Moving On...from Beckett to COMC

[GehrigFan]

Well, for the 3 or 4 people on this board who might care, I have an announcement regarding my change in the hobby. As of July 8th, I no longer work for Beckett in any capacity.

I spent the better part of 16+ years at Beckett: 1-1/2 in Pricing, followed by a move to become the first member of Grading in 1998 and, after building the BGS/BVG business, managing it as Director of Grading & Authentication through July of 2013.

I have now moved on to an ecommerce website known as COMC.com. I won't go into the details just yet as I'll make a separate announcement about that later, with Leon's permission. I was thrilled the move was just in time for me to not miss the National (official hire date July 29th!), and I can say it was the best National I've attended. It was a pleasure to work with some of my new coworkers, and I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who came to the COMC booth after asking for me at the Beckett booth first.

Again, I'll go into COMC and Vintage - and what plans I have for the two - in another post a little later on. But right now, I thank everyone for their support, and especially their love for our BCCG product (HA!), while I was at Beckett. If you need to get in touch with someone about BVG, I would suggest reaching out to Andy Broome, Sr. Vintage Grader, at abroome@beckett.com.

Thank you all for everything, and I will be back soon!

Mark Anderson
manderson@comc.com

[murcerfan]

Do you collect vintage cards?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by murcerfan

hey everybody!

look at me!

do we have to?

[jcmtiger]

Who is COMC?

[HRBAKER]

Check Out My Cards, I think

[Bicem]

Good luck in your new role Mark!

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Check Out My Cards, I think

Right. I love their site. They've been great in helping me get Bowman Chrome prospect autos I've needed. They scan every card front and back, and since the Chrome cards are so condition sensitive (scan lines, etc), it's a great thing.

Good luck with your new position, Mark. Here's hoping you'll make a great place even better!

[smtjoy]

Good luck on your new venture Mark!

Glad you feel like many of us out there about the BCCG cards and why I will not use Beckett because of it.

[buymycards]

COMC has some very good features, especially if you are interested in newer cards, insert sets, etc. I have had success selling newer stuff and I have made some good deals on purchases. I like the website and they are always improving the features.

As far as pre-war cards, if you think the BIN prices on ebay are high, take a look at the prices on COMC and you will fall over laughing. You can make offers, but the asking prices are so high that I don't even make offers any more.

Rick

[Rich Klein]

There are a ton of parallels with Beckett circa 1990 and COMC circa 2013 and those are in a good way.

I've actually written thet for my sports collectors daily column - so look out for future columns as well.

RIch

[glchen]

Good luck, Mark, and best wishes in your new venture. I always appreciated your help with my Beckett submissions, so COMC has made a great hire. I've never used Check Out My Cards before, but have always heard good things about it. Take care.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Best of luck, Mark!

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by buymycards

COMC has some very good features, especially if you are interested in newer cards, insert sets, etc. I have had success selling newer stuff and I have made some good deals on purchases. I like the website and they are always improving the features.

As far as pre-war cards, if you think the BIN prices on ebay are high, take a look at the prices on COMC and you will fall over laughing. You can make offers, but the asking prices are so high that I don't even make offers any more.

Rick

Rick pretty much nailed it. The site is great for modern cards. Really great for finding singles to complete your sets. I've found the site to be very well organized, and very user friendly.

I also love their customer service. They have a no questions asked return policy, so long as a card is in the same condition it was sent in, they will issue a full refund. I've only had to do a few returns, but they've always been prompt in answering my email inquiries, and refunds are fast.

But vintage cards...? The prices are crazy. Of course, that's the sellers, not comc itself. However, if comc could attract more collectors of vintage and pre-war cards, I could see it competing with Ebay. I can't speak to the fees they charge sellers, as I've only bought, but I think it's something our members should at least look into (I have no vested interest in the site, by the way. I am just a collector looking for more options)

[conor912]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I can't speak to the fees they charge sellers

Last I checked, it was 20%.

I used COMC a couple times when they were starting out but stopped because the extra fees were adding up too fast. They charged a handling fee of $.25 per card to get your card out of their storage along with what I remember as $3 plus $.25 per card shipping which made buying lots completely cost prohibitive. Maybe the prices have gone down since. I also agree they are missing out on a lot of potential vintage business.

