before you buy.
There will be an opportunity for everyone to actually see and explore the new COMC site so folks can make fully informed decisions about whether they’re on board with it or not.  We don’t want to strong arm everyone into something they haven’t had a chance to check out for themselves.  Test it and then let us know how you feel.

GOOD THING # 6

COMC is more successful than ever.
We’re not all driving around the office on our own Segways or installing office slides, but things are going well.  We’re shipping more cards than ever, processing more cards than ever, and enjoying the most site traffic in our history.  Our last post broke the number-of-comments record, which means more people are passionate and involved than ever before, even if they don’t always see eye to eye with our vision.  We’re not afraid of criticism, and we actually appreciate it if it’s well thought out and constructive.  We are not content to sit back and rest on our success.  Our plan is to continue taking risks and pushing the boundaries of what COMC can be.
Five years ago at the National Convention in Cleveland, people said we were crazy for thinking that anyone would ever mail us their card collections.  We crossed the forty-employee mark this month.

Thanks to everyone who has been participating in this most recent conversation.  We’ve got a good idea of what we want to do and a lot of reasoning behind it, but there’s room for improvement in everything.  Keep involved and we’ll keep listening.

Thanks,
COMC

98 thoughts on “A Post With Only Good Things In It”

  1. Excellent news that should counteract a lot of the negativity from the last post. For the 550 count boxes, obviously from Atlanta I will be mailing, does it matter if the cards are raw or sleeved?

  2. Thanks for extended the National promo to those who can’t make it. I’ve got some Allen & Ginter with COMC’s name on it! And to that point: If the box has minis in it (A&G or otherwise), it could comfortably hold more than 550 cards. As long as they aren’t crammed in there, will it be OK?

    • Just follow the “don’t cram” rule, and we’ll happily process whatever fits comfortably in your box.

  3. After we drop off a 5/550 ct boxes. We can only use the new .25 rate only?
    Not accepting the .20 rate? I would have to ship them from Baltimore to your office for the service at that rate? Thanks.

    • Hi, jjd1979. That is correct. We want to keep it as simple as possible for our team in Baltimore, so we’re sticking to only two services: the 550 special and the new One Month service rate. Our current 4 Week service will still be available by mail, as will our current One Week and Next Day.
      Thanks!

  4. Regarding number 6…. tread lightly…Ebay said the same things to unhappy people…sounds a little like “like it or lump it because enough others will put up with it” Maybe not the intended message but it can be interpreted that way.

    • I can appreciate that. It wasn’t meant to be my tone with the post, just to say that we’re not succeeding by raw luck. Our growth has been out of some choppy economic times with a totally untested business model, and it has come by making sound strategic decisions at opportune moments. We’re always interested in a reasoned critique, but the people who have been telling us that we’re all doomed fools from day one haven’t turned out to be right yet. =)

      • this is my big issue… this site was so anti-ebay, was good for the seller and the buyer, but the new changes hurt the sellers alot and does nothing to help them. I dont deal with ebay because of this, I hope this does not end up the case with COMC. Ebay is so one sided towards the buyer its not worth selling on there, yes there is a lot more buyers then sellers, but without the sellers there is no buyers.

        Something to keep in mind.

      • With no advertising your/our success has been entirely on word of mouth. The vast majority of that has come from your sellers, I know that I have personally got quite a few people to join in. With listing fees up 25% and shipping fees up 50% this year how can I continue to praise the site? Sorry but it is not going to happen. I no longer praise Ebay for the same exact reasons.

  5. Since it’s hard to actually fit 550 cards into a 550 count box, I suggest cutting the end flaps that you fold into the box off and sealing the ends of the boxes with tape to optimize your submission.

  8. Here’s an important tip: Don’t forget that fees come out on the 1st. So even if you have the money in your balance on the 31st, be sure you still have enough afterward.

