Is it worth selling low value cards on COMC?

[Redwing634]

Just wondering between fees and shipping the cards to COMC.. is it worth selling cards on that platform that are only valued for a few bucks?

Also interested in hearing general opinions on COMC from a selling standpoint.

[canucksfan007]

As a buyer on that site, I would say it is the best place for me to buy low end cards.

I know a few friends who have pretty big storefronts as well that do quite well. I believe it links up with Amazon and lets just say people buying Hockey cards on Amazon dont quite know what theyre buying.

If you are thinking about cashing out after your sales, the fees are quite large. Its much better to wait for a bigger card you want to become available on COMC and purchase with your small card sales

[30ranfordfan]

I really like selling on COMC. It's easy, and the sales are decent.

Low end, yes. I have moved lots of $1 cards on there. Great place to do it.... but here's the fees:

30 cents, per card (assuming basic processing... i.e. not express which you'd pay more for) to have them loaded into your account. I dropped a box of 190 cards off @ the Fall Expo, they loading the entire submission a few days ago.

Once they're in your account, there are no storage fees for the first 90 days. After that: It's 1 cent, per card, per month - if the card is listed for more than 75 cents. Less than that, there are no fees.

Whatever you price your card at - buyers see it for 25 cents more. They pay that 25 cents to COMC which goes towards covering s/h costs. So if you list it for 75 cents, I would see it being sold for $1. If I buy it, you get your 75 cents, COMC gets their quarter.

The exception to that is reselling of cards. If I buy that $1 card - the 25 cent fee has now been paid, so it won't be applied if I relist the card. Suppose I now try and flip the card for $5. If can can sell it, the whole $5 is mine.

What this means though.... a card you sell for $1: COMC got 25 cents at the time of the sale, and you already paid 30 cents to list it... so you really made 45 cents on it.

So yes... lowend cards move well there, but the fee structure makes the margins on them pretty tight. You have to sell a lot of them in order to make much.

The nice thing: If you're getting into mid-end sales... the costs for selling something for $1, is exactly the same as selling something for $50 (after $50, there is a small increase in the listing fee). So while a $1 card cost you 55 cents to sell..... a $50 card also costs you 55 cents to sell.


And then there is cashing out. They take 20%. That's not a whole lot different than what you pay to eBay or Paypal... so I wouldn't get too riled up about it... but it is a big chunk of you money. I have cashed out on there once (did a port sale in 2016) but mostly I just use the money I make from sales to buy new cards I want.

[RGM81]

It gets the cards out of your sight, it leaves the shipping work to someone else, and it's a great way to make some extra hobby cash with a lot of cards that would otherwise be sitting in your cheap-o box.

Sean did a good job detailing the fee structure, but it's for sure a worthwhile endeavour.

[30ranfordfan]

I'll add to my earlier comment (to explain why I like it).

You've got a card that you think is worth (about) $1. It's reasonable to expect that someone would pay $1 for this. If you had an outlet to sell cards... you'd get a $1 for it without too much trouble. Maybe not instantly, but it's the kind of thing that someone will want - you just need a little bit of patience.

Now... if you set up at your local card show, or you own a shop: You can put this card in a dollar bin, and (in theory) it sells. If you put it in a $2 bin, it won't. That's the kind of value I'm talking about.

There is no way you can sell that card on SCF or eBay for $1 +s/h. It just won't happen. If you want to charge $1, and cover s/h from that buck... sure. You can sell it - but you've lost money on the deal.

On COMC, I can buy 50 of those cards from 50 different people, and have them all shipped at once. That's why the site works for stuff like that.


One thing I will caution you though: Don't waste your time listing low end inserts / common rookies / that sort of thing.... if the set was listed for sale on ePack. Look at something like Portraits inserts from UD. There are over 100 copies of each listed on COMC (from last year's set) and many have an asking price so log... the seller will get less than a dime *IF* they ever sell them.

[pwaldo]

I think it is IF you have low value cards that nobody else has up. I mean if you have a card that has 50+ other people selling it on COMC why is set or player collector going to buy the base card from you? You'd have to make it the cheapest amount or you are never ever going to get any action on it. But for low valued cards that aren't regularly found on eBay or listed on COMC you become the only place to basically buy it from which means it should sell quick if somebody will ever want it.

[Maggot]

It is the ONLY place it's worth selling $1 to $10 cards, in my opinion. Big fan.

[Taxi]

Hmm...Would it be worth posting a bunch random UD S1/S2 inserts from 2007 to 2014. Things like old Hockey Heroes Cards, Face of the Franchise, etc...That stuff doesn't move at all on Ebay. It's hard to see how I'm getting much profit though...I have to pay for shipping there. I pay 30 cents for the listing and then COMC takes another 25 cents. My profit is about 40 cents a card?

I guess it's better than nothing and clears space...

Would you guys recommend doing this? There also seems to be about 10 copies of each of these cards on COMC. That seems like too many to make my cards competitive.

[30ranfordfan]

If you go to a show where COMC is set up, you can drop off the items there (i.e. Toronto Expo). This eliminates the "ship to them" costs - and is a huge saver when you're talking about cards like that.

But your math is bang on. If you COULD sell that Hockey Heroes card for $1: It means you priced it at 75 cents, and the COMC 25 cent fee was added, so they buyer sees $1 priced. You get that full 75 cents, but you paid 30 cents to list it: So you made 45 cents.

If (ultimatly) you want to "cash out" (take money out of your account) rather than spending it on cards on COMC - you pay another 20% fee.

Hypothetically: You list 1,000 cards. Price them all at 75 cents, COMC sells them for $1. All 1k sell. You paid $300 up front to list them, and now have $750 in your account. If you spend that on $700 worth of cards..... and blow the remaining $50 on s/h to get them mailed back to you... you got $700 worth of cards for $300.

If you want to cash out the $750 instead, you'll actually get $600 (they keep 20%). You paid $300 up front - so really made 30 cents per card, after all fees are included.

Is that worth it? Again... if you've got some outlet where you could have sold that card for 50 cents (at a show, in a store, etc) then probably not. That's a hard thing to do though, as even at a big card show - how many people come in looking for 2008 Hockey Heroes? I doubt there's a lot of people looking for them online either - but there will be a few here and there (in theory) so the stuff MIGHT eventually move.

But I'm suggesting a 75 cent price, to make 30 cents per card. There's also a race to the bottom on a lot of that kind of stuff: You list yours for 75 cents, so I list mine for 74... plus the guy who has his @ 80 cents runs a 25% off sale periodically.

Hmm...Would it be worth posting a bunch random UD S1/S2 inserts from 2007 to 2014. Things like old Hockey Heroes Cards, Face of the Franchise, etc...That stuff doesn't move at all on Ebay. It's hard to see how I'm getting much profit though...I have to pay for shipping there. I pay 30 cents for the listing and then COMC takes another 25 cents. My profit is about 40 cents a card?

I guess it's better than nothing and clears space...

Would you guys recommend doing this? There also seems to be about 10 copies of each of these cards on COMC. That seems like too many to make my cards competitive.

[Redwing634]

What about base cards? I've noticed there seem to be a lot of base cards listed, and pulling up the sale history it seems* that people are actually buying them at near $1/card.

The downside I imagine is the cost to ship a ton of base cards to comc.

Also what's the best way to ship low to mid end cards to them? All in penny sleeves and save your toploaders? Any other ideas?