That said, their customer service was great and the interface of their site is unrivaled.

[ethicsprof]

wishing you all the best in your new position at comc.
Barry

[GehrigFan]

Originally Posted by murcerfan

Do you collect vintage cards?

Yes, I focus on Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig pre-1948 cards and memorabilia, W-strip cards, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and old baseball games (Babe Ruth game, Walter Johnson Game, 1913 National Game, 1936 S&S Game, etc.). I collect a few post-war vintage as well, but mostly just key rookies or complete 1940's to 1960's sets. Yes, I do collect modern shiny sets as well! I've been active on this board for many, many years.

Thanks!

[GehrigFan]

Originally Posted by Leon

do we have to?

Hey murcerfan, The point of my post is certainly not to draw attention to myself. I posted this because I have lots of Net54 members who liked to send their BVG/BGS orders directly to me, and I was telling them their new point of contact. Also, many Net54 members used to PM through this site with questions. I was just trying to tell people that from now on, for BGS/BVG questions, they should now go to Andy, who is also active on this site.

(Andy, if you see this, please post so people see your username so they can PM you with questions.)

Sorry if you thought I was trying to brag or something - that was certainly not the intent.

Maybe you should wait a few weeks for me to post my ideas for vintage cards on the site before you pop off with immature responses. I'm here to help Sellers get the most money for their cards. We are not going for the $1000, $5000, etc. cards, but rather focusing on the stuff up to $1000 (although we do have $5K+ cards on their).

Mark

[Cardboard Junkie]

This thread sucks! Dave Pierson.

[drcy]

There's nothing wrong with posting about a hobby job change. It's been done before on this board, and many will file it under informative ('good to know'). People post here about their new books, websites, etc. Nothing to apologize about, and it didn't come across as bragging to me.

I've met Mark and he's a good guy. Others here would think the same if the met him.

And, to tell you the truth, I don't think there's anything wrong with bragging once in a while. If I didn't post about how great I am and all the wonderful awards I get and stunning women I date, I'd have nothing to post about. Well, at least no much, anyway.

Well, maybe 'date' isn't the right word. But I have sat next to her twice on the bus going downtown and we both wear Adidas.

I assume a jury duty notice counts as an award. I mean Lebron James got one.

[Taxman]

Good Luck Mark, great to talk during the National.

Kirk

[GehrigFan]

Originally Posted by buymycards

COMC has some very good features, especially if you are interested in newer cards, insert sets, etc. I have had success selling newer stuff and I have made some good deals on purchases. I like the website and they are always improving the features.

As far as pre-war cards, if you think the BIN prices on ebay are high, take a look at the prices on COMC and you will fall over laughing. You can make offers, but the asking prices are so high that I don't even make offers any more.

Rick

Rick - I totally agree about the high pricing. One part of my role is to go through and find cards that are way too highly priced and get them to knock the price down. I will say from experience that a lot of the vintage dealers put a price on their cards that is double what they really want. Since you can make offers as low as half price, some sellers just price their cards at twice what they will accept. I know this from experience as a user - I put all my shiny new stuff on the site, sell it, and then use the money to make offers on pre-war HOFers. I've picked up everything from Allen and Ginter HOFers to a Buchner Gold Coin Jimmy Ryan (who should be in the HOF!), about 4 different Walter Johnsons, and so on - all at half the listed price.

I am not planning on going after high end $1000+ vintage (for now) but rather want to build the pre-1970 vintage cards selection to make it a place for you to easily put cards on the site that you would normally ebay. The difference is that with COMC, you don't do any work. We scan the cards at up to 36X zoom, front and back, store the cards in a secure, insured facility, put them on the site, you set your price, and when they sell, we fulfill and ship the cards out, For buyers, it doesn't matter if you buy 100 cards from 100 sellers, we ship them all so you save hundreds of dollars by paying just one shipping cost, which I believe is $3 plus 25 cents per card. You can also use the credit you get for selling and buy other cards you want and thus skip the 20% fee. So personally, I don't care if I theoretically "overpay" on a pre war HOFer a little bit, if all I'm using to buy it is a bunch of cards I don't want in the first place. I have heavily upgraded my collection by doing this over the last 3 years.