    • The new One Month service is basically a permanent special for graded cards. We lowered the fee from $0.75 per graded card to $0.50 per graded card, and there is no batch fee. Just a $5 minimum. So you can submit 10 or more graded cards for only $0.50 each.

  10. will you have in house graders for coins and comics? the grades for them are well defined and hard to notice on a simple scan like a card. i have 7 long boxes of comics with a lot of nicer comics in them that i haven’t touched in years, plus i have thousands of coins i’d potentially be interested in listing,

    • Hi, theandrew13. I’m not sure yet exactly what our model will be for making sure buyers know what quality of item they’ll be getting. A lot of the beta test period will be working together with interested consigners to help develop these services. Please keep checking back; Tim will be posting to the blog with more details about the beta test and how to get involved if you want to help us.
      Thanks!

  11. Very cool guys i like that you did this. But i hope you do not push the shipping on us after this or that you do rethink it. I’d really like to keep the great prices and cards i get coming from you guys.

  12. Still not worth it. Please respond to my e-mail about closing out my account. Thanks!

    • Just a suggestion…why close your account? We won’t ship anything ever for 25 cents but you never know when you might find something to buy down the road or when they might change policies to somthing you agree with. It costs nothing to keep the account open.
      Take it with a grain of salt but as we posted elsewhere we burned bridges in the past and looking back at least in one case we wish we had not.

      • Thanks, not trying to burn any bridges. Just want all my cards sent back to me. I just marked all my items to be shipped. I don’t see comc going in the right direction. I sell mainly on Ebay (Sportstntcards) anyways and its been good to me. I tried comc for 1 year and I made a little money but nothing compared to what I do on ebay. I will list everything on Ebay now.

      • As far as I know you can have more then 1 account. If you change your mind just open a new one. This may have changed my mind on leaving. Not saying i’m sending anything in, but it shows there may be a little heart there. Trying to work with us is important, it is also important to be honest so please don’t hide this .25 fee in the card. Please put it as a note. Thanks for the gift.

  13. I am interested in building out your services to other collectibles. Two areas that have published grading standards and published pricing or easy internet reference pricing are; coins and sports magazines. I would be interested in being involved as I deal in both. In reference to coins I think a good book for your staff to read/use is “Photograde” by James F. Ruddy. It is the official photographic grading guide for U.S. coins. Shoot me your thoughts. From the post of sheliachicago.

  14. Prior to reading about this promotion for Nationals, I just this evening cashed out the bulk of $ credit I had on the site due to the recent annouced changes (I decided to eat the 20% rather than reinvesting in cards on the site which is what I had planned to do). I had been buying and shipping home as well as buying for flipping on the site, but my worries with the changes essestially just took a few grand that would have been spent in some form or another on the site, off of the site. Yes COMC got my 20% but unfortunately other sellers won’t see any of it. I was not and am not planning on pulling out activity from COMC, but just kind of playing it by ear with any changes that do or do not end up happening. My activity and what I send in will be greatly effected if the proposed changes happen.

    That being said, I am still open to reinvesting into the site right away due to this one time incentive but fear that this just might be roping folks further in (albeit for a short time only) with these discounted processing fees, then forcing the updated shipping fee policy down our throats, as well as the increased processing fee in the future. It also confuses me quite a bit as I kind of thought that the growth and the volume of cards coming in (and general increased overhead of the company) was driving the fee increase from $.20 to $.25 to try to slow down submissions and masses of lower value cards coming in. Then a promotion like this just squashes that theory, as it seems like COMC is confident they can handle mass quantities coming in all at once and processing them all in August into September. Are you hiring temps to help with this or do you have the capacity to handle this many cards in any normal month? If you can handle all these cards in August, at a discounted rate, without having variable expense overruns, why is there any need to increase the variable cost to your suppliers from $.20 to $.25 moving forward. It just doesn’t make sense. I’m sure you’ve done all the metrics/projections and obviously know a lot more about the reasons for the change than we do, but from an outsider, it just appears that you will be losing a lot of sellers due to the changes, as well as a whole slew of lower value cards being sent in from current sellers that you could be getting the $.20 a card on (but not the $.25 with implicThe facts that there will be less sellers (who are also probably the best buyers) and less cards being sent to the site, will not help with the goals to get more buyers.

