Do your homework - Save some $$$

[Drewk86a]

Since COMC has begun their ebay saturation, I have had more cards to look through for my PC. I still check the COMC website for easier searches and this morning it really paid off.

Today, I discovered a new listing on ebay for a card I had been hunting for years. The BIN price was just over $20. I was prepared to slap the BIN button but then saw the "fulfilled by COMC consignment" endorsement. I went over to COMC.com to make sure it was the card I wanted (there are multiple versions) and found the exact same card (from the same seller!) on sale for under $4.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1997-Totally...cAAOSwFe5XypJm

http://www.comc.com/Cards/Hockey/199...ubrus/11636914

Sellers on COMC set their own prices and, apparently, the ebay listings are not updated if a price change is made.

So, always check COMC before buying a COMC card on ebay. You might be surprised to find one at a lower price.

{Interesting side note: If I had bought the ebay version for $20+ would the seller have received the full amount? He lowered his price to $4. Would COMC give him the full $20, or would they give him $4 and keep the other $16 for themselves? Hmmmm.}

[RGM81]

If you see a COMC card on eBay always buy it from COMC, especially if you're in Canada.

[Sharky94]

If you see a COMC card on eBay always buy it from COMC, especially if you're in Canada.

Exactly, because then you don't even have to pay the shipping until you are ready for a full shipment from COMC. And of course, you can always try to negotiate the price on COMC, when on EBay it has to be a BIN.

[FrankToronto]

Good advice!

[Mon-FriPlane]

Thanks for the heads up!

[creasecollector]

If you see a COMC card on eBay always buy it from COMC, especially if you're in Canada.

Agreed. I've seen a few COMC listings on eBay that are way too overpriced when compared to the actual card listing on COMC's website.

[30ranfordfan]

Really simple.....

Seller has the card prices at $20.25, but he's running a sale. Those sale prices are NOT reflected on eBay. This could happen to any card you see on eBay, with any seller.

That sale will (eventually) end though, and the cards will go back to being $20.25 on COMC.

To answer the question - No, COMC would not have been able to pocket the extra $16 had you bought in on eBay, but they would have pocketed some......

If you sell a card on COMC, there is a 25 cent fee included in the price that the buyer sees, and that goes to COMC, not the seller. That's flat on anything up to $75 (when it jumps to 50 cents) or $1 if it's an oversized or slabbed card.

Here's the kicker, and why it's going to be better for buyers almost 100% of the time to go over to COMC though.....

If sellers have their cards listed on eBay (and Amazon) they are agreeing to take a 20% hit in the price, which is paid to COMC. So if you bought it for $20.25: COMC gets a quarter (flat fee) and seller gets $20 if you buy it via the site.... but the seller would only get $16.20 (80%, flat fee doesn't apply here) if they sell it on eBay, and COMC would get the other $4.05 (granted, some of that goes to eBay).

Sooooo, I would think any seller who agrees to take the 20% hit to sell on other sites, would also agree to an offer within COMC that's 80% of their ask. If you see a card listed for $20 on COMC and eBay - I would bet in almost any case... that seller would take $16. They might not, but they probably are. If you're willing to toss away 20% using another portal to sell, I would expect that you're will to give it up direct to the buyer.

On top of all that, by buying from COMC directly, you can accumulate the cards and have them shipped (flat) together, instead of paying for shipping each time.


For buyers, it will always be better to go directly to the site.

[Drewk86a]

If sellers have their cards listed on eBay (and Amazon) they are agreeing to take a 20% hit in the price, which is paid to COMC.

If I read that correctly, you are saying that COMC charges a 20% consigners fee. When you consider that eBay takes a 10% Final Value Fee and Paypal takes 2.9% transaction fee...

For a COMC consigned sale, the seller takes a 32.9% hit right out of the gate! Wow!

[30ranfordfan]

Not exactly....

If you sell a card on COMC, via eBay, COMC takes 20%. That's it. With that 20% they're eating any other fees that have been incurred. Due to the volume they're moving cards at.... I suspect they've negotiated something lower than 10% with eBay.

If I read that correctly, you are saying that COMC charges a 20% consigners fee. When you consider that eBay takes a 10% Final Value Fee and Paypal takes 2.9% transaction fee...

For a COMC consigned sale, the seller takes a 32.9% hit right out of the gate! Wow!

[finlandblack39]

There are many reasons why I always exclude seller:comc_consignment, when I search something on Ebay.

Especially that shipping cost makes me crazy(28$). Better to use comc.com site.

Marko