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Old 02-28-2026, 10:26 AM   #1
NatsSBR
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Default COMC is overcharging TCG sellers through eBay -- this probably means you

Since October, I have been noticing occasional discrepancies in the pricing of my TCG cards that COMC sells on eBay. The bottom line for anyone reading this is that in two distinct situations, COMC is not honoring the consignment fees they advertise when they sell your TCG cards. I'll lay out both situations that lead to inflated prices below, but it's so bad that in some cases they have paid me less than 20% of what the eBay buyer paid for my card, and I'm sure it's happening to you, too. It doesn't affect me very often because I have a lot of COMC monopolies, but everyone with inventories of Pokemon, Magic, etc. is probably getting overcharged regularly.

Because I'm pretty sure this is about system bugs and not deliberate deception, I have been communicating with them privately for five months to try to get them to acknowledge and fix the problem. Their response has been unacceptable. I am now done keeping my complaints private, not only because I know how much it has affected me, but also because I know it is likely affecting most people who sell TCGs and costing you all a lot more money than it costs me. I am hoping that if they hear from more than just me, they will actually take action by fixing the pricing errors and issuing credit to true up our past payments.

When I brought this to COMC's attention, the people who addressed the questions first told me it wasn't happening. I then proved it by making a purchase on eBay that resulted in overcharging me for one of my own cards, and they finally acknowledged it. The eBay store manager then reached out on December 23rd and told me he would look into it. There's been no response now for more than two months.

They have advertised the exact calculation for their eBay markup for over five years, so this is not a situation where they can charge whatever they want on eBay and give you your COMC list price. I think this is a mistake rather than malicious intent, but either way, it all adds up to false advertising that is siphoning off quite a bit of money in a way that's not easy for their customers to detect. "Customer service is overwhelmed" can't be an excuse for ignoring systemic issues that are resulting in constantly overcharging your customers. "We laid off the IT guy" is likewise unacceptable.

If you do any kind of TCG sales on COMC, I recommend you cross-reference the sales via eBay with Terapeak data to identify discrepancies, then reach out to COMC directly to request refunds. Also, I'm not on social media, but if anyone wants to crosspost this to Reddit or the relevant social communities, that can only help. I also offer that you could contact the Washington State Attorney General's Office through this link: https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhand...laintForm.aspx

My goal here is for COMC to fix an issue that is harming their sellers, not to "bring them down" or some such nonsense. Despite their problems, I think they provide a great service. For those of you with direct contacts in the company, maybe you can help make sure the management team is aware of this and prioritizing it.
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Old 02-28-2026, 10:44 AM   #2
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The first situation that causes the overcharge is when the second copy of a TCG card is listed (i.e., only one copy of that card in that condition was on the site) and the new card is listed for a lower price than the first card. In this situation the eBay listing doesn't change: there is still just a single copy for sale, and the price doesn't update to reflect the new, lower-priced card. If the card sells on eBay, COMC collects the higher price but processes a sale for the lower-priced card. This can be a significant percentage; I recently listed a card for $1.74, undercutting a card listed at $7.75. Terapeak data shows it sold on eBay for the original high price, but I got paid $1.74. That is an 80+% commission paid to COMC for my sale.

The second situation that causes overcharges is a sale on the new multiple-quantity listings when there are 3+ copies of a single card in the same condition available for sale at a range of prices. In this situation, COMC calculates some kind of average of all the prices and uses that as the sale price for each copy sold on eBay (I haven't actually been able to figure out the exact formula). When the cards start selling, COMC apparently processes sales starting from the lowest-priced copy. This means the prices realized on eBay will consistently come in higher than the TOP price, especially if and when the eBay price adjusts to the new, higher average as the lowest-priced items get sold off.

As an example, the first time I noticed this I had a listing that had one copy of the card priced at $4.74, one priced at $5.74, and one at $6.74. This resulted in a multiple-quantity (two-copy) eBay listing at the TOP price for a $5.74 item. When a single copy sold on eBay at that price, the $4.74 item is the one COMC sold and paid me for.

The second problem is both much bigger in scale and much harder to figure out. There are so many Pokemon and Magic listings that offer a large number of copies with a wide variety of prices on COMC that it is probably happening more often than not when COMC sells a card from one of these games. It is also much harder for the sellers to seek accountability because Terapeak data for a multiple-quantity listing captures the average sale price over time. Whether you are getting hit for $.50 per low-end card or substantially more for mid-tier and high-end, I guarantee you are getting hit.
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Old 02-28-2026, 11:06 AM   #3
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Interesting. I haven't noticed it because I don't sell much in the TCG realm.
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Old 02-28-2026, 11:10 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mjohnatgt View Post
Interesting. I haven't noticed it because I don't sell much in the TCG realm.
Yep, it is specific to the new system they set up to run their TCGbyCOMC eBay account.

