eBay vs COMC - A Comparison

[BoomerSooner]

Is it possible that some of those non-sales/ low price sales on COMC is because it's still rather new to collectors- I mean, it doesn't have the volume of shoppers daily that Ebay does, right? Or has it been going for years and we're just hearing about it now?

 

[Hawaiian BamBam]

also, how do people there make any money sellign cards for example a 1989 topps traded card for 25 cents when it costs 20 cents just to list it there? by calculations, thats a 5 cent profit? how do people make money like that? and is it even worth sending in cards like that9cards that sell for 25 cents each that cost 20 cents to list there?

 

[GotMelky]

If I could sell cards from that era for .03-.04 apiece net anywhere I would - I have other stuff I would rather send in though. I'm guessing they ship them in large flat rate boxes with lots of other stuff that they are selling to make it worthwhile. I would guess selling in bulk is key, because even selling 1,000 cards you only make $30-40 after fees/cash out charge.

 

[mrmopar]

Selling anything like that will never make you much money unless you can capitalize on high volumes. I'd guess the best market for that site right now are the cheaper cards that nobody wants to waste time listing on ebay, but are "worth" anywhere from $1-5 or so. That is mainly what I have bought. Certified autos of commons for $1-1.50, 90s inserts for $1 or so, or newer issues that are still of interest to set builders, etc.

From what I have seen in the more expensive card range, the prices seem to be inflated. Perhaps that is in anticipation of 50% offers. Not sure. I am not really shopping for $50 cards on that site. There are a couple of higher end Garvey cards now and they are still overpriced at 50% off the asking price!

also, how do people there make any money sellign cards for example a 1989 topps traded card for 25 cents

 

[Hawaiian BamBam]

i do have a TON of cards from the 80's and 90's years i could send in, but not sure if there is many buyers for 1984 topps and 1982 topps and 1991 topps, and 1987 topps traded, you get the point! not at least enough buyers that would make sending in 2,000-3,000 'commons" worth the 20 cents each it takes to even get them listed. it might be best to just throw those cards out and call it a loss (yes, ive already donated tens of thousands of card to hospitals and charity)but still have tons left

 

[mrmopar]

Yes, most people who want them have the 80s and 90s commons. Higher end limited run or unique issues, oddball, inserts, parallels, GU, SPs, Autos and vintage are what will eventually sell, at the right price.

Heck, someone linked an ebay auction where a buyer paid $5 plus s/h for a Ryne Sandberg box bottom card from 1988F. Who would not love to get $5 all day for a card like that. They are definitely harder to find and unique compared to his regular 88F card, which might NEVER sell at $0.50!

If you have run out of places to donate the cards, I would see about dropping them off at a local card shop for them to give away or possibly sell or toss them in the recycling bin. I have recycled 1000s of cards.

 

[dp33]

What is your COMC user ID - may be interested in a few from that list. I'm still trying to narrow it down. I am thinking of sending in cards in batches of 100-200 at a time. And then as I sell enough to send more doing that. I also don't want to cripple my trading ability - tough call.

It's blur55. It is a tough balance, but that's why I started by sending in mostly older cards that I hadn't been able to trade. You can always get your cards that you send in back - I know Rob (VintageHeros) did that in a trade I made with him.

In about 9 months, I've sold 302 of the 743 I've sent in. I've made around $580, but it's cost me about $200 in postage and fees to send them in. If you send in 90 cards, it's going to cost just about $10 to send them priority mail (unless you can maybe stuff them in a small flat-rate box - I didn't want to chance it), so it comes out to almost $0.50 per card to send in. I was able to send 400 cards in a medium box for $11, which brought the per card to $0.23. So there are economies of scale at work if you can afford to send in more cards.

How did you ship these cards? I am interested in shipping roughly 50 cards and am looking for the best way to do it without toploaders since they charge for them.

