Yet another reason why I love Mycomicshop 2 2

[shadroch]

I've written how I moved my operations in late Feb. from a commercial building I owned to an old farmhouse. At the same time, I switched banks.

Over the last few weeks, I saw that I was missing some funds so after some research I concluded I was missing several checks I'd received from two sellers. One was MCS, the other was a big aucion house. So yesterday I called both places. MCS told me their accounting department was gone for the day  but gave me the hours they'd be in today. I called this morning and after explaining the situation, their guy spent a good fifteen minutes helping me out. He was able to locate the checks, see they hadn't been cashed and issued an immediate replacement for them. 

The other place connected me to an answering machine where I left a message. today I called again and left a message. Called their main number and was told to speak to someone in accounting. When I said I'd left two messages I was told there was nothing else that could be done. 

I realize this is a situation of my own making and certainly don't expect everyone to drop everything to help me resolve it, but like many people, I vote with my pocketbook. Which of the two companies would you think I'll give my future business to?

[comicquant]

I've never used MCS to sell but I always hear great things about them.

[mec3437]

I was a missing a check from MCS a month or two ago as well.  I contacted Este at MCS and had a replacement check within two weeks.  Awesome people to work with.

[adampasz]

I just completed my first sale with MCS -- auctioned 5 slabs. I was very pleased with the whole process, and I'm definitely planning to sell through them again.

Edited May 14, 2021 by adampasz

[musicmeta]

I've been Super Pleased with all my transactions with Mycomicshop!  I haven't tried to sell anything on their site but that's soon going to change.  Everything I've bought has been a very enjoyable transaction. Super smooth all the way around.  

Edited May 14, 2021 by musicmeta

[lordbyroncomics]

I buy from MCS literally every week and they always go beyond the call of duty. Nothing but the highest praise- I am a loyal customer and will continue my loyalty.

[Pat Thomas]

Imagine running a company with attention to ethics and a belief that customer satisfaction is important. More and more businesses seem to forget these concepts every day, while it used to be commonplace.

[Motor City Rob]

18 hours ago, adampasz said:

I just completed my first sale with MCS -- auctioned 5 slabs. I was very pleased with the whole process, and I'm definitely planning to sell through them again.

I have bought from MCS before but never sold.  Does MCS auction on their own website?  Are the fees better than ebay?

[evilskip]

27 minutes ago, Motor City Rob said:

I have bought from MCS before but never sold.  Does MCS auction on their own website?  Are the fees better than ebay?

I'd much rather sell through MCS, whether by auction or consignment, than ebay. I haven't sold anything on ebay since 2008, so no comparison pricing.

Auction fees are 8%. If you use their buy it now (where you set the price) it is 10% for sales up to $300, 8% on portion after that.

What I love about it is that they deal with the buyer, not me. So far I've only had one time where a winner didn't pay.I had to relist and MCS banned the buyer, but compare that to ebay. On a buy it now they also list your item on ebay.

[shadroch]

13 hours ago, Motor City Rob said:

I have bought from MCS before but never sold.  Does MCS auction on their own website?  Are the fees better than ebay?

Yes, and yes.

[kav]

On 5/14/2021 at 7:56 PM, Pat Thomas said:

Imagine running a company with attention to ethics and a belief that customer satisfaction is important. More and more businesses seem to forget these concepts every day, while it used to be commonplace.

I know of one LCS that screwed themselves out of about 100K in magiccards they could have got cheap when they loballed a guy who went to sell a few of the cards-when he went to another LCS and learned what those cards were actually worth, he sold the bulk of the cards very cheap to the honest LCS owner instead of the lowballer.
Highly ethical behavior has many reasons why they are successful.

[Motor City Rob]

9 hours ago, shadroch said:

Yes, and yes.

Ebay caps their fees at $750, which is nice when selling major grails.  Does MCS have a cap as well?

[BigLeagueCHEW]

46 minutes ago, Motor City Rob said:

Ebay caps their fees at $750, which is nice when selling major grails.  Does MCS have a cap as well?

This is nice, a cap insures a nice profit. To bad home sales can't be capped too.

Edited May 16, 2021 by BigLeagueCHEW

[shadroch]

1 hour ago, Motor City Rob said:

Ebay caps their fees at $750, which is nice when selling major grails.  Does MCS have a cap as well?

I think their cap is $1,000. I've never sold a book on their site for more than $5700 so it has never effected me. They get 8% on auctions and the BIN is 10% up to $300 and then 8% for the rest. I suspect they would be flexible if you offered them some really valuable books but ca't say for sure.