If they started using the "specific copy at exact price" system they use for sports cards, this would be no issue. If they went back to using the same system as non-sport cards, this would be no issue.

This is a classic case of building a new complex system without adequate testing.
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Old Yesterday, 12:01 PM   #5
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what is the difference in fees percentage wise?
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Old Yesterday, 12:50 PM   #6
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what is the difference in fees percentage wise?
It totally depends on the circumstances: how many identical copies are available and at what prices. In terms of dollars, I have been overcharged by as much as $9 against a $7 card (my copy sold for $6.74 but the higher-priced copy was set at $15.75, and the eBay sale went for $18.65). That's a 64% commission as opposed to the 23% it should have been if it had sold at the proper price of $8.29. Percentagewise, my commission has gone over 80% (in the $1.74 example from my second post, not from $0.99 eBay sales where the percentage fluctuates a ton).

I found one example from your inventory that's very minor (pennies) but is a good illustration of one of the problems.

This listing at https://www.ebay.com/itm/317899742262 for Milcery #080 is priced at $1.15 because of the range of asking prices on COMC. COMC's inventory is at https://www.comc.com/Cards/Pokemon/2...ed/COMC_CCG/NM and your copy is the cheapest. COMC would sell your copy for your asking price of $0.22; the normal eBay price for your item is $0.99, so COMC would be paid $0.16 more than they should be for selling your card.

Super low-end sales aren't individually a problem, but they quickly add up across the system because a good number of sales are inflated this way every day. It's similar to stories of a bank employee paying himself the rounded off fractions of pennies when other customers' interest payments were calculated. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salami_slicing_tactics or just watch Office Space)

I don't think this is intentional at all, but even as an accident, it's not acceptable. If it were intentional, it would be a sneaky way of skimming free profits out of the system.
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Old Yesterday, 01:00 PM   #7
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Just to add to this, now that I've gone looking I've found MUCH more serious examples in terms of the "dollars per sale" problem.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/317938278180 is for a 7th Edition foil Serra Angel. The eBay price of $740.60 reflects a price between the second- and third-highest prices on COMC right now. If someone bought one copy from that eBay listing, COMC would sell them the cheapest copy, which is priced at $460 on COMC.

The correct eBay price for a $460 card is $536.28, which means COMC would be taking in MORE THAN $200 in inflated commissions on a single card.
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Old Yesterday, 01:05 PM   #8
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Here's another one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/317869128784 is listed for $240.99, which reflects a COMC price of $209.74. If you go to the COMC listing for this card right now, there is a copy at $209.74 and another copy at $149.74.

If someone were to buy the single card listing on eBay right now, COMC would sell them the $149.74 card instead of the $209.74 card, but they would charge as if they sold the $209.74 card. That's $60 in free money for COMC.

You get the idea. Sales like this are happening multiple times a day.
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Old Yesterday, 02:50 PM   #9
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/317820644526 -- this listing is for a single copy of an Eevee promo listed on eBay for $553.60, the correct eBay price for a $475 copy would be $552.78.

On COMC there are two copies, one at $275 and one at $475. See https://www.comc.com/Cards/Pokemon/2...ed/COMC_CCG/NM

If the eBay item sells (and eBay is saying it's in someone's cart) they will ship the $275 copy, which they should be charging $312.78 for. Most of the extra $240 they will pocket should be going to the owner of the card they sell.
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Old Yesterday, 03:42 PM   #10
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My biggest issue would be that the eBay listings are much LESS LIKELY to sell with the higher priced items being the ones that have the costing based on. Many sellers put a $25 card up for $225 and run a 90% off sale, leaving the price at $22.50 on COMC direct. So now none of the cards priced $25-50 that are list-priced on COMC will sell, because eBay buyers would see a heavily inflated price and not be competitive.
So COMC could also LOSE money over time to this bug, because their overall sales volume/rake would suffer.

I just emailed them this thread and my comments, and I cc'd Tim Getsch.
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Old Yesterday, 03:54 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mjohnatgt View Post
My biggest issue would be that the eBay listings are much LESS LIKELY to sell with the higher priced items being the ones that have the costing based on. Many sellers put a $25 card up for $225 and run a 90% off sale, leaving the price at $22.50 on COMC direct. So now none of the cards priced $25-50 that are list-priced on COMC will sell, because eBay buyers would see a heavily inflated price and not be competitive.
So COMC could also LOSE money over time to this bug, because their overall sales volume/rake would suffer.

I just emailed them this thread and my comments, and I cc'd Tim Getsch.
I absolutely agree that suppressing sales is a problem, but it's an operational "we could do better" problem. The way they are doing it right now, I am fairly sure they are also legally obligated to make it up to the sellers they are underpaying, as the calculation they use for their eBay markup has been advertised on their site for several years.

