Greetings, COMC community!

As many of you have noticed, we have a new way to enter your submission information on the COMC website. Some of you have already started using this new Submit Items process, and we hope that you’ve found it easy to use. For those of you who haven’t checked it out yet, we’d like to use this opportunity to tell you more about it and hopefully answer some of your questions.

Q. Why the new process?

A. As COMC continues to grow, we’ve been actively looking for more opportunities for you to submit your items. We’ve added a second office in Canada, increased the number of shows that we attend so you can drop off submissions in person, and, in the very near future, you’ll even be able to submit items to your COMC account at select local card shops. We want submissions to be easy and convenient; increasing the number of submission services and locations is a big part of that.

As we find new ways to get your items into COMC, however, we do want to standardize the process and the paperwork so that we can receive and process all of your items as accurately and efficiently as possible. As we continue to move into comics, memorabilia, and other new-to-COMC types of collectibles, this standardization will become even more important.

This new Submit Items process is designed to be extremely user-friendly, and will be compatible with all of the product lines that we accept. It enables you to easily print Submission Slips with detailed information and barcodes for each item type and service level. Just print and include one with each portion of your order and we’ll take care of the rest.

Q. Any big changes I should know about?

A. The new Submit Items process still asks you to break down your submission by service level (One Month, One Week, etc.).  You’ll also need to separate your submission by item type, for example:

• Standard Size Trading Cards
• Oversized Trading Cards
• Standard Size Gaming Cards
• Oversized Gaming Cards

After telling us what types of items you’re sending us and what service level you want, you’ll then tell us how many of each item you’re sending us. You can specify whether your quantity is approximate or exact, and you can break larger quantities down into smaller quantities we’re referring to as Groups. For example, if you’re sending us three smaller card boxes inside a larger mailing box, you’ll want to consider each of the smaller boxes as a separate Group, as if you’re sending three boxes of 400 each rather than one box of 1200. (See the video above for a demonstration.)

You’ll get a Submission Slip for each Group/Item Type/Service Level, which you’ll include with each group of items that you submit. When we process your shipment, each Group will be separated into its own batch and given its own transaction number. So if you send in a shipment comprised of both regular and graded cards, it will be processed as two separate transactions instead of one. Please be aware that just like when you combine service levels within a single shipment, each transaction will be subject to its own minimum batch fee – so you’ll want to make sure that you send enough of each item type to meet each minimum.

There are a few other changes as well:

• New pricing structure for graded and oversized cards
• More submission location options, including a list of upcoming shows that we’ll be attending, in case you’d like to drop off your items in person and save shipping costs.

Q. Why has the cost of processing Graded Cards increased for One Month service?

We are laying the groundwork for our new drop-off locations.  All of our non-bulk services factor in the cost of shipping the items to us from a drop-off location.  We decided not to offer a different rate for people mailing One Month items to us instead of dropping them off because we want to encourage them to visit a local drop-off location instead.

We expect to have 10-15 permanent drop-off locations spread across the US and Canada by by the end of this year, and we hope to add hundreds more over the next couple years.

Q. I noticed some new service level options. What are these new “Bulk” services?

Many of you have been asking for additional service level choices that don’t quite fall in line with our normal One Month/One Week/One Day options, and we’re pleased to announce some new options:

Bulk Ten Week offers our lowest processing rates for those of you who value economy over speed (some restrictions apply). Bulk Two Week offers a nice sweet spot between our normal One Month and One Week services – affordable and quick. And we even have a Bulk Two Day service if you need it. Please be aware that all Bulk services have a $100 minimum batch fee, and while they may not fit your needs if you only have a few items to send in, we hope you’ll take advantage of these new services for your larger submissions. Here’s the bulk pricing chart:

These are new, additional options.  Our processing fees have not changed for standard size items. 

So that’s the new Submit Items process. You’ll note in the video that the old method is still active, but we’re phasing that out very soon. If you have any additional questions or thoughts about submitting items, please let us know in the comments below. Thanks!

* The following restrictions apply to the Bulk 10 Week service:
– Items must be grouped in lots of 100 or more items from the exact same set.
– No penny sleeves
– No serial numbered items
– No vintage (pre-1980)