For 50 cards, I would put 25 in a team bag, and sandwich both of them between cardboard and send them in a large bubble mailer. Or use a 100-count box and fill it with peanuts. Definitely don't use toploaders.

under the shipping instructions, it says ship them all in a box, but if we only had 50 05 75 cards can we just ship them securely in a bubble mailer9between cardboard0 or do that for sure have to be shipped in a box? anyone happen to know? thanks

They don't have to be shipped in a box - you can ship them however you want. But they get truckloads of packages and are probably not going to handle each one of them with velvet gloves (especially the small ones with 50 or 75 cards), so I'd rather be safe than sorry.

And definitely don't send in boxes full of commons - they most likely will just send them back to you. They highlight that several places on the website. In general, they only accept cards with at least $1 book value. Obviously there are common cards that they accepted anyway, but I'm guessing those come in with other cards.

 

[GotMelky]

I was actually talking to the card shop owner where I frequently visit and he has started sending in groups of 500 cards. He says the first week he sells 60-70% of what will sell. He does well enough that he is sending at least a package a month and he makes a couple hundred bucks. Just cashing in on stuff that would otherwise just sit in the store and gather dust. I'm headed over there tomorrow to pick up some supplies (and because I am weak possibly open some packs) and will see what he has seen the most success with as far as card types.

@dp33 - Will head over and check out your inventory - Thanks!

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I haven't tried it as a seller. As a buyer, for me, it's worthless. I'm not going to pay full book for a card, not to mention above book. And a discount from $50 to $44.99 isn't enough to wow me to make a purchase.

Of course, if it sits there long enough, some poor schmuck is bound to come along and decide they HAVE to have that card, and that makes it worth it for the seller.

 

[dp33]

I was actually talking to the card shop owner where I frequently visit and he has started sending in groups of 500 cards. He says the first week he sells 60-70% of what will sell. He does well enough that he is sending at least a package a month and he makes a couple hundred bucks. Just cashing in on stuff that would otherwise just sit in the store and gather dust. I'm headed over there tomorrow to pick up some supplies (and because I am weak possibly open some packs) and will see what he has seen the most success with as far as card types.

@dp33 - Will head over and check out your inventory - Thanks!

Feel free to make an offer. I think I'm pretty competitively priced (i.e. not priced where a 50% offer is needed), but I'll certainly entertain offers.

I haven't tried it as a seller. As a buyer, for me, it's worthless. I'm not going to pay full book for a card, not to mention above book. And a discount from $50 to $44.99 isn't enough to wow me to make a purchase.

Of course, if it sits there long enough, some poor schmuck is bound to come along and decide they HAVE to have that card, and that makes it worth it for the seller.

Most sellers price it that way (for that exact reason sometimes). Not how I do it, but it is what it is. If you don't like to sit there and make offers all day, then it probably won't be much fun for you. But if you offer $25 on the $50 card, you might be surprised how receptive the seller is (provided it isn't a card that sells for $40 elsewhere).

 

[Hawaiian BamBam]

i just got an email from the comc staff saying that they dont encourage sending in cards in a bubble mailer even if it is only 50-75 cards they prefer we send our cards in boxes. which seems ridiculous to me to send lets say 25-30 cards in a box instead of a bubble mailer. they said the rationale is they want to make sure that the cards are safe in transit and a box offers the best protection. they also said that shipping in a bubblemailer is not the safest way to ship, yet, when comc ships cards to me, it is ALWAYS in a bubblemailer...go figure! not sure of their obsession to have everything shipped in a box when they themselves use bubblemailers. also i have been shipping cards through the mail in a bubblemailer on all my sales on ebay since 1999 and have never had a single card damaged....mmmm interesting!

 

[Hawaiian BamBam]

i just got an email from the comc staff saying that they dont encourage sending in cards in a bubble mailer even if it is only 50-75 cards they prefer we send our cards in boxes. which seems ridiculous to me to send lets say 25-30 cards in a box instead of a bubble mailer. they said the rationale is they want to make sure that the cards are safe in transit and a box offers the best protection. they also said that shipping in a bubblemailer is not the safest way to ship, yet, when comc ships cards to me, it is ALWAYS in a bubblemailer...go figure! not sure of their obsession to have everything shipped in a box when they themselves use bubblemailers. also i have been shipping cards through the mail in a bubblemailer on all my sales on ebay since 1999 and have never had a single card damaged. i can see using boxes for shipments of 200-100 cards, but for only 50-75 cards??? i think a bubblemailer should be fine.

