Monthly Archives: December 2013

Changing the Shape of COMC in 2014

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I hope all of you enjoyed some wonderful holidays and are prepared for an exciting new year. At COMC, I know that’s the case. To get things started, we have a very big announcement to make.

A Bit of History
Six and a half years ago we made our first appearance at the National Sports Collectors Convention to unveil our innovative consignment concept. From day one, we wanted to offer a service where people could see the scans of the actual cards alongside the catalog information, including book value.

We were very fortunate to grab the attention of Dr. Jim Beckett and Peter Gudmundsson, the CEO of Beckett at the time. Jim was very interested in our ideas and recommended that Beckett do what it could to help us see where this concept could go. Within a few months we had our first data licensing agreement signed.

Since the beginning, we have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Beckett, allowing us to focus on our core competencies while utilizing some of theirs. We are very grateful for this relationship and thankful for their support while we grew from literally nothing to become the second largest marketplace for single sports cards. Being second to eBay is not too shabby.

Changing Tides
A few years back the ownership of Beckett changed hands, and earlier this month the new owner informed me that Beckett is no longer interested in partnering with us.

What does this mean for COMC?
We will replace the catalog data we received from Beckett over the years with a new catalog we are building from scratch. We will also replace the book value information on the website with a new “suggested list price” based on our sales data.

While these are daunting tasks that will require enormous amounts of effort, all of us here at COMC are eager to participate in this project. COMC was built by collectors for collectors. We listen to your needs and care deeply about providing the best service possible for you. Now we have the incredible opportunity to offer that same level of service for catalog and pricing data.

Temporary Impact on COMC Services
We look forward to rolling out these updates over the next several months, but in the meantime there will be a transition period where we cannot offer all of the same services we have historically offered.

  1. Static Book Prices – Until we establish our new “suggested list price”, the book values listed on the website will not be updated.
  2. Consolidated Processing Services – We will post another blog entry announcing the temporarily changed processing services we will offer while our sports card experts create the new catalog.
  3. Interim Catalog Data – While we replace the catalog data, there may be periods where we don’t have all of the same data we previously had.

Long Term Impact on COMC Services
This is where things get really exciting. Here are some of the changes we expect to see.

  • More detailed and accurate catalog based on actual, verified cards
  • Pricing data that is tuned to our marketplace
  • Freedom to list our data on any site, service, or marketplace we choose
  • Ability to sell or give away data

What do you want to see?

  • What card attributes would you like to search, filter, and sort by?
  • Do you want to contribute to the new catalog? Should we charge for pricing data so we can pay those who contribute to the catalog?
  • Where else would you like your cards listed and advertised?

On a Personal Note
I couldn’t be more excited about the possibilities ahead of us. Since I was 9 years old, I have studied price guides. I went on to get my Bachelor of Science in Math and Master of Science in Computer Science. The first piece of software I ever wrote was to help me build complete sets of sports. I spent 10 years with Microsoft helping design and build Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access. I literally design databases, write code, and solve math problems in my sleep. I have put in my 10,000 hours, and I am finally free to do a project that I was born to do.

The New Year brings a great opportunity to partner with you to explore the many ways our catalog and pricing data can benefit collectors. Please let me know what hopes and ideas you have for this new service in the comments below. I will personally read every one of them.

Happy 2014!

Tim Getsch
Founder and CEO
COMC.com

Happy Holidays, Enjoy what matters most

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15 years ago Julia and I first met.  At the time, I was living in the basement at my parents’ house while going to grad school at the University of Minnesota.  Parts of my room were literally filled from floor to ceiling with sports cards, computers, and text books.

Now we work together in a building filled with 10 million sports cards, 100+ computers, and even those old text books.  This week, that education really paid off, and I was able to invent some new technology that uses my math and computer science degrees to analyze images of sports cards.  We have been literally burning the midnight oil to prepare for a major announcement coming out in the next week.

In the meantime, please enjoy the things that matter most in life, and have a very happy holidays!

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COMC Hot List – taking a holiday break!

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HI everyone! We’re very sorry for the lateness of this post, things have been hopping here at COMC as we’re gearing up for the last few days of the 2013 holiday season.

Making that list, and checking it twice…

We should have made this announcement yesterday, but the COMC Hot List is taking a break for the holidays; we have some folks taking time off to visit their families, making observances for the times, or just giving themselves a little break from all the high energy of these days.

With this in mind, we’re going to suspend the COMC Hot List until January 8th. When the holiday dust settles, and things return to something that resembles normal around here, we’ll be getting back into the swing of things and the Hot List will be making it’s way back.

Thanks for being a part of the madness and fun that is COMC. And, if we don’t get a chance to tell you later, we hope you all have a great and safe holiday season.

COMC Hot List: December 4th to December 18th

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Hello COMC Nation! So, there’s all this talk about “Turkey-this” and “Something-Friday” and some dude named “Santa” sneaking down chimneys sometime in December? Really? Sounds a little dodgy to us, ya know? But, you know what’s totally legit? That’s right, the COMC Hot List! It’s that time, once again, where we let you know what cards we’re thinking are going to be big sellers and we give you the opportunity to get them on COMC.com as quickly as possible.

So, here it is…the COMC Hot List for December 4th to December 18th!

The Hot List Theme

Since one of the biggest American holidays of the year (Thanksgiving, in case you missed it…) just passed us by, we thought it would be fun if we made the theme somewhat holiday-related. So, we’re accepting any Topps Turkey cards, as part of the COMC Hot List.

So what does being on the Hot List mean?

COMC wants to encourage our users to get these hot cards into your accounts to offer for sale as quickly as possible, so starting today, any cards submitted for the Hot List will qualify for our “Hot List Special” processing. With this service, you will receive One Day processing at the special Hot List price: $0.50 per raw card and $1.00 per graded, encased, or jumbo card.

  • Clearly write “Hot List Special” on the outer mailing package and/or the address label.
  • $5 minimum batch fee (We recommend submitting 10+ items.)
  • 200 item maximum per week
  • Must be postmarked by December 18th, 2013
  • Can be mailed to either our US or Canadian office
  • Any submissions received on a Friday or Saturday may not be processed until the following Monday.
  • Submissions with non-Hot List items mixed in will be downgraded to One Week service.
  • Redemption cards may qualify for Hot List pricing, but will take up to a week to process.

You’re welcome to submit Hot List batches at the same time that you submit other batches with different service levels, even if they’re mailed in the same package, but please make sure that each batch is clearly separated and labeled, and that “Hot List Special” is written on the outside of the mailing package and/or mailing label. Failure to have the outside of the package properly marked may delay the time in which your cards are processed.

Thanks for your input for this new Hot List! Be sure to watch our Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ pages for the next Hot List Call Out in a week!

And, for our friends outside the United States, please join us on our new COMC International Facebook page, and follow our new COMC International Twitter feed.

Cyber Monday: the Last Day!

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It’s Cyber Monday, the last day of this big sales weekend! There are more than 1,000 sellers running promotions, and almost everything on the site is on sale.
1969 Topps #260 - Reggie Jackson RC (Rookie Card)
There are a few things to remember to do before midnight tonight!

  • Make your final purchases before the sales end
  • Place your shipping request to still qualify for Free Shipping
  • Spend all Cyber Monday Shopping Spree winnings

Be sure you make the most of the last day of this awesome weekend.