So, I've been slowly trying to figure my collection out over the last three months. For the last three months, I have been going through my collection card-by-card to figure out what cards I want and what cards I can do away with. If you haven't looked lately, my trade bait has grown exponentially. (Side note - if you are now browsing through my trade bait, beware: I still need to verify that all the cards listed are present in my trade box!)
That being said, I have a few cards I would like to sell. While I normally through these cards on eBay, I think I want to do something different. eBay requires that I invest time in listing, packing and shipping. I don't really want to deal with that. I would rather send the cards off to someone that will do all of that for me.
So I thought I would send my cards to COMC. However, they aren't entirely clear on how the process works. Here's how I understand it:
I send COMC the cards I want to sell. Depending on how quickly I want them listed on the website, I pay the company a fee (per card) up front. Once the fee is paid, COMC will scan and list the cards on their website until they sell. When the cards does sell, COMC takes a percentage of the sale amount and the rest goes into my store credit. If I want to withdraw that money, I am subject to a fee, both from COMC and PayPal.
Is that correct?
Do any of you use COMC? If so, what are your comments/thoughts about it?
I appreciate any help!
The COMC model works best if there are other cards on the site that you want; you just build up your credit by your initial payment, the cards you sell, and then you purchase same amt. Cards you don't sell get assessed with storage of .01/month. You do get hit with a fee if you wish to 'cash out', but COMC does not take a pctg on each card that you sell. Black Friday every November is their biggest day of the year, they waive postage charges for >10 card purchases, and many sellers discount their cards during this time for increased sales. I've been with them for 5-6 yrs now (more purchases than sales), but I'm always happy when I see an oddball card I have listed gets purchased!
ReplyDeleteI've been selling on COMC for five years, and I find it generally works well for me. It's one of the easiest ways to sell cards online, being that you send them the cards and payment for processing (if you don't already have credit). Once it's been processed, you can price the cards and generally forget them, except when someone makes an offer. It's also a good idea to go through your inventory every so often and make sure the pricing is still realistic. If a card is overpriced, you may not realize it for a while otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI treat COMC like it's all an elaborate trade... I send cards in, I get cards shipped back.
I can't speak for how well it works with selling cards that are hot but will not stay hot, like current inserts. I'm too lazy to mail in smaller batches and too cheap to pay the faster processing fees. I keep telling myself I should try it sometime, see if I can sell some of these inserts before people have moved on to the next thing.
Some cards are not worth sending in to COMC. Non-vintage Commons and some inserts are generally not worth it, because you'll spend as much in COMC processing fees as the card is worth, and then you probably won't sell it without taking a loss. Oddball commons can be worthwhile, but you may have to wait a while until a buyer comes along.
If there are cards I'm not sure about whether to send in, I take a look to see how many of them are already out there for sale. This weekend I've been going through my inventory, and I have some cards for sale where there are over 150 other identical cards, and I've resigned myself to the fact that I may never sell these, and if I do it will be for a loss.
One clarification to Mr. Haverkamp's comment: You get charged a $0.01 storage fee per card per month, but only after it's been on the site for more than... three months, I think? Also, cards below a certain amount - I think it's $0.70 - don't get charged a storage fee. I currently have 750 items for sale, and on March 1st I got charged less than $1 in storage.
Good luck with whatever direction you decide to go!