Mark

[peterose4hof]

Mark, You've been incredibly helpful to many of us here at net54, myself included, and I know you have always done your best to extend the olive branch to us by offering grading specials at the National and personal assistance with submissions. You fought an uphill battle (valiantly), trying to convince vintage collector's to submit to BVG.

I have complete confidence you will be equally successful at COMC. I hope you can help them expand their vintage inventory. I, like many here, sell my modern stuff on there and buy vintage cards for my collection.

All the best!
Bubba

[GehrigFan]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

This thread sucks! Dave Pierson.

Any reason you read at least the first 2 pages of it, then? Just ignore it instead of chiming in like a spoiled child.

The reason I posted this is because, as the Director of Grading, many Net54 people wanted to deal directly with me on their submissions, or just ask questions. I'm just telling them that I won't be there to do that now, but gave them a new contact.

[GehrigFan]

Originally Posted by drcy

There's nothing wrong with posting about a hobby job change. It's been done before on this board, and many will file it under informative ('good to know'). People post here about their new books, websites, etc. Nothing to apologize about, and it didn't come across as bragging to me.

I've met Mark and he's a good guy. Others here would think the same if the met him.

And, to tell you the truth, I don't think there's anything wrong with bragging once in a while. If I didn't post about how great I am and all the wonderful awards I get and stunning women I date, I'd have nothing to post about. Well, at least no much, anyway.

Well, maybe 'date' isn't the right word. But I have sat next to her twice on the bus going downtown and we both wear Adidas.

I assume a jury duty notice counts as an award. I mean Lebron James got one.

Thanks for the kind words David. You always crack me up with your facebook posts. You live in or close to Seattle, don't you? I will likely end up moving there. We'll have to get together when I do. I will also be there for 2 weeks in Aug-Sept.

[drcy]

I live in Seattle, in the city itself. Seattle is a good city. One of the nicest places I've been, and has to be one of the most geographically beautiful big cities, with Puget Sound and two nearby mountain ranges.

[Cardboard Junkie]

".....,.like a spoiled child", huh?

[Rich Klein]

1) I wrote in one of my Rich's Ramblings columns about what I perceive are some of the similarilaties (sic) between Beckett Publications circa 1990 and COMC today

2) In terms of pricing cards on COMC -- remember that is the seller's choice, and if the seller wants to "retail" his/her cards that is certainly their option. In addition, there is also a feature which enables the seller to sell their cards on Amazon.Com although an automatic discount is used.

3) Also, if your price is too low, instead of clients just buying the card, they will, in many cases, ask for a discount. I had a very fairly priced 1961 Topps Bill SKowron (tough SP) posted on their site and the minute I posed the card at the fair price for the condition of 25 percent of book I was offered half of that.

Well, instead of the client being happy with the fair price I then raised my price so the next offer I would get would be closer to what I really wanted for that card. You can not price a card at a low price without getting a counter offer to be lower. Thus you have to start higher. Consider that the equivalent of an EBay BIN and that is why sometimes vintage and new card prices are higher then they should be.

Regards
Rich

[Rich Klein]

David:

Mark "IS" a friend of mine, I helped train him as an analyst when he first came to Beckett way back in the day.

If you have a problem with Mark, COMC or Beckett Grading, please state those clearly, We had a statement at Beckett back in the day that if you said "Beckett sucks and is killling the hobby" we really did not pay attention to you.

BUT, if you said Beckett missed the pricing on 1933 Goudeys as per these recent auctions, and needs to change we would certainly listen to specific questions. Thus, David please state what your specific objection to any of the above are. Otherwise, no need for further posts in this thread.

Rich

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

".....,.like a spoiled child", huh?
“Shine without being a braggart...Overshare so it just sounds like part of the story ‘Then we spent five days in L.A. and the weather was weirdly wet (humid hair nightmare) but then we ran into Ryan Gosling (yes, the actor!) who invited us back for drinks”

Could you explain to me how the "overshare" method works. Would these be examples:

I usually get 2.......nothing on The Big Island yet

Gotta admit life is good on the big island.

Aloha Jose....Have any of your bad packs entered the market??