I appreciate the assistance. My goal here is to get them to adjust course on future sales and start working through the refunds while it's still manageable.
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Old Yesterday, 05:03 PM   #12
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Excellent work. I will now have to go back and check. COMC has gone hill over the years.
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Old Today, 12:27 AM   #13
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Thanks for the heads up! If you want more data points, here are my eBay COMC Magic the Gathering sales for in 2026. I probably won't be investigating personally, but if you find it useful, here it is. If you want earlier sales, let me know.

It seems plausible that something changed. They zeroed out the price on about 6,000 of my gaming cards a while back and it took forever to reprice them. It's possible they were trying to make them correlate to TCG grading standards for some reason, and maybe the card prices cross post differently (accidentally and/or on purpose)

I will also say that circa 2017 or so, I did list a newly processed Alpha Sengir Vampire for a fairly high price, and then lowered the price, and lowered it again, and the price never decreased on eBay. So whatever weirdness you've observed might not be a new thing. I almost never check eBay for COMC Magic card prices, so I don't know how unusual that is. Usually I check MTG Goldfish, which shows TCG Mid, Card Kingdom NM ask, and sometimes an eBay Buy It Now. Then I'll adjust the price to be competitive with one of those prices on eBay ((x-.53)/1.15)



110520986 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Collectors' Edition - Non-Playable Gold Backs [Base] _BLKN Black Knight $17.50
110469516 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Collectors' Edition - Non-Playable Gold Backs [Base] _HYSP Hypnotic Specter $29.44
110520695 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Collectors' Edition - Non-Playable Gold Backs [Base] _FONA Force of Nature $8.22
79416759 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Unlimited Edition - [Base] _GIGR Giant Growth $2.50
175299700 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Unlimited Edition - [Base] _TRAN Tranquility $1.38
133921891 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Unlimited Edition - [Base] _IROR Ironclaw Orcs $1.68
133921885 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Unlimited Edition - [Base] _IROR Ironclaw Orcs $1.24
133921881 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Unlimited Edition - [Base] _IROR Ironclaw Orcs $1.24
133921875 Magic 1993 Magic: The Gathering - Unlimited Edition - [Base] _IROR Ironclaw Orcs $1.24
48837409 Magic 1995 Magic: The Gathering - Ice Age - [Base] _ENRE Enduring Renewal $0.99
110468220 Magic 1995 Magic: The Gathering - Legends - [Base] - Italian _REBA Relic Barrier $3.74
79292077 Magic 1996 Magic: The Gathering - 4th Edition - [Base] - Japanese KISM Kismet $2.50
167966077 Magic 1997 Magic: The Gathering - Tempest - [Base] _LOPE Lotus Petal $19.32
167963783 Magic 1997 Magic: The Gathering - Tempest - [Base] _LOPE Lotus Petal $19.32
167963782 Magic 1997 Magic: The Gathering - Tempest - [Base] _LOPE Lotus Petal $19.32
175255345 Magic 1998 Magic: The Gathering - Exodus - [Base] 3 Cataclysm $8.14
110465495 Magic 1998 Magic: The Gathering - Portal - Starter Set 2nd Age _WILD Wildfire $1.70
98687351 Magic 1999 Magic: The Gathering - Portal - Starter Set Three Kingdoms - Traditional Chinese 36 Brilliant Plan $6.10
7932549 Magic 2001 Magic: The Gathering - Odyssey - [Base] 276 Stone-Tongue Basilisk $0.99
110478518 Magic 2002 Magic: The Gathering - Torment - [Base] - Spanish 66 Insidious Dreams $9.09
101316001 Magic 2003 Magic: The Gathering - 8th Edition - [Base] - Spanish 109 Trade Routes $3.94
62338960 Magic 2003 Magic: The Gathering - Scourge - [Base] 106 Sulfuric Vortex $0.73
62338959 Magic 2003 Magic: The Gathering - Scourge - [Base] 106 Sulfuric Vortex $0.73
134002720 Magic 2004 Magic: The Gathering - Champions of Kamigawa - [Base] - Spanish 283 Shizo, Death's Storehouse $19.54
133926964 Magic 2004 Magic: The Gathering - Champions of Kamigawa - [Base] - Spanish 283 Shizo, Death's Storehouse $19.37
175301346 Magic 2004 Magic: The Gathering - Fifth Dawn - [Base] 156 Staff of Domination $4.69
81150083 Magic 2007 Magic: The Gathering - Lorwyn - [Base] - French 208 Elvish Promenade $2.11
175282310 Magic 2017 Magic: The Gathering - Commander 2017 [C17] - [Base] 124 Sanguine Bond $2.48
81157069 Magic 2019 Magic: The Gathering - Signature Spellbook: Gideon [SS2] - [Base] 5 Shielded by Faith (foil) $4.05
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