    I’m going to try to come to Nationals and talk to Tim regarding the reasoning behind some of these changes as I still just don’t get the business decision to make them. I haven’t been on the site all that long but have loved it since I’ve been here and had planned on investing more into the site untill these changes.

    • Great Post Ny . I helped get you to spend some money here and send in your cards. not that long ago . Now to see this happen so fast i can say i’m worried as well.

    • Please see my reply to your similar post in the other thread. Thanks,
      Jeremy

  15. Well, this was a smart move, certainly better than the Magic cards promo and for now you guys have kept me interested.

    I will probably send in another large shipment of cards for this promo, but my final decision on this site lies on the BIG decision of raising shipping and processing fees,… If nothing more than out of principle, I can’t possibly justify paying 80%+ fees on a $1 card submission.

    It sounds like you guys have already settled on the 5 cent increase for processing, and I think most all of us are OK with that. The big disappointment is the shipping restructure, and I honestly think that COMC will come to it’s senses and realize that this is a LOSE(buyer), LOSE(seller), LOSE(comc) situation!

  16. Well put cardsrus I am a little sad about turning people on to this. Its like getting your brother a job where you work and he never shows up. Then again this site does have some enertainment value so that might make the added fees tolerable. Plus we r getting a free price guide even though I still us becketts site. All in all its just fustrating. It’s about principle and not so much the fees. We put alot of time and money into a dream of being like you or swagcards or others. Only to find out that this is becoming more and more unlikley to happen. I understand everything COMC is doing I think we all get it. We just don’t fully understand what this would look like my suggestion is maybe post a video of what the shipping fees look like on the site. Just show how they will look to the buyer. If it’s a note on the card, thats a far cry from listing all my cards .25 higher. Wouldnt it be nice to beable to walk down to your local card shop and buy and sell your cards. I really miss that. Good Luck to everyone involved.

  17. It would be nice if you could get the E-mail issues fixed. I just love getting a notice that an offer was canceled before I get the actual offer E-mail…

  18. So heres a dumb question……if the 550 ct box is filled 80% of the way up, will it qualify for the $55 special?

    • Hi, Bbc.
      As long as the cards are well-secured, the box is not required to be full. Thanks!
      Jeremy

    • I did not count. Some boxes are close to 550 or more if they are not chrome or thick, but I assume I am sending just over 2000 cards in my 5 boxes.

  20. I’m disappointed with the restructuring of the shipping fees. I have been a seller on this site for many years and I have loved it and avoided eBay because of their extreme fees. But now the fees on COMC are just as extreme and confusing for sellers. It’s a nice gesture (business move) to promote this 550 for $55 offer, but it’s just a distraction and I think those who were upset with the changes will realize that. I will be sad to leave this site, I enjoyed it while it lasted.

  21. Finally!!! An awesome deal for everyone to jump on. Thank You it took a while but thanks! 🙂 This also alows us to jump on a deal before prices go up so this will ease the pain or everyone better. Maybe in the future you should lead with this. LOL

