Quote:
Originally Posted by tattooelement
I think it's the reasons stated above and the lack of timely manner on their part. People may say they don't mind waiting longer than a quoted timeline, but face it.. they do. And waiting forever to receive what you requested shipped to you isn't great either. COMC's DSR shipping time/charges rating would be crap right now if it had one..
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COMC would be suspended as an ebay seller if they were one due to the incredibly low DSR rating they would surely be receiving for their shipping policies.
Personally, I am willing to absorb their outrageously high shipping costs on bulk orders because I am a seller and avoid the 20% cash-out fee by using those funds to buy other cards. I basically look at it like I'm still paying to 20%, and just getting free shipping instead... not true, but it makes me feel better about the situation.
However, the people COMC should be trying to attract are buyers that aren't necessarily sellers. With their current shipping policies and fees, they will have a VERY hard time selling their site as a realistic alternative to sportlots for buyers trying to complete sets... much less an alternative to ebay for buying when higher $ cards routinely sell for less on ebay. Their one biggest advantage
WAS their shipping cap.
I understand they need to cover their costs when performing the task of pulling cards to be shipped, preparing them to be shipped, and paying for all the postage/supplies expenses involved with shipping an order. However, the buyer should not be responsible for all of these expenses if COMC can not make things operate efficiently enough to charge realistic shipping prices.
One point that I don't think has ever been addressed... I doubt they have a stable of "on-call" employees that sit around most of the day and only get paid when sent out to pull cards for an order. In other words, these employees are being paid regardless of what they are doing... so buyers should have to cover their pay when they are actually doing work related to what the site is set up for??? Its called a sunk cost. Their employees pay is going to happen whether someone places a 500 card order or not. I don't see why a buyer that is contributing that much to the site's success should have to foot the bill for wages that would have been paid with or without their actions.
I don't know whether COMC pays any attention to this forum anymore, but if they don't its a huge mistake. I have decided to stay committed to the site for the long haul, but I am VERY troubled by what I am seeing from other sellers on here over the last week or so. COMC will trumpet their quarterly stats at every chance which seem to show phenomenal growth for the site... and the stats are encouraging, to be sure. But how many of those page hits, cards sold, etc are coming from the same hundred or so dealers that are constantly checking the site and buying/selling with each other? What happens if dealers stop buying from one another for "flips" or sales only made to avoid the 20% cashout? It just doesn't seem like their is enough non-seller activity going on and the stats seem to hide that fact.
The only way for a site like COMC to survive is if it has a strong core of buyers, and that core continues to grow. It seems like too much of their focus is on covering every cent here and there that they have in overhead and not looking at how the site is good or bad from the perspective of the one segment that will be responsible for their longterm success... the BUYERS. Before their policy changes I would say the site was Great for Sellers / Great for Buyers. Now I'd say its Good for Sellers / Average for Buyers. I'm hoping it soon doesn't devolve into Average for Sellers / Bad for Buyers.