How to Sell Pokémon Cards at a Card Show

Step 1: Pick the right first show

Start with a local monthly show or a shared table before paying for a big regional event.

Your first table is a rehearsal. A local monthly show, a card shop's event night, or half of a friend's table teaches you how buyers move, which cards they ask about, and how much stock actually fits, for a fraction of a regional show's table fee.

Before you book, ask the promoter five things: expected attendance, setup and teardown times, whether there is power and usable cell signal, whether vendors may buy from attendees, and whether they need a copy of your sales tax permit.

Step 2: Get your permits and records in order

Get a sales tax permit if your state requires one, and keep a receipt for every card you buy.

Selling at a show is retail sales. In most US states that means a seller's permit, and some states also require a temporary permit for each event. Rules and rates differ by state, so check with your state's department of revenue rather than another vendor.

Keep a receipt or note for every purchase. What you paid for a card — its cost basis — is what both your taxes and your margins are calculated from, and it is nearly impossible to rebuild months later.

Step 3: Build an inventory that sells at a table

Stock three tiers: a front case of slabs and chase cards, a binder of mid-value singles, and a bulk box.

Tables that sell well have three tiers. A front case of slabs and chase cards stops people walking. A binder of $5–$50 singles does most of the volume. A bulk or dollar box brings in kids and parents and clears stock you would otherwise never move.

Go deep on the current set's chase cards and on whatever vintage your local crowd collects. Sealed product sells, but the margin is thin and you are competing with big-box shelf prices.

Step 4: Record every card with what it cost you

Before the show, give every card a record: card, set, number, condition or grade, cost, and asking price.

A card without a record is a card you cannot price confidently, cannot insure, and cannot tell whether you made money on. When you buy a lot, split the lot's price across the cards in it so each one carries its own cost.

This is the step most new vendors skip, and it is why so many cannot answer the only question that matters after a show: did that table make money?

In Machete Cards: Point a phone at a card — raw, or a PSA, BGS, CGC, SGC or TAG slab — and it is identified, priced against sold comps, and recorded with its cost basis in one step. Photos of a whole binder or box become an itemised sheet.

Step 5: Price from sold comps, not asking prices

Price from recent sold prices, put raw singles at or slightly below market, and price slabs by exact grader and grade.

Active listings are what sellers hope for; sold prices are what buyers paid. Use eBay sold listings from the last 30 days or TCGplayer Market Price, which is based on completed sales. Buyers will check your sticker on their phone, so it has to survive that check.

Rules of thumb many vendors use: raw singles at or a little under market, 5–10% of negotiating room on higher-value cards, and slabs comped by exact grader and grade — a PSA 10 and a PSA 9 are different cards with different prices.

When there is no sold price for a card's condition, a common starting point against the Near Mint price is roughly 75% for Lightly Played, 50% for Moderately Played, 30% for Heavily Played and 25% for Damaged. That is an estimate to start from, not a market price. Reprice before every show; Pokémon prices move fastest around set releases.

In Machete Cards: Every record carries sold comps from the last 30 days, with cost basis and margin alongside, so repricing before a show is a review of what moved rather than an evening of lookups.

Step 6: Set up a table people stop at

Light the cases, price every item, put the eye-catching card front and center, and keep high-value cases on your side.

Bring clip-on LED lights; show halls are dim and cards sell on shine. Put the single most eye-catching card front and center, binders on stands, and high-value cases angled toward you rather than the aisle.

Price everything. Many buyers will not ask about an unpriced card; they walk. If you buy collections, put up a sign that says so — it is the cheapest advertising at the show.

Step 7: Take payment and log every sale as it happens

Accept cash and cards, and record each sale — card, price, payment method — at the moment it happens.

Take cash and at least one card option; a lot of buyers no longer carry enough cash for a slab. Whatever you use, write down each sale when it happens. A sale reconstructed from memory at midnight is a sale with the wrong price or the wrong card.

In Machete Cards: Each card's QR label opens its own checkout. Payments taken at the table are logged on that card's record, and it is marked sold on your storefront and eBay at the same time.

Step 8: Buy and trade at the table

Make cash offers as a percentage of market based on how fast a card resells, offer more in trade credit, and show the math card by card.

Buying is where most vendors make their margin. Cash offers are a percentage of market that depends on how fast the card resells — commonly around 60–80% for cards that move quickly, less for bulk and slow movers. Trade credit is usually offered at a higher percentage than cash, because the value stays in your case.

Write the offer down card by card so the seller sees the math. A transparent offer sheet turns a haggle into a conversation, and sellers come back to vendors who showed their work.

In Machete Cards: Photograph a binder or a box and get an itemised offer sheet, built for buying collections at the table.

Step 9: Reconcile the same night and list what didn't sell

Match cash and sales to your records that night, then list unsold cards online without double-selling them.

Count the cash, match every sale to a record, and note which cards drew attention but did not sell — those are your repricing candidates. Then list the leftovers on eBay, TCGplayer or your own site so inventory keeps working between shows.

The trap is a card that sells at the table while it is still listed online. One inventory record that every channel reads from is the only reliable fix; a spreadsheet updated after the show cannot do it.

In Machete Cards: The storefront, eBay and the show table read the same record, so a sale anywhere delists everywhere — overselling is designed out, not cleaned up after.

What software does a card show vendor need?

Whatever you run your table on, it should do six things:

1. Scan raw cards and slabs from any grader, with a manual-entry fallback.
2. Price from sold comps, not active listings.
3. Record cost basis at intake and show margin per card.
4. Take payment at the table and log the sale on the card's record.
5. Keep eBay and your website in sync so a show sale delists everywhere.
6. Export all of your data, any time, without asking.

We make Machete Cards, so weigh this table accordingly. Prices are as of October 2026; each vendor's own site is the authority on its current plans.

Card show vendor FAQ