With eBay, you eat the paypal fees, with MCS, they do so that's an extra 3% or so in your pocket.

[mycomicshop]

4 hours ago, Motor City Rob said:

Ebay caps their fees at $750, which is nice when selling major grails.  Does MCS have a cap as well?

These are the eBay fee details for accounts using managed payments, which I think is maybe everybody now?

Selling fees for managed payments sellers
12.55% on subtotal + shipping up to $7500, 2.35% on amount over $7500. There is no separate PayPal or payment fee here, it's combined into one percentage.
This is equivalent to a 10.2% final value fee capped at $765, plus a 2.35% non-capped payment fee.

Store selling fees for managed payments sellers
There are two relevant tiers:
1) The "starter" store level costs $7.95 a month. It saves you some money on listing fees but the final value fee percentages are the same as a regular eBay account without a store subscription (12.55% on subtotal + shipping up to $7500, 2.35% on amount over $7500)
2) The "basic" store subscription costs $27.95 monthly but does buy you better final value fee rates: 
11.7% on subtotal + shipping up to $2500, 2.35% on amount past $2500.
This is equivalent to 9.35% final value fee capped at $233.75, plus a 2.35% non-capped payment fee.

In comparison, our rates are
auction = 8%, capped at $1000
buy it now = 10% on first $300, 8% on amount past $300, capped at $1000

Here is how our rates compare to the eBay rates for a standard eBay account (or starter store), and an eBay "basic" tier store that costs $28/month:

Our fees beat a standard eBay account or starter store across the board. With the $28/month basic eBay store, you'll do somewhat better on fees for sales in the $5000+ range, although the difference isn't large when you're talking about a multi-thousand dollar sale, and we're providing significant services that eBay is not. With eBay, you're responsible for shipping and insuring the sale yourself, plus any potential buyer problems or fraud. We provide more protection against problems with shipping and buyers than eBay does--you basically don't have to worry about it as long as you can get your book shipped safely to us. Plus, the fact that eBay charges you a percentage on shipping, and that with eBay you have to spend your labor and material costs into shipping individual purchases to individual buyers, vs making one single combined shipment to us, provides some further advantages to us that aren't represented in the raw percentages.

For reference, these are the links for the old eBay rates for any sellers that have not been transitioned to managed payments yet:
Selling fees for sellers not on managed payments
Store selling fees for sellers not on managed payments
 

Edited May 16, 2021 by mycomicshop

[theCapraAegagrus]

I would never hesitate to buy from, or sell to, MCS. They're my favorite 'comic auction house'.

[Motor City Rob]

19 hours ago, mycomicshop said:

These are the eBay fee details for accounts using managed payments, which I think is maybe everybody now?

Selling fees for managed payments sellers
12.55% on subtotal + shipping up to $7500, 2.35% on amount over $7500. There is no separate PayPal or payment fee here, it's combined into one percentage.
This is equivalent to a 10.2% final value fee capped at $765, plus a 2.35% non-capped payment fee.

Store selling fees for managed payments sellers
There are two relevant tiers:
1) The "starter" store level costs $7.95 a month. It saves you some money on listing fees but the final value fee percentages are the same as a regular eBay account without a store subscription (12.55% on subtotal + shipping up to $7500, 2.35% on amount over $7500)
2) The "basic" store subscription costs $27.95 monthly but does buy you better final value fee rates: 
11.7% on subtotal + shipping up to $2500, 2.35% on amount past $2500.
This is equivalent to 9.35% final value fee capped at $233.75, plus a 2.35% non-capped payment fee.

In comparison, our rates are
auction = 8%, capped at $1000
buy it now = 10% on first $300, 8% on amount past $300, capped at $1000

Here is how our rates compare to the eBay rates for a standard eBay account (or starter store), and an eBay "basic" tier store that costs $28/month:

Our fees beat a standard eBay account or starter store across the board. With the $28/month basic eBay store, you'll do somewhat better on fees for sales in the $5000+ range, although the difference isn't large when you're talking about a multi-thousand dollar sale, and we're providing significant services that eBay is not. With eBay, you're responsible for shipping and insuring the sale yourself, plus any potential buyer problems or fraud. We provide more protection against problems with shipping and buyers than eBay does--you basically don't have to worry about it as long as you can get your book shipped safely to us. Plus, the fact that eBay charges you a percentage on shipping, and that with eBay you have to spend your labor and material costs into shipping individual purchases to individual buyers, vs making one single combined shipment to us, provides some further advantages to us that aren't represented in the raw percentages.