  22. Here is my for-what-it’s-worth; I have been selling cards as a Top-rated eBay Power Seller for YEARS and am now moving my business over to COMC. My format of selling all my cards on eBay is already similar to COMC using BIN or BO and I offer FREE SHIPPING but cover my cost simply by raising my bottom dollar by a buck or so. Looking at your shipping fees I see nothing out of line, it’s still the fastest and cheapest way for a buyer to get the cards he wants! Have you ever had your cards shipped to you from Topps Diamond or Golden Giveaway program? I have paid to have vintage cards sent to me that belong in THE TRASH, at least here you get EXACTLY what you see! Your site is PERFECT for selling the SP’s and serial #d cards that book between $2-$20 and if I get 30% of book who cares, that’s all they’re worth. Same goes for autos, relics, etc. If a collector feels like he’s paying too much he slows or stops buying which in turn hurts the hobby. You charge 20 cents to list a card with a 1 c. storage fee each additional month and a 20% cash-out fee, eBay gets 20 c. EACH MONTH it’s up PLUS the 12% FVF when it sells PLUS the store fee PLUS the PayPal fee PLUS I have to ship it PLUS the bubble mailers, labels, packaging, ink for the printer, trip to Post Office PLUS the headaches of a buyer wanting a refund, opening a dispute, leaving poor feedback or none at all PLUS eBay constantly forcing sellers to jump through their hoops and changing format (WHEW) ! You guys do NONE OF THAT! I’ll save money on my blood pressure pills when I’m through with eBay! Keep up the good work guys and remember this: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

    • Mike in your experince and in keepimg my options open. Do you think buying on comc and selling on ebay is worth it. I look at what things go for on here and its sad. People r only getting 10% off book. Ebay seems to bring 30% or better. Anyone else please way in on this too. It seems the only way to raise prices on here is if everyone would price at bv and I just don’t think we can unionised like that. (I no I butchered the hell out of unionised). thanks
      P.S. if comc wants to help the seller, may be could put a end to the 10% by not letting ports and list prices go that low. Put a cap on it. Remember more money we (the seller) brings in the more money you guys make.

      • I get much more on here than on ebay for at least 90% of my sales. Just had a card sell this AM for my full asking of $5. On ebay I couldnt get a sniff after listing it 4 or 5 times. I’ve been getting a lot of straight up sales lately over offers. I’m still getting the 50% offers and I’ve been accepting most of them, not all, but most. I do price a lot of my cards w/ebay in mind as I feel most buyers (myself included) try to find the best deal between all the selling/buying sites. It all depends what you are selling. New releases and hot players are going to go for more on ebay as the turn around time is much quicker. Once a set is established and the market flood occurs, prices usually go down and that is also when you see a lot of non-payments and returns on ebay (buyers remorse imo).

        I still see way too many (current promos too) ads where so and so is taking all 50% offers or port sales, yet my regular asking price is still less than their best price after taking 50% off on the same exact card that I have.

        I’ve been w/comc since 2008 and I am approacing the 8k mark in actual money received from my sales. I can say that I would have never reached that on ebay or anywhere else.

        BV is so subjective and outdated for the most part that we can use it as a benchmark but not as a set in stone deal. Sellers should have the power to price wherever they want, yet some will just list low to get rid of card instead of letting the market dictate or themselves dictate the value. And that hurts the site overall when card w/a $15 BV regually is sold for $1 or less, no matter who it is of. That card should probably get $3-$5 in reality, but someone has to beat the lowest price and it sets a bad chain reaction of price lowering and the flippers eat it up.

      • I hope COMC always remembers that without sellers there will be no COMC. There will ALWAYS be buyers, that’s how we are wired simply as humans! Spending money for something we want makes us feel good, it’s a natural high. I tried explaining this to eBay but everyone who has sold cards there knows from experience they cater to the buyer and their wishy-washy whims. I price my cards here and let ’em float, I have never had to accept 10% of book and really why at this point? Just like I sold on eBay at BIN or BO, I list the card and wait. It’s kinda like fishin’, you throw out the bait and wait for a bite. I’m paying ONE CENT per month per card for re-listing fees here, eBay gets 20 cents with the basic $15 a month store. I was paying 5 cents with the Premium store but the store cost $50 EACH MONTH! It works for huge inventory but eventually your sales deplete that and you need to make decisions again. Takes all the fun out of it.

      • That is common sentiment from sellers. Unfortunately, it sounds like supply-side economics to me. If prices on COMC get too high, new sellers will come in to take advantage of the opportunity. The site’s SEO is what drives buyers to the site. It’s not the prices but the lack of selection that would turn them away, but out-of-stock items would probably affect the SEO as well.

