Card-Show Vendor Checklist: Before, During, After

Four weeks to one week before the show

Confirm the operating constraints early enough to solve them.

Confirm event dates, public hours, setup and breakdown windows, venue address, loading instructions, parking, badge rules, table size, chairs, power, internet, and insurance requirements. - Save organizer and venue contacts where the team can reach them offline. - Define the show's inventory purpose, buyer segments, revenue target, contribution target, customer-capture target, and maximum event investment. - Assign owner, staff roles, travel, lodging, and break coverage. - Review security, cash, high-value item, transport, and overnight storage procedures. - Decide which products stay online during the event and how quantities will remain accurate. - Create the event source identifier for QR, signup, email, and order attribution. - Schedule the immediate resource delivery and draft the first follow-up. - Order printing and supplies with enough time to test the real materials.

Use the capture goal calculator to turn expected booth traffic into a staff pace. Use the profit calculator to determine how much contribution is required to cover booth, travel, and labor.

Inventory and merchandising preparation

Export or record the inventory taken to the event. Each high-value item needs a stable identity, condition, price, cost basis, and quantity. Photograph expensive items before travel and document certifications or serial details from the item, not memory.

Reconcile the show list with physical products. - Verify price labels, condition, quantity, variants, and acquisition cost. - Group products by the way collectors shop, such as player, team, set, game, category, condition, or price range. - Plan case layout and signs before arrival. - Prepare a secure review area for items removed from cases. - Define who may approve discounts, trades, holds, and high- value handling. - Pack sleeves, team bags, top loaders, boxes, cleaning cloths, display stands, price supplies, receipt supplies, and tamper-evident transport. - Record the opening quantity and location for cash, sealed inventory, and other countable products.

Do not make the show list a second uncontrolled inventory database. Decide how sales, holds, bundles, and trades will return to the authoritative record.

Payments, connectivity, and backup

Stripe Terminal documentation describes in-person payment architecture and an offline collection option for supported configurations. Offline payment creates additional risk because authorization and final collection occur later. Follow the provider's exact capabilities and risk guidance rather than assuming every reader or integration can work offline.

Charge every reader, phone, tablet, hotspot, and battery bank. - Install required updates before travel, not at the booth. - Sign in and verify the correct seller account and environment. - Run an allowed test-mode transaction and refund. - Test receipts, taxes, discounts, tips if used, and staff permissions. - Confirm what happens when venue Wi-Fi fails. - Document any approved offline limits and the person responsible for later reconciliation. - Pack charging cables, power strips, adapters, hotspot, and paper backup. - Never write full card details on a paper fallback.

Keep provider support steps and incident contacts accessible without exposing secret keys or account credentials.

QR capