New “Submit Items” Process

Posted on by

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:

BULK TEN WEEK

BULK TWO WEEK

BULK TWO DAY
Standard Size Trading or Gaming Cards

20¢ per item *

35¢ per item

$1.50 per item
Oversize Trading or Gaming Cards

50¢ per item

$1.00 per item

$2.00 per item

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)

30 thoughts on “New “Submit Items” Process”

    • Thanks for the reminder. We forgot to include the reasoning for this in the post. It has been added now. The reason is that 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.

  2. Agreed. I have some baseball coins to submit, and $1 a pop prices me out of sending most of what I have. It also likely prevents other people from sending coins in, which will mean it’s highly unlikely that I’ll be able to upgrade my set using COMC.

    Has a date been set to end the old submission pricing? I’d like to get the few coins I have now onto the site.

  3. Tim I understand and respect your reasons.. But at $1 an item the cost to do the work ourselves VS letting you guys do it becomes prohibitive for us. We can do the listing at a rate of about 25 cents an item labor….Paying you guys 25 cents extra for the convenience was something we could stomach… To pay 75 cents though, and have the inventory not go live for a month…and not have access to that inventory…makes it not worth it for us. I am sure others who do not have the time or resources to do it themselves will continue to bite the bullet. I would be interested to know how many other full time businesses would be willing to pay $1 an item… We have a stack here of several hundred Inkworks autographs in top loaders that we were planning on sending to you in July. But at $1…it won’t happen.

    • I appreciate the point you make. We definitely want to keep communicating with our users to see what works well with our services and what we can improve, and that includes reevaluating price points / processing timelines. For a user with only a few items, the increase in cost will hopefully be offset by savings from not having to pay for shipping (assuming a suitably close drop-off location) – that is the intention. For users with hundreds of items we have developed the bulk services to effectively allow users to elect to ship their items themselves. These changes are new and community involvement will be important to us as we evaluate things.

      Thanks,
      Jeremy

      • “What is the point of having drop off locations? We have post offices in every corner of the U.S. and Canada.”

        That’s a great question…especially since it now costs us twice as much, (in some cases), to use those post office “drop-off locations”.

        Look, I understand why it’s important to have drop off locations at hobby shops. But I don’t want to be punished with double fees because I do the work myself of packaging and shipping directly to COMC through the USPS.

  4. I have no idea how people send items in to land on COMC. With all of the charges, notifications, selections, shipping, and restrictions it seems like it would take many hours to learn how to submit cards… especially for people doing this for fun, not as a business. The video ‘walk through’ itself is almost 6 minutes. There’s too many rules period. I will always love the site for buying, but my hat is off to the sellers who decipher all of these hoops to jump through.

    • Hi, betthepikey.
      We try to find the balance between not overcomplicating things and still having a system that is standardized enough to help our processing team handle packages in the most efficient way. It is true that the vid I made explaining each step was 6 minutes, but I go through the process twice in the walkthrough and the second time it only takes me about twenty seconds.
      Thanks for your feedback!
      Jeremy

  5. Jeremy… for bulk service for larger items… do they all have to be from the same set…or are they exempt from that and basically if you want them up for 50 cents you need to wait up to 10 weeks?

    • (I know we already talked about this in another conversation, but I want to answer here again for the benefit of anyone browsing these comments)
      Oversize/graded items are exempt from the restrictions on standard-size bulk service. They do not all need to be from the same set.
      Thanks!
      Jeremy

  6. Just last night I put 166 1995 Traks cards penny sleeves, and put them in a 200 count box.
    Ten weeks that’s BS, You have just killed a growing business. I am about ready to pull out.
    Chuck

    • Hi, Charles. Our basic services haven’t changed at all for standard-size cards: our One Month service is still available for $0.25/item and we don’t plan to change it.
      For folks who want to send in large volumes and aren’t in a hurry we now also offer a Bulk processing service for $0.20/item, but it takes longer and has some restrictions.
      Thanks!
      Jeremy

  7. I’m not happy about the $1 charge for over-sized/graded cards now either, especially if it’s because you want to encourage me to drive to a “local” drop-off point. Where I live, I can guarantee you won’t have anything close to me, and the gas it will take to get to one will cost me way more than the implied savings.

    I might not mind waiting 10 weeks for the old pricing, BUT, I need to know…

    – Are over-sized and/or graded cards exempt from needing to be from the same set?
    – Can we please pack graded cards safely without needing a different batch fee for smaller boxes inside one larger, flat-rate box? (It will be tough meeting minimum requirements with flat rate boxes unless we risk damage in shipping because we cannot include smaller boxes in a larger box).

    • Hi, mwheeler27. Yes, oversize/graded items ARE exempt from the restrictions on standard-size bulk service. We did away with batch fees a while ago and now only charge service minimums: for all normal services (One Month/One Week/One Day) the minimum is $5; for all bulk services the minimum is $100. You’re free to pack graded cards in with normal cards and you won’t be hit with multiple batch fees.
      Thanks!
      Jeremy

  8. Also, where is the “old submit items” link? It’s been less than 24 hours since your announcement, and your post and video say we can still use the old link for a limited time. Did you really mean this limited amount of time…less than 24 hours?

  9. I would like to know about these drop of locations… When I drop an insured package to the USPS they cards are tracked and insured against loss or damage. What are my assurances/insurance when dropping cards off at a drop off location? What happens if there is theft/damage while at the drop off location? What are my assurances this will not happen?
    Guys to me if someone chooses to drop off cards I can see them being charged the higher rate.. If I want to mail my cards in at my own expense then I fail to see the rational behind paying more for the same service… Unless it is simply a fee increase.

    • We’ll be doing several dedicated blog posts for the drop-off location program specifically addressing insurance, security, etc. as we get ready to roll out the first round of locations. Those issues are of paramount importance to us.
      Thanks!
      Jeremy

  10. Perhaps someone can suggest an option for me, I am not in the sport card business. I do not plan on being. I do have a bunch of low value cards, and I would like too trade them for other bunch of low value cards. What is the best way for me to go about doing this?

  11. Ok, so let me get this straight. The slowest and cheapest service is the one that has some of the most restrictions? No penny sleeves (which I don’t use for submissions anyway), no serial numbered items (why is that?), 100 or more items from the EXACT same set (meaning, I can’t submit insert cards from a set with base cards because they are not the EXACT same set…ie: I can’t submit 2012 refractors unless I have 100 of the exact same ones [100 orange or 100 purple, but not 50 of each?]). Or, if I CAN mix refractors….let’s use 2012 chrome football as an example, can I submit regular base cards, tall boys, refractors (all colors) and other inserts/parallel’s such as xfractors?

    My point is, these restrictions are crippling and even confusing in today’s complicated card collecting world. Add to that my continued annoyance that some people used to submit (and still do) cards for the 25 cent processing free and then are trying to sell the cards for 20 cents or less and take a loss just to get rid of the card and undercut… Someone please explain to me why you would sell a card for less than the processing fee. Why not go to your front door and throw nickels and dimes out of it each day instead? Even if someone gave you the cards for free, you are STILL taking a loss because of the processing fee and shipping cost. Sorry about my soapbox rant, but I guess this triggered it!

    I have enjoyed this site, but some other places to sell are starting to look a lot more attractive. I am very sad about that. So, how close to northwest Iowa is one of these drop off locations going to be? lol. Sorry, some of my comments are meant in humor, but you are taking a good thing and making it not so good, IMO. I have been a huge supporter of this site as a seller and buyer with my positive word of mouth comments to people. I do not make these comments in disrespect, but in concern.

  12. Jordan keep in mind some of those cheap cards may have been shipped in during a processing special…or bought as part of a port… The only other reason I can see selling at a loss would be as a tax write off?

    • Hi, JordansSportscards. I’m happy to address your post. I don’t usually work on the weekend which is why I did not have the opportunity before now.

      Your summary is fair: our slowest and cheapest service is the one that has the most restrictions. We charge based on how much work it takes us to process an item, and any cost increases or discounts reflect that calculation. Based on customer requests we looked at what it would take for us to offer a $0.20 service, and the answer is that the batch sizes would need to be large, the inventory would need to be from the same set, and we’d need to not have to worry about certain variations. The normal $0.25 processing for four weeks is still available and we have no plans to change or remove it, this is simply another option for people who have the time and would like to save a little money.