        They said that about eBay too, that without sellers there would be no buyers. Did you see their quarterly numbers they announced today? They’re doing something right.

    • Thanks for your kind words, midcontrade. I’m really glad that your experience on our site has been so positive. Honestly, that’s our goal – to give every seller the opportunity to have a refreshing experience like the one you describe.
      Appreciate your comment,
      Jeremy

      • Not in favor of price controls. If a port is worth more than 10% people will pay it. If a $15 card is worth $3 and someone else has it for a buck then both should sell. Sometimes we are the cheapest. Sometimes we price ours midway and sit back and say “let the others below us get theirs and we will wait to get ours”
        No doubt..COMC is the way to go if the stress level of every day selling (or real life) gets in the way. One of our best local customers is an over the road truck driver. There is no way he could sell on Ebay or anywhere else because he doesn’t have time to list, ship etc. He used to carry a small box on his truck, list a few things here and there and then ship on the road when they sold. Now he has over 500 cards on this site and is doing well for himself. COMC is perfect for people like him.
        Time is money..whether you are a one man Ebay operation or someone like us. You are either paying yourself to do the work or paying others. We used to pay Beckett $250 a month for the site hosting plus about 15% in fees and were happy to do so until their site became so bungled with glitches and so many promises were broken that we finally gave up. I have no problem paying fair value for performance or production. I won’t pay 25 cents a card plus the other costs to list because we can do it for less here but I will certainly be sending in cards during this special and any others that bring the cost down to 20 cents or less. We have faith here in the site and the system. And we look forward to turning some of the extra stuff from around here into cards and coins for our local buyers.

      • Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it…I’m a collector, set builder and dealer. This to me is a HOBBY and always will be! I enjoy getting cards I want and selling the ones I don’t to get the cards I want. To me, store credit is simply a number I can use to buy more cards and wax from Blowout; your site is PERFECT and I for one GET IT! Sincerely, midcontrade

  23. Bummer, I’m in the military and just found out that I will be going deployed starting tonight and not returning until August 6th. Is there anything that can be done?

    • First of all thanks for your service. That goes for anyone else on here past and present who protect our right to live in this country (and Canada where I hold dual citizenship) where we can get up in arms about something “silly” like shipping fees and processing charges in relative safety.
      I would HOPE COMC would take care of you here.

    • Shoot our CS team an email, whoameye55. They’ll take care of you. Thanks for your service.
      Jeremy

  24. Jeremey,
    This question might be more appropriate in email form but I ask it because friends and family that I have got hooked on COMC have asked me and I don’t have a clue, so I am guess others may wonder to. What would prevent someone from taking advantage of your processing promo with no intent of ever selling there cards. In other words using COMC as a climate controlled warehouse. Is this something you guys have no problem with or is there a safe gaurd in place. Thanks For Your Time and thank you for fielding questions for us.

    • We don’t have any issue with that. If someone wants to send us their cards so they can get the research and scans done and have someone else hang on to the inventory for a while, that’s perfectly okay. If the items aren’t for sale they’ll never be assessed a storage fee.
      Thanks,
      Jeremy

  25. Hello all, I have been a COMC seller since 2009 and have to say, I have been waiting for a great special. Anyone who reads this, the 550ct box for $55 has not been offered in 2 to 3 years. I am referring to the 10 cent per card processing costs back in 2009/10. I will take advantage of all 5 boxes.

    One reservation that I have is what cards do I send in. Since the landscape on fee’s allocated to sellers will now adjust higher favoring the buyers for a perceived lower shipping cost, this is truly an experiment in pricing psychology. I used to send in $1 cards and hope to make 25 cents or higher profit (on lower end cards) however now my strategy will change to sending in min. book value cards of $2 and higher, hoping that my cards have little to no competition to gain the sale.

