What to pay for cards at a card show
The short answer: experienced show vendors pay 60 to 75% of market in cash on cards from $10 to $50, 75 to 80% from $50 to $1,000, and 80 to 87% on cards over $1,000. Under $10 they buy by the dollar or a bulk price. The percent rises as the card gets more expensive, and trade credit runs higher than cash.
| Market price | Cash offer |
|---|---|
| Under $10 | By the dollar or a bulk price |
| $10 to $50 | 60 to 75% |
| $50 to $1,000 | 75 to 80% |
| $1,000 and up | 80 to 87% |
These are working ranges from vendors who buy at shows, not a published rate. Start inside them and move with how fast the card sells. Trade credit usually runs about 10 points above cash.
Why the percent goes up with price
Vendors think in dollars, not percent. A card has to leave enough money after you sell it to be worth the case space, the time it takes and the chance it sits unsold all weekend. One Pokémon vendor puts that floor at "at least two to three bucks" a card.
- A $10 card bought at 70% leaves $3. Sell it a little under market and you keep $2 or less.
- A $100 card bought at 75% leaves $25.
- A $1,000 card bought at 85% still leaves $150.
That is why a $1,000 card can get 85% while a $3 card might get no offer. There is a ceiling too: if you plan to resell online, the fees set it. One dealer guide works out that a $1,000 card resold on eBay can't be bought for much more than 87% and still break even.
Cash or trade credit
Trade credit usually runs about 10 points above your cash offer. Trade pays more because you make your margin a second time, on the card you hand over.
Say a customer brings a card with a $100 market price. At 75% the cash offer is $75. In trade it counts as about $85 toward a card in your case at its marked price.
Some vendors go to 90%, or trade market for market, with regulars. Many go lower when someone wants to trade a stack of small cards for one big one, because the small cards are slow to sell.
What moves the number
- How fast the card sells. A card people ask for at every show earns a higher percent. A niche card gets a lower one, or a pass. One vendor says on desirable cards "the first person to offer 80% of market gets to buy that thing."
- Condition. Market prices are for near mint. Price for condition first, then apply your percent. One store's buylist takes 25% off for lightly played, 50% for moderately played and 75% for heavily played before its percent.
- Which market price. TCGplayer market, the lowest listing and the last few sales can be three different numbers. The same 70% off a lower number is a lower offer, so pick one and use it all weekend.
- Language and game. Japanese cards and One Piece have thinner markets and fewer published buy rates. Some stores pay less for Japanese cards or don't buy them. Check sold prices for the exact print before you offer.
- Time in the show. On Saturday morning you can pay more for a card you expect to resell that weekend. By late Sunday there is less time to sell, so offers tighten.
- Lots. A whole binder usually lands below single-card offers. The one good card inside a lot is often what makes paying more for it worthwhile.
What stores pay, for comparison
Card shops publish buylists, and they usually pay less than show vendors. Two published examples, read in October 2026:
| Market price | Cash | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| $0.51 to $1 | 25% | 40% |
| $1.01 to $5 | 40% | 55% |
| $5.01 to $25 | 50% | 65% |
| $25.01 to $100 | 60% | 75% |
| $100.01 to $250 | 70% | 85% |
| Over $250 | Offer by the card | |
| Comp | Cash | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| $10 or under | 50% | 75% |
| Over $10 | 75% | 85% |
| $200 and up | 85% | 100% |
If a seller can get 60% at the shop down the street, an offer under that won't land.
Bulk is bought by the card
Commons and uncommons go by the thousand, not by percent. One bulk buyer's October 2026 rates: $10 to $30 per 1,000 sorted commons and uncommons, $20 to $60 per 1,000 holos and reverse holos, and $0.25 to $0.75 each for ex and V cards. Many shops won't buy a single under $0.50 or $1 at all.
Set your numbers before the show
- Pick one cash percent for each price band and write it down. A reasonable start sits inside the ranges above, for example 68% from $10 to $50, 78% up to $1,000 and 85% above that.
- Pick your trade credit. Your cash percent plus 10 is the usual place to start.
- Decide your floor: the cheapest single you'll buy at all.
- Decide which market price you use, and use the same one all weekend.
- Price for condition first, then apply your percent.
- Round to whole dollars and say it plainly: "I can do $75 cash or $85 in trade."
If you're the one selling
The same numbers work from the other side of the table. Expect 60 to 75% cash on a card from $10 to $50, a dollar or bulk price under $10, 75 to 80% up to $1,000 and 80 to 87% above that, a bit more in trade, and less at a store than at a show. Know the card's recent sold prices before you walk up.
Doing the math at the table
Working out 72% of $143 while a customer waits is where offers go wrong. Margin does it on your phone: the camera names the card (Pokémon and One Piece today; other games by search), shows its comp from real sales and live listings, and starts the offer at your own percent for that price. You set a percent for each price band and your trade credit once, in Settings under Buy offers. Every deal is kept with what you paid, so you know what the show made when you pack up.
Your first show on Margin is free.
Sources
- The Game Cave, Card buying policy, read October 26, 2026.
- Cart-A-Vision, Sell TCG, read October 26, 2026.
- Treacherous Waters, Card buying and selling (condition cuts), read October 21, 2026.
- Monster and Shield, Pokémon bulk prices, rates read October 16, 2026.
- Mint by Memphis, How much do card shops and dealers pay? (the 87% break-even).
- Oyama's Trading, THIS is how you succeed as a card show vendor, May 2025.
- Yolkémon, Why do vendors buy and trade at percentages?, May 2026.
- Mt. Silver Trading Co., Where Pokémon vendors actually get their inventory, December 2025.
- Pallet Picks, How to buy Pokémon cards at card shows, October 2025.
- Collectordadd, How to become a Pokémon card vendor in 2026, August 2026.
- Elite Fourum, Going to my first TCG card show today, Card show flipping and How is it vending at a mid-size card show?