COMC is overcharging TCG sellers through eBay -- this probably means you

[Sonnys88]

Originally Posted by NatsSBR

All right, I just filed a complaint with the Washington State AG office. We'll see what happens...

I highly doubt the AG office would do anything in this situation as technically no one is getting less than the price that they placed on their card.

The AG would look and see that a seller priced their card at "X" and was paid "X" (minus advertised fees) when the card sold. There is no obligation from COMC to pay the seller more than their desired "X", no matter what the actual price realized was.

[NatsSBR]

Originally Posted by Sonnys88

I highly doubt the AG office would do anything in this situation as technically no one is getting less than the price that they placed on their card.

The AG would look and see that a seller priced their card at "X" and was paid "X" (minus advertised fees) when the card sold. There is no obligation from COMC to pay the seller more than their desired "X", no matter what the actual price realized was.

I disagree. They have advertised the formula used to calculate the eBay prices on their website for several years, and that formula has influenced what sellers send in to COMC. There is a very strong argument to be made that that is an advertised commission rate that COMC is not consistently honoring.

[mjohnatgt]

If that's your point, this is way less egregious than the share of cards listed on COMC under 39 cents that sell on eBay. Some people list them for 2 cents, get 1.9 cents, and COMC pockets the other 37.1 cents, along with the 50 cents immediate shipping and 15% ebay upcharge.
But as said, if I want to sell a card for 2 cents and COMC pays me 1.9 when it sells, I'm not entitled to the extra 37 cents. That's one reason there are plenty of flippers that buy 2 cent cards and reprice them at 10 cents.

[Budler]

Did you read the fine print when you OKed the contract when you started to sell, plus all the other changes they made over the years.

Somewhere in there they have their --- covered.

[NatsSBR]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

If that's your point, this is way less egregious than the share of cards listed on COMC under 39 cents that sell on eBay. Some people list them for 2 cents, get 1.9 cents, and COMC pockets the other 37.1 cents, along with the 50 cents immediate shipping and 15% ebay upcharge.
But as said, if I want to sell a card for 2 cents and COMC pays me 1.9 when it sells, I'm not entitled to the extra 37 cents. That's one reason there are plenty of flippers that buy 2 cent cards and reprice them at 10 cents.

There's no issue there -- I'm fairly sure the minimum $0.99 eBay price is advertised by COMC, in addition to being a rule eBay sets for its own listings.

The principle of having one consignor's asking price affect another's sale price is an absurd operational problem, but I definitely think it's a bigger problem that COMC is taking in consignment fees that they don't acknowledge or advertise. This results in underpaying sellers across the system, but by a small enough amount that it's not really worth it for individuals to track down. That just isn't a good way to do business, IMO -- but I also think it's very likely not allowed.

[NatsSBR]

Originally Posted by Budler

Did you read the fine print when you OKed the contract when you started to sell, plus all the other changes they made over the years.

Somewhere in there they have their --- covered.

Yes, believe it or not. Link here: https://www.comc.com/UserAgreement

User agreements/TOS pages set out rules that are naturally to companies' benefit, but they can't overrule basic things like "companies have an obligation to honor advertised prices."

The TOS mostly serves to head off idiotic lawsuits at the pass. We can't sue COMC for a gazillion dollars worth of emotional damage because an auction ended low. But I think it is not unreasonable at all to say that they should be paying their customers the commissions agreed upon.

[NatsSBR]

Originally Posted by NatsSBR

I'm not 100% sure that 100% of the disparities are due to inaccurate pricing.

Probably not going to be the liveliest COMC thread after today, but now that their sales figures were made public, I've got confirmation that all the $5+ examples from my sales were real.