    The best value that COMC brings to our collecting community;
    1) There are enough buyers for cards as a small investment (to sell sooner than later) or collectible (to never sell for years/decades) so that at least you have an outlet for cards we just don’t need. Unless your cards are least desirable to 99.99% of buyers, you always have a chance to sit and sell them within the year or two.
    2) A lower cost monthly fee than fee-bay including store fee and per item fee. The 12% FVF plus 2.9% paypal plus other fee’s for listing don’t equal the 20% cash out, however at least you can use 100% of your sale to buy other cards underpriced which is a first for any card site.
    3) Ease of use to search for the exact player and card you want to buy.
    4) Hot Player index. For example, buyers/sellers jumped all over J.Lin cards when he got hot.
    5) My sales stats are easily managed.
    6) I never have to ship cards that need time to sell saving time and expense. COMC will have a better offer to buyers with reduced shipping fee’s making buying several cards easier.
    7) Collectors can voice their opinions and try an alter the decisions that COMC implements.
    8) One on one discussions with COMC by phone to resolve minor issues.
    9) The list goes on as to why selling on COMC is more manageable.

    The only concerns I have are that hiking fee’s to a min. of 25 cents per card, (add 5 cents per card for my shipping/insurance) which now puts my cost per card at 30 cents (for 90 days) then 12 cents per 12 months for card storage totaling 42 cents for one card per year after initial 90 days.

    Doing the math, and wanting to earn at least 25 cents net profit per card (actual avg is $2 per card)
    i have to realize the forward cost per card policies and inventory my store accordingly.

    I will use the auction houses for finer cards that justify that side of business and ebay for everything not mentioned above. Using the proper channels to sell cards online is all that anyone should be doing. My key is understand the business costs and adjusting the inventory as needed.

    Cheers to all, and to the many that attend the National, please bring back the tougher redemption cards so that I can buy them from you for future sales.

    Jerry

  26. How will vintage comments be handled for cards in the 550 count box? Will they still be done for $55 or will additional fees be added? What about stamps, coins or rub-offs? Thanks.

    • Good question! The $55 is in place of what would have been the normal $0.20/card fee – it does not cover extra fees such as toploader removal charge, oversize/special size item charges (poker chips or coins for example), or condition notes. I’ll add that detail to the post. Thanks for bringing that up.
      Jeremy

  27. Seeing as 550 count boxes NEVER actually hold 550 cards, can one send a larger box that actually holds the full 550 cards and qualify?

      • It probably has to do with the ease of shipping 550-count boxes. (The width fits in flat rate boxes quite nicely). I’d recommend submitting thin cards or minis to take advantage of the promotion.

    • Hi, Jim. The special is intended to be “$55/box” and not a per-card special. Joel is correct that 550 count boxes are very easy for us to process, so they’re the focus of the deal.
      Thanks!

      • So, can you send in a larger box say a 660 count box for the $55.00 special? As long as its no more than 550 cards???

  28. Please post the reasoning behind the new shipping idea. Charging buyers to ship an item that they don’t want shipped? Why not just charge shipping to the person who actually wants the item shipped. Again please post the reasoning behind this.

    • It’s addressed in the post that announced the change. The short answer is that buyers spend more money when shipping is subsidized. It’s not intuitive until you think about it the way buyers think about things.

      If for some reason it doesn’t work out, you can be sure they’ll try something else or switch it back. It doesn’t make sense for them to switch to something permanently if it makes them less money.

      • Joel,Seriously why dont you let COMC answer peoples questions, That way they may be on here more answering peoples concerns instead of you doing it with your best guess for them.

      • Hi Lee. I’m not so sure that that is how online communities work. If you only want COMC to answer a question, you should probably call or email them directly, or send them a DM on Twitter.

    • Tripp…I am not a compensated (or uncompensated) spokesman for COMC so take this for what it is worth…
      COMC has gotten to the point where a combination of them needing money and the belief that users will pay just about anything for them to do your work for you that they will “continue taking risks and pushing the boundaries” (their words) until the public/consumers say…ENOUGH..
      The good news is unlike Scambay, these guys are smart enough to adjust things if there is enough evidence something is not working.

