What to Bring to a Card Show: The Collector's Checklist

Short answer: bring cash in small bills, a charged phone and battery pack, penny sleeves and toploaders, protectors for your graded slabs, your trade stock organized and priced, a want list with your maximum prices, and a hands-free way to carry your best card. Pack the night before.

We set up at card shows in Montreal and Toronto every month. From behind the table, the collectors who have the best day are the ones who prepared. This checklist covers buying, selling and trading, for Pokémon, One Piece, Lorcana, Yu-Gi-Oh, sports cards and everything in between.

The printable checklist

Category	Bring	Why
Money	Cash in small bills, a card, a written budget	Better prices for cash, easier negotiating, no overspending
Phone	Charged phone, battery pack, cable	Tap payments, e-transfers and price checks all day
Raw card protection	Penny sleeves, toploaders, a rigid box	Nothing bends at the bottom of a backpack
Graded card protection	Slab bumpers or cases	Slabs knock together in bags and on tables
Carry	A hands-free bag with a display window	Show your grail without holding it
Trade stock	Binder or slabs, organized and priced	Faster trades and fewer bad deals
Tools	Price app, small flashlight or loupe, pen	Check sold prices, surfaces and centering
Comfort	Water, snack, comfortable shoes	Big shows mean hours on your feet

Money and payments

• Cash in small bills. Many vendors give a better price for cash, and small bills make it easy to close a deal without waiting for change.
• A card and your phone wallet. Most tables now take tap payments, but not all of them, and venue signal can be weak.
• A written budget. Shows are designed to make you spend. Decide your limit before you walk in, and split it between buying and trading.

Protection for what you buy

• Penny sleeves and toploaders for every raw card you pick up. Vendors do not always have spares.
• Slab protectors for graded cards. A Guard Bumper PSA takes seconds to put on and stops corner dings when slabs knock together in a bag. Bring a few spares for slabs you buy during the day.
• A rigid box or deck box so nothing bends at the bottom of your bag.

A way to carry your best card

Most collectors leave their best card at home, because carrying it is stressful: in a backpack it gets scratched, in your hand it gets dropped, and in a pocket it gets bent. The SLABIUM BAG was designed at card shows for exactly this. It is a crossbody sling with a front display window that fits PSA, BGS, CGC and TAG slabs. Your card stays visible and protected, your hands stay free, and the main compartment holds your phone, deck box, toploaders, keys and wallet. It also starts conversations: people stop to ask about the card in the window.

Your trade stock

If you trade, bring your stock organized and priced. A binder sorted by set or player saves time at every table. For graded cards, stacked bare slabs slide and scratch each other. Cased slabs, like the Guard Acrylic PSA, stack without sliding and look better laid out on a table. Write your asking price on a small sticker on the case, never on the slab itself.

Tools

• A price-check app that shows recent sold prices, not asking prices.
• A small flashlight or loupe to check surfaces, edges and centering before you buy raw cards.
• A want list with your maximum price for each card. It keeps you focused when every table looks good.
• A pen for notes, and for writing down the vendors you want to come back to.

Comfort

• Water and a snack. Lines and crowds make breaks rare.
• Comfortable shoes. Big shows mean hours on your feet.
• A tote for sealed product, so your hands stay free.

Tips for buying and trading

• Walk the whole floor first. Prices for the same card can vary a lot between tables.
• Arrive early for the best selection, or late for the best deals. Vendors often discount near closing to avoid packing stock back up.
• Check graded slabs under light for cracks and scratches on the holder before you pay.
• Protect cards the moment you buy them. Sleeve, toploader or bumper before it goes in the bag.
• Bring kids along. Card shows are great for all ages, and a bumper in a favourite colour makes a young collector's first graded card feel special.

The night-before checklist

1. Charge your phone and battery pack.
2. Get cash in small bills.
3. Pack sleeves, toploaders and a few spare slab protectors.
4. Organize and price your trade stock.
5. Write your want list with maximum prices.
6. Put your best slab in its protector and in your SLABIUM BAG.

Frequently asked questions

Should I bring my graded cards to a card show?

Yes, if they are protected. Put a bumper or case on every slab and carry your best one in a display bag rather than loose in a backpack.

How much cash should I bring?

Bring your full budget in cash if you can, in small bills. Cash often gets a better price.

What is the best way to carry a graded card at a show?

Hands-free and protected: a display bag with a window, like the SLABIUM BAG, with the slab in a bumper or case.

How do I protect slabs I buy at the show?

Bring spare Guard Bumpers and put one on each new slab before it goes in your bag. Read our full guide on how to protect PSA graded slabs.

Meet us at our table: follow @slabium on Instagram for the next show dates in Montreal and Toronto.