By the way I'm FBI...(From Big Island)

Almost makes me want to leave the Island to go see it..........almost

Hi fellow collectors I am deeply worried that our beloved "large Ass Herzog" Has been kidnapped!!! Where is his whereabouts?? Has his travels ceased...has he vanished forever?? Who is currently in posession?? Aloha Dave. I would like him to visit The Big Island to show him the volcano and mauna kea. I also am good friend with an academy award winning grammy winning etc. celebrity whom I could have a pic taken with lage butt. HELP

Aloha! John, Brah! I don't even know what "snap a pic on the phone" means? I only have a hard line. I haven't owned a camera since they had those little flash cubes that spin around. I don't even own a T.V. Let alone a fax scanner copier or what ever they are. I am fortunate to navigate (poorly) on the internet. Haven't been off the Island in 9 yars and don't want to go anywhere. Just me, Last national I was at was in Detroit. Enjoy the Hobby , aloha, dave.

I have never talked to the original poster, and don't have a dog in the fight, but I don't see what the problem with the post was. Just like I don't mind hearing about someones life on "the big island". I believe this to be considered an online "community". In a community people share. If I were to post that I got a new job it may not make sense, but his job affects some others in the community so he thought he would share the information.
I agree with him if you have a problem with it why would you comment in the post just to have it in turn bumped to the top of everyone's list?

[tonyo]

I've used COMC a good bit for modern cards and even bought a handful of 60's and 70's.

Like many others, love the format. Very very easy to use and everything is well documented.



Good Luck Mark, hopefully you can grow the vintage side!

[Cardboard Junkie]

All right then, maybe the thread doesn't suck! I knew I would be wrong about something eventually. My apologies, Dave

[SMPEP]

Mark - I have bought many items from COMC and love the site.

I wish you all the luck in getting seller's to adjust their prices on COMC because that's the biggest problem with the site right now.

I know there are many cards on there right now that I would buy without delay at the normal Ebay transaction price, but the seller has them at twice the Ebay buy-it-now price and it's not even worth my time to make an offer.

I will also add - I LOVE that every card is shone front and back. I will chose to buy a card on COMC at the same price as Ebay for that reason alone.

Ultimately COMC has the potential to wipe out Ebay in my opinion, but it is going to be a challenge getting there.

Good luck!
Patrick

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

Could you explain to me how the "overshare" method works.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...ht=brown+lenox

David I'd still like you to share an image of the "brown" Lenox you said you found in your binder that wouldn't be oversharing and would be sweet! I know you had said you had issues posting pics but you seemed to have figured that out now. Can I please see a scan I've been asking for sometime thanks.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...ighlight=david

[Cardboard Junkie]

I would love to John, but the Birch (fielding) Brn Lenox T206 was traded off during the period of my banishment about a year ago. It was a good trade, so I'm happy! Dave. ps I'll still try to get a scan or pic for you.(not intended to derail this thread).

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

I would love to John, but the Birch (fielding) Brn Lenox T206 was traded off during the period of my banishment about a year ago. It was a good trade, so I'm happy! Dave. ps I'll still try to get a scan or pic for you.(not intended to derail this thread).

Please do I'm sure a lot of the T206 nuts would like to confirm this one on the list. Perhaps the new owner will have a shot?

Cheers,

John

P.S. You were banished??

[Cardboard Junkie]

You mean it's NOT a confirmed card?.....I was pm'd you had one?

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

You mean it's NOT a confirmed card?.....I was pm'd you had one?

I do have one, if you have one or had one it would be nice to know to keep up counts....hence why I have been asking for a scan since you announced you had one.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...ht=brown+lenox

[Cardboard Junkie]

John, first you say it's not confirmed, then you say you have one. I'm starting to think you're playing at something. I agree it is nice that some people "keep count" of these things, so I'll ask the new owner for a scan or pic. Dave. (Yep I was banned for about 6 months, but Leon was kind enough to reinstate me. Thanks Leon! Okay? Back on topic...What is a COMC?

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

John, first you say it's not confirmed, then you say you have one. I'm starting to think you're playing at something. I agree it is nice that some people "keep count" of these things, so I'll ask the new owner for a scan or pic. Dave. (Yep I was banned for about 6 months, but Leon was kind enough to reinstate me. Thanks Leon! Okay? Back on topic...What is a COMC?

David should be no confusion. My copy is confirmed yours is not at this point as we haven't been able to see a picture of the card. Hopefully the new owner will share a picture.