      • COMC has gotten to the point where a combination of them needing money and the belief that users will pay just about anything for them to do your work for you that they will “continue taking risks and pushing the boundaries” (their words) until the public/consumers say

        lol, that’s pretty much what our country is built on.

      • Maximoose you may be right…but it seems there is something in the water on the west side of the country as Ebay and some of the sportscard dealers who reside there have shown…arrogrance and an over inflated sense of self worth tend to quickly rub people the wrong way. I was hoping COMC would not fall into that trap despite their geographc location.
        For us here these changes have motivated us to send it 4 boxes of inserts that we plan to flip for vintage or coins and beyond that it has motivated me to hire someone else to work 20 hours a week here in the office starting in the fall.

      • I’m excited about the addition of the coins. Any idea on the time table for this?

      • Not sure who said ‘end of year’ for coins (it might well have been me, I’ve been talking a lot lately) but I think that’s going to end up being a fairly optimistic estimate. There’s a few technical hurdles to coin implementation that don’t exist for several other collectibles which will likely be rolled out first based on ease of integration.
        Thanks,
        Jeremy

  29. I like the site in general. I use it to downsize my collection, sell some cards, and buy a few cards that I need for sets I have been working on for a long time.but what bothers me is certain people buying common cards that I could use for sets and trying to charge (flip them) full book value or over for them. The BV listed is Beckett’s high BV and most common cards do not sell for even 1/3 HI BV. I price most of my cards in the 20-30% BV range and though it helps sell a few more cards (to flippers) I would rather be able to buy the cards that I need for sets at a (more) reasonable price

    I also don’t like my email account’s inbox filling up with every offer (wouldn’t like to get any email for offers) I get but I think I can have that changed if I give you guys a call.

    Regarding the fees, and 20% commission, would it be possible to have more companies advertise on your site to keep these fees at the current level?

  30. Duuuuude! Awesome. I have been crunching the numbers ala Kramer and Newman planning the Michigan bottle deposit trip and this is the just the thing I need to make it work.
    Thank you!!

  31. Then again…none of this matters if they can’t keep the site up. All of the excuses and justifications that the Silicon Valley Think Tank can generate are rendered pointless if neither sellers or buyers can use the site. I really hope this site is not going the way of the Beckett Marketplace…fee hikes…site glitches…promises of positive change and a couple of high volume users trying to sit alone at the top of the mountain and telling everyone else that they just don’t get it. In the case of the BMP…checked their dealer forums this morning and 9 months after we left the same issues are still unfixed.
    The movie wasn’t good the first time…..and really did not need a second rendition. COMC gained alot of marketshare from the downfall of the BMP…both buyers and sellers. And now…many of those buyers and sellers are wondering what is next.

    • Good points. They are pushing the boundaries for sure. All I freaking want is an explanation of WHY. If they need more money then they should just say it. They need to be open about it. If offering “free” shipping doubles the amount of buyers then it was a great idea. I just want to know what the reasoning is.

      • Hi, Tripp. Tim is writing a follow-up blog post that I hope will respectfully address your questions.
        Thanks,
        Jeremy

  32. I wonder if there will be some sort of compensation for the ever increasing downtime.
    Tread lightly COMC…as Beckett will tell you…sellers and buyers have very little patience these days.Sellers who pay fee upon fee expect a stable site and buyers will simply shop elsewhere when the lights are off here.

