COMC - accepting the reality

[Drewk86a]

Last month, I moved all of my transferable UD epack cards to comc.com. Figured I'd price them for quick sell and raise some quick cash I could use to buy PC cards. Figuring a buyer would always buy the lowest price card, I had to price mine at or below the lowest price already listed. That meant a low price of $0.30 for many cards with the profits being split 83/30 in comc's favor (they got 25 cents per sale and I got 5 cents).

One month later I have sold 198 cards and made a whopping $34 in store credit (comc made $48) . I planned to "cash out" my store credit and move it to paypal for eBay use until I saw that that comc charges a 20% cash out fee. That mean's they would take another $7.62 from my balance, leaving me with a total profit of $26.38. All in all comc.com took 65% of the sales from my cards leaving me with 35% in my credit. Guess I leave the credit where it is.

My conclusion: comc is a really great way to find and buy cards. As far as selling...While I turned some ecards I didn't want into quick cash, I certainly won't get rich. Without rare cards, low serial # cards, high-end cards, or tons and tons of singles, comc will not be my retirement mechanism.

I will be back to buy, but once my current inventory is sold, I think I'm done selling

[RGM81]

The point of the cash-out fee is to keep all of it in the COMC marketplace, which is a smart move on their part. There will always be new cards to buy, and it's still a gem for finding some great deals. Using ePack cards, however, will never be a way to make money. It astonishes me how badly people--not UD, not COMC, but collectors--tanked the market on some of the more rare cards that can only be found on ePack. Those Gold Foil Rainbow cards can take a lot of work to get the 100 needed for redemption. I think I spent the better part of a week chasing down Josh Gorges and then a couple weeks later I see people listing them for a buck. What's the motive to do it myself if some guy that busts an unholy amount of S1/S2 to get dozens of those Gold Foil Rainbow cards is just going to give them away? Yeah the star players are still worth quite a bit, but guys like Daniel Sedin should be worth more than $2.

[atruong317]

The better plan for making some cash on that is to use that credit to purchase a higher end card, and then flip it on ebay.

I've done well on the rare occasions I do that, selling the cards for 1.5x to 2.0x what I got it for on COMC.

[30ranfordfan]

Foils, Inserts, YGs. Basically anything that's "common enough" is a quick race to the bottom on COMC now. You can get most Series 1 YGs for under a buck. Of course you're right - if you don't have yours priced lowest, then yours won't be the first to sell.... if there's 20 copies of something and people want it, maybe if you're patient the price will climb.... but if there's 100 copies, no chance to see much of an increase.

It's an okay way to sell off ePack stuff quickly (if you've got something good) but I'd be more inclined to leave low end items in my ePack account and trade them.... more work, but especially with some of the achievements the cards are much more valuable within ePack.

I'll use SSLWs as an easy example:

The basic inserts fall 1 per box, and are dirt cheap. I can buy any single for 35 cents or less. There is a minimum of 46 copies available for any of these cards:

https://www.comc.com/Cards/Hockey/20...t+Wingers,i100

The market is not going "up" anytime soon.

If you traded in your 10 card set for the Achievement Card (Johnny Gaudreau), you can see it's selling for a whooping 50 cents. There are 17 available, and I suspect will stay that way for a while. If you want to make that card yourself, you can get the SS easy by trading and then just combine.... so probably hard to sell it for more than 50 cents or a buck (even though that seems crazy low to me)

https://www.comc.com/Cards/Hockey/20...,vDetails,i100

But keep looking to the right.... the Super Duper Achievment Card. There's just two copies and the cheap one is $50.

Why dump your 50 cent card, when you could put it towards a 50 dollar card? (or trade it to someone that wants that 50 dollar card)

[Maggot]

It seems to me that your gripe should actually be with E-pack. E-pack cards sell for next to nothing on COMC due to the massive glut of them available and the convenience of selling them on COMC. Look at the prices of cards that aren't on E-pack - they're normal.

[sedinfan]

One option if you want to cash out of COMC without them taking the huge 20% cut is to find someone to do a paypal swap - someone lists a cheap-o base card that's worth like a penny for the same price as the amount you want to cash out, you buy it from them in comc, they send you paypal gift in return (or you can offer a little discount incentive for the person helping you out, but not as steep as the 20% whack that comc takes).

[bearlyjb]

As a average buyer and simple collector I really enjoyed COMC until ... it became obvious there is not accountability. No way to ask a seller about the condition of a card or other. Then they went ebay wide ... what a joke ... their seller prices went through the roof and are not even market relevant unless you are talking about a card under $2.

The post and speculate approach by COMC is disgusting and reflects all that is bad in this hobby - sell to rip people off.

bearlyjb

[SenatorCollector]

Said it once, probably said it a thousand times, will probably say it a thousand more times....If you're in this HOBBY to make MONEY, it's not a HOBBY! If we as collectors need to blame anyone, don't blame the card companies, don't blame the NHLPA ( Yes, I've even seen comments about the poor state of the HOBBY because the PA gave Upper Deck exclusivity! ). We as collectors need to blame ourselves! If the so called HOBBYISTS stopped searching for the next big player every year, and/ or stopped " collecting"only as a means to turn a profit, maybe there wouldn't be a rush to flood COMC with non existent cards?
I remember when this HOBBY was about being a kid who spent his allowance buying waxpacks because it was cool to collect, and do schoolyard trading. Never once was I offered cash for my cards back then. Now, I see a story about a kid who won't go back on epacks, because he (or she) got bullied by some "HOBBYIST" in the chat room! Why? Because the kid wouldn't swing a deal that was so obviously one sided, and the so called adult started name calling!
Is that what the hobby has come to? All I can say is, if you're buying cards hoping to turn a profit, seriously, stop! You are part of the problem! Do I know what my cards are worth? Roughly. Do I care? Not really. I TRADE because it's fun, not because I have to make a profit!
Remember, when our time comes, nobody will care who has the most Auston Matthews Young Guns!

[bakemeister52]

Very well said SenatorCollector. Love trading and have tried to make the money and hated myself because it has screwed up the Hobby that was to be a Hobby not a business. Yes it is nice to make some money but FeeBay has stupid prices for postage for one card or many cards. COMC should of stayed away from FeeBay. I love buying cards I need for my PCs but won't sell on there.

[wkoch530]

As a average buyer and simple collector I really enjoyed COMC until ... it became obvious there is not accountability. No way to ask a seller about the condition of a card or other. Then they went ebay wide ... what a joke ... their seller prices went through the roof and are not even market relevant unless you are talking about a card under $2.

The post and speculate approach by COMC is disgusting and reflects all that is bad in this hobby - sell to rip people off.

bearlyjb

I'm confused, why do you need to ask the seller about condition when they provide good quality scans?