No Card Show this weekend, I will have to do my dimebox digging online.
Do you have a preferred site for buying cards online?
Do you comparison shop before buying something (find it on eBay, then search Sportlots or COMC or Just Commons?) ?
Do you prefer the buy it now options or the auctions?
COMC is awesome!
ReplyDeleteI'm an eBay auction guy for most of my newer Pirate autos. For inserts and lower end auto/relics I do much better with COMC....especially with my WVU collection. The combined shipping helps.
ReplyDeleteI actually used COMC to build my wantlists - being able to sort by set and see 100 cards at a time was great for deciding what I might want to collect. I've purchased a few times from them, but I'm just starting to realize how useful the filters on that site are. Much better than eBay, for instance.
DeleteI find COMC to be great for cards in the $.50 - $10 range, can get some real bargains. I almost never pay full asking price on COMC either, always try an offer first! For cheaper cards and commons Sportlots. eBay is still king though, there is just nothing out there that compares with the sheer amount of stuff you can find on that site. Especially for cards $10 or over, lots, team sets, etc, etc...
ReplyDeleteYeah, when I'm in the mood to search for lots, or unopened wax / boxes, or a full set, I'll always look for those on eBay. Other sites either don't offer them at all, or it's rare that what is up for auction/sale matches what I want to buy.
DeleteSo I still can't officially follow your blog for whatever reason. I use all of the sites above, honestly, as each have their merits.
ReplyDeleteaj, click the little double box icon in the upper right hand corner of the about me box. then it jumps to the follow dialog box and it will allow to follow, thats what i had to do.
DeleteI use all of the above. I have a bunch of other sites I also use quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteOh I should mention that I did check out the O-Pee-Chee Site you recommended. Turns out I've purchased from him on eBay before. The OPC site is now bookmarked so I can keep searching for the last 6 1965's I need.
Deletehttp://www.opcbaseball.com/ if anyone else wants to check it out.
I'll filter all the baseball cards on ebay by pricing + shipping, lowest first. Then go thru the pages and throw .10-.25 cent bids on cards I want when the shipping is free. I'll also save the card to my watch list, so if I lose the auction, but still want the card, I can look for it later.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good way to do it.
DeleteSometimes I will login to eBay and just scroll through ending soonest and make a few impulse buys.
Or I will filter to "buy it now" and scroll through newly listed to see if there's any great deals.
I have it set to notify me of new listings for 1965 O-pee-chee baseball, but other than that I just browse on eBay, and the other sites I tend to search for specific cards.
online, i use just commons, ebay, dacardworld clearance items, and listia.
ReplyDeleteMost of my cards come from eBay. I will usually fill out new player collections by buying everything cheap that Just Commons has in stock for that player. Unopened boxes I usually go through Dave & Adam's, although I also use Blowout Cards from time to time. I should use COMC more than I do, but I haven't made a habit out of browsing their site. Sportlots gets frustrating as you try to build orders from as few sellers as possible to save on shipping.
ReplyDeleteYes! Sportlots was really appealing at first, because the only other site I knew about at the time was eBay. For shipping costs on several random singles, COMC seems like the best way to go.
DeleteI finished a couple sets using Sportlots and it was really irritating when I ended up getting just one card each from a few sellers and dozens from the others (I'm guessing the sellers were not to pleased with sending just one card, either). I tried going back to those single card vendors again later with larger orders to make up for it, but I agree, frustrating to try to combine shipping.
like people have already said : comc for 50ct to $5 cards (their flat rate shipping is amazing to me, because you never get shipping deals on international orders anywhere). Ebay for autos and relics and vintage (you can find awesome bargains on vintage that you don't find on comc). On ebay, I'll look for sellers in Japan or China, as they always offer great shipping to France ($3 to $5 instead of the $7 to $20 for a single card from most US sellers). It's frustrating not being able to buy lots from ebay (because of shipping costs), but hey, too bad, I've got trading for that ! And finally, I love to use justcommons for my Blue Jays needs, even though it takes forever to browse through the listings. But their service is great and he makes me pay only $13 S&H for 200 to 300 cards. I also use Dacardworld for my wax urges, as the boxes can be on my doorstep in 48 to 36 hours with reasonnable S&H charges (yes, it always comes down to this, I'm a broken record)
ReplyDeleteI think the Shipping Cost thing is a really good point, though.
DeleteI tend to think trading as a way to "buy" cards for nothing more than the cost of shipping your half of the trade out. Since we're all in the same boat together, it doesn't feel expensive to ship things in trade.
Buying Online, however, makes everything that comes with shipping fees feel like it's more expensive than it "should be." I was (and still am) a vinyl record collector too, and the shipping for that gets ridiculous quickly. Makes every shopping decision that much harder!
COMC is my go-to, but justcommons isn't too shabby
ReplyDelete