    • I’m pretty sure COMC wants their site accessible to everyone 100% of the time and they aren’t excited about the outages either. I’m puzzled by this mentality of “hey, no fair” and “give me something”. I definitely understand being unhappy about it, but it looks like COMC responds as quickly as possible.
      When you sign up to use their site, you basically agree to use the site “as is”. It’s in the terms of user agreement no one reads, but is standard on every website. As follows from their UA/TOS page:
      No Warranty of the System: CheckOutMyCards.com provides the Service on this website “as is,” “with all faults” and “as available,” and the entire risk as to satisfactory quality, performance, accuracy, and effort is with you. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, CheckOutMyCards.com makes no representations, warranties or conditions, express or implied, and expressly disclaims any and all warranties or conditions, express, statutory, and implied, including without limitation (1) warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, workmanlike effort, accuracy, title, quiet enjoyment, no encumbrances, no liens and non infringement, (2) warranties or conditions arising through course of dealing or usage of trade, and (3) warranties or conditions of uninterrupted or error free access or use.

      • Thank you for the lesson in user agreement jargon. Believe me after years on the Beckett Marketplace we became well versed in the loopholes/excuses contained within a user agreement when it comes to protecting a sites backside on downtime.
        Do they have to do anything? No of course not… And maybe I don’t know anything after being in business for 20 years but sometimes you do more than you have to in order to keep customers happy. Especially when you as a site are asking customers to trust you with their inventories….

  33. If this has been answered in this post or in the explosive new shipping charge post, I apologize but I didn’t see it.
    Are all these cards we will be submitting on this National promo be grandfathered in so as not to be hit with the new shipping charge changes?

    • Hi, Joto.
      When we implement a change to the shipping rate (i.e. last spring when we lowered it from $0.25/card to $.20/card or now when we’re looking at changing it back), the change will affect all cards on the site simultaneously. We’re also planning on changing the fee assessment process – that is to say, at what point in the process the shipping fee is applied (time of purchase vs time of shipment request). Our exact implementation of that part of things hasn’t been finalized yet, since we’re still comparing options to determine what is wisest.
      Thanks,
      Jeremy

  34. What if I don’t have a 550 count box and I’m not able to purchase one on time to be involved in this special (1-5 Aug 12).

    I’m currently deployed in Afghanistan and have no means of purchasing a “550 count box” locally. I love to participate in this upcoming special for Nationals. This past year I have purchased over $10,000 worth of Hobby boxes from “Blowout Cards” and I have plenty of Stars and Rookies to mail-in.

    My question is; can I put the cards in a larger count box with a max of 550 each.

    Thanks, Alex

    • Alex – I’m sure COMC will let you send in another size box but it not, I will gladly cover the difference to make sure you get the special

      Thank you for your service
      Rookies_n_Jerseys

    • Hi, Alex. We’re happy to work with you to make sure you get to take advantage of our processing special. Please shoot the CS team a note (staff@comc.com) letting them know your situation and they’ll be able to hook you up.
      Thanks!
      Jeremy

      • Thanks Jeremy for the support and the opportunity you’re providing me to participate in this special. This is great and thank you for the support. There is no limit to collecting Sports Card even during my deployment in Afghanistan. Once again thank you!!!

  35. Can we pay fees by check at the National? I just created my account and if I start submitting it will be at the National

    • Good question! We don’t accept any payments at the National to keep things simple for our team (if we do then Baltimore makes us fill out a zillion tax forms) but if you put a check in the mail you can still drop cards off with us there as long as you let us know the check is on its way.
      Thanks,
      Jeremy

  36. Hey Jeremy

    I have but two questions as a buyer only.

    1. How long will I be able to ship cards at the existing rate of 10/$3.99 + $.20 ea.?
    2. Will we have an advance warning so I can pull the shipping trigger on cards already purchased (I’m still buying) or does the new fee system even affect what is already purchased and in My Shipments? I have over 120 cards ready to ship.

    Sorry, that may be 3 questions.
    Thanks…………Brian

    • Hi, Brian.
      Although we’ll only be accepting card drop-offs for $0.25/card + $0/batch at the National, you can still mail us cards at the legacy price of $0.20/card + $3/batch for the next couple months.
      The update to shipping fees (when we no longer run our “Limited time offer: Standard shipping only $3.99 for first 10 cards and only $0.20/card after that” deal) will go into effect on August 1st.
      Thanks,
      Jeremy

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