 

[GotMelky]

I would respond to that e-mail from COMC and ask them specifically why they use bubble mailers when they ship to buyers? Isn't kind of hypocritical?

 

[mintman2]

In about 9 months, I've sold 302 of the 743 I've sent in. I've made around $580, but it's cost me about $200 in postage and fees to send them in. If you send in 90 cards, it's going to cost just about $10 to send them priority mail (unless you can maybe stuff them in a small flat-rate box - I didn't want to chance it), so it comes out to almost $0.50 per card to send in. I was able to send 400 cards in a medium box for $11, which brought the per card to $0.23. So there are economies of scale at work if you can afford to send in more cards.

I'm guessing you made more money than you thought......

To send in the cards.......
90 cards for $10 comes to 11 cents a piece by my calculations. 50 cents a card would be $45 !

And 400 cards for $11 is about two and a half cents per card. 23 cents per would be $90+ !

Am I missing something ? You missed a decimal point maybe ?

 

[GotMelky]

That would be the cost to ship, you also have to pay the .20 fee for them to process (scan front/back, identify, list) the cards.

I'm guessing you made more money than you thought......

To send in the cards.......
90 cards for $10 comes to 11 cents a piece by my calculations. 50 cents a card would be $45 !

And 400 cards for $11 is about two and a half cents per card. 23 cents per would be $90+ !

Am I missing something ? You missed a decimal point maybe ?

 

[dp33]

That would be the cost to ship, you also have to pay the .20 fee for them to process (scan front/back, identify, list) the cards.

Right - and I actually did the 1-week service on the last 2 batches, so it was $0.35 / card.

 

[mintman2]

That would be the cost to ship, you also have to pay the .20 fee for them to process (scan front/back, identify, list) the cards.

Taking into account the 20 cent listing fee, your 90 card example still only works out to 31 cents per card, not 50.

I'm not trying to bust your berries here, it's just such a huge difference I thought you might not be aware of it and would want to recheck your comparison totals.

over and out

 

[GotMelky]

Looks like .46 - I'm back and forth on whether the extra .15 is worth doing to get started out. I may send in a batch of only higher BV cards and do .35 on them. Then send in lower end stuff at the same time for the .20 fee...decisions.

Right - and I actually did the 1-week service on the last 2 batches, so it was $0.35 / card.

 

[Rarthur]

Does anyone know what the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! market is like on COMC? I actually have a bunch of these older cards booking around $5-$15 a piece but was wondering whether they would actually sell on COMC?

 

[valediction]

i just got an email from the comc staff saying that they dont encourage sending in cards in a bubble mailer even if it is only 50-75 cards they prefer we send our cards in boxes. which seems ridiculous to me to send lets say 25-30 cards in a box instead of a bubble mailer. they said the rationale is they want to make sure that the cards are safe in transit and a box offers the best protection. they also said that shipping in a bubblemailer is not the safest way to ship, yet, when comc ships cards to me, it is ALWAYS in a bubblemailer...go figure! not sure of their obsession to have everything shipped in a box when they themselves use bubblemailers. also i have been shipping cards through the mail in a bubblemailer on all my sales on ebay since 1999 and have never had a single card damaged....mmmm interesting!

They can control how THEY pack a bubble mailer, they can't control how YOU pack a bubble mailer. You may well pack them and it gets there fine, but are you positive EVERYBODY ELSE will pack them as well as you? It's just one step that adds a layer of protection for them to reduce the number of nuisance claims about damaged cards and people saying COMC damaged their cards. As a business, you need to idiot proof everything to protect yourself.