For reference, these are the links for the old eBay rates for any sellers that have not been transitioned to managed payments yet:
Selling fees for sellers not on managed payments
Store selling fees for sellers not on managed payments
 

Appreciate the transparency on your fee comparison with ebay. You may need to edit the ebay basic store column. Should just be 11.5% up to 2,500 and then 2.35% of the portion above 2,500. For instance, the fee for a $500 sale should just be 11.5% of $500, or $58. You are showing $87. I think every example for that column needs to be adjusted.

[mycomicshop]

1 hour ago, Motor City Rob said:

Appreciate the transparency on your fee comparison with ebay. You may need to edit the ebay basic store column. Should just be 11.5% up to 2,500 and then 2.35% of the portion above 2,500. For instance, the fee for a $500 sale should just be 11.5% of $500, or $58. You are showing $87. I think every example for that column needs to be adjusted.

Thanks for the feedback. According to the eBay info it's 11.7%, not 11.5%, up to $2500 for the eBay basic store tier

The main difference you're seeing is in my spreadsheet the column for an eBay basic store includes the $27.95 cost for one month of the store subscription since you can't get that rate without paying the subscription price. If you're selling multiple high-end items per month then that per-item cost would be shared across them. Or, if you're selling enough for the annual store subscription to make sense, the monthly cost is $21.95. That fee doesn't neatly map to a comparison showing the fees for selling a single expensive item.

The excel formula used for the basic store tier column is as follows, where B9 is the reference to the value in the sale price column.

=IF(B9>2500,0.0235*(B9-2500) +0.117*2500,0.117*B9)+28

[Motor City Rob]

1 hour ago, mycomicshop said:

Thanks for the feedback. According to the eBay info it's 11.7%, not 11.5%, up to $2500 for the eBay basic store tier

The main difference you're seeing is in my spreadsheet the column for an eBay basic store includes the $27.95 cost for one month of the store subscription since you can't get that rate without paying the subscription price. If you're selling multiple high-end items per month then that per-item cost would be shared across them. Or, if you're selling enough for the annual store subscription to make sense, the monthly cost is $21.95. That fee doesn't neatly map to a comparison showing the fees for selling a single expensive item.

The excel formula used for the basic store tier column is as follows, where B9 is the reference to the value in the sale price column.

=IF(B9>2500,0.0235*(B9-2500) +0.117*2500,0.117*B9)+28

Yes, thanks for the correction. 11.7% not 11.5%. It's clear that you guys definitely have a more favorable fee structure for most sellers. I would argue that most people sell books that are less than $4,000, and that's where MCS is more enticing for fees.

For bigger books, seems like eBay is more favorable, in some cases by $400+. Any thoughts on considering some fee restrucuting for higher valued books to win over more eBay sellers that may only deal with those types of books?

Again, appreciate the transparency and true professionalism. 

[mycomicshop]

24 minutes ago, Motor City Rob said:

Yes, thanks for the correction. 11.7% not 11.5%. It's clear that you guys definitely have a more favorable fee structure for most sellers. I would argue that most people sell books that are less than $4,000, and that's where MCS is more enticing for fees.

For bigger books, seems like eBay is more favorable, in some cases by $400+. Any thoughts on considering some fee restrucuting for higher valued books to win over more eBay sellers that may only deal with those types of books?

Again, appreciate the transparency and true professionalism. 

We always try to be as competitive as possible (and our rates are already at ~8% and capped at $1000 for these high end sales vs other auction houses that are 10%+ with no cap), but we can't completely price match a platform like eBay that is providing less service and less seller protection. There's a risk premium associated with shipping a $10K+ book to a buyer, and eBay doesn't protect the seller the way we do. If you sell an expensive book yourself, you take on that risk yourself. If you sell a book through us, we insulate you from all that, you just get paid.

You can cross your fingers and hope nothing goes wrong and eBay decides in your favor if there's a dispute, but one big loss wipes out the savings from a lot of successful transactions. You can purchase a collectibles insurance policy that provides coverage if an expensive item goes missing during shipping. Whatever might happen and however you choose to handle it, there's always some cost associated with risk.

There's also factors like marketability--plenty of buyers will be more likely to buy a $12K book from an established and well-regarded retailer like us than they might from an unknown individual on eBay--meaning your book sells faster and/or at a higher price than if you handled it yourself. And some sellers selling on eBay might choose not to sell internationally because of the higher risk of shipping-related issues (btw the eBay Global Shipping Program doesn't allow sales over $2500, even eBay doesn't want to accept responsibility for shipping expensive items internationally). With us, your comic is available for purchase internationally too--bigger market = faster sale and/or higher sale price.