      When we say “same set” we mean any item that could potentially be opened out of one pack (Upper Deck Masterpieces had Yankee Stadium Legacy inserts in some packs for example, so those would be okay to send in with a bunch of Masterpieces). If it’s the same product but two different years, that’s two different sets.

      For the pick-up locations we’ve received a lot of applicaitons from card shops and we’re reviewing them methodically. We’ll be addressing this service more specifically in an upcoming blog post so please check back in and let us know what you think once we’ve had an opportunity to clarify the vision. COMC thrives on an active an involved community so please keep participating and we’ll keep listening and trying to improve what we can offer.

      Thanks!
      Jeremy

      • I have received a clarification on this, and my first explaination was not correct:
        In this case “Same Set” means exactly the same set. The items need to be organized so that we don’t have to jump from parallel to insert to main set to other parallel. I apologize for my error.
        Thanks,
        Jeremy

  14. So… just to be 100% clear… I just bought a bunch of 1999 Topps baseball inserts… All of those could be sent in at the 20 cent rate as long as I have 500 of them?

    Let me address this… do you guys REALLY want the site flooded with 500 cards that way? At what point does the site become flooded with “bulk”? With those restrictions the ability to BULK quality items is going to be very very limited so you will either get base cards or piles of generic unnumbered inserts.

    I understand the desire to not have batches of 25 cards get listed for $5 but I would STRONGLY suggest you consider cutting that bulk price down to $20… It won’t mean as much money for you at one shot but it will give folks the opportunity to send in a greater in smaller batches.. Unless your goal as a company is to compete with Beckett for largest number of 1988 Donruss… I know one dealer who loves to rock about cards like that and how people line up to buy them from him but I never saw a market for them here.

  15. Ouch.. Jeremy having read your update there is no doubt in my mind that this will lead to nothing but piles of bulk commons being sent in…along with maybe the occasional bricks of 1987 Topps Mike Aldrete rookies… Or am I missing an obvious use? Does COMC want to get into the commons business?
    If you guys are having the 20 cent price point out there just to say you have it in hopes that it won’t be used much then that’s fine but if you want it used, and want to have better “quality” of stuff coming in, I would again strongly suggest cutting that $100 price point WAY down..

    • Hi, TripleAvintage Sportscards. The service is totally new so we’ll definitely be looking at the volume folks send in as well as the actual item breakdown as we assess whether it’s appropriately serving the need it’s intended for. We’ve always wanted to expand our target market both on the high and low end of the spectrum, so our hope is that this is a step in the right direction.
      Thanks,
      Jeremy

  16. Thanks for your response. I was feeling better about it all until you went back a “received clarification”. That clarification was like a nail right into the coffin! You’d better open up a new warehouse just to store all of the 1990 Donruss Baseball that will be coming in via moster boxes! lol. But seriously, you might take a bath as people sent in their “junk” because they know you will store it for free if they keep the price on it low enough. I can see you taking a huge hit on this and then having to adapt/make even more changes. In the end, it goes back to what I said: you are taking what was a good thing and turning it into something not nearly as good, IMO. In the end, it’s going to be the “sellers” who get screwed (just like many sellers do on ebay). I am very concerned and worried about this.

    • Hi, JordansSportscards. It’s possible, for sure; change is always a risk. I don’t think we’ll see a flood of early 90’s giveaway cards since folks will still want to send in stuff that will sell on average for more than a quarter. In any case, I wouldn’t worry about anything else changing because of this new service. We take precautions to make sure that introducing new services won’t wipe us out, even if they’re more popular than we expected. Our hope is that this service will be a great option for some people and irrelevant to everyone else – not a negative to anyone.
      Thanks,
      Jeremy

      • You must be forgetting you are pulling 20% after charging me all of the upfront fees. I have sold several thousand dollars worth of cards through Comc, $200 profit per thousand is a very good profit, charging more front loaded fees will send me out the door.
        Bill Vauthrin
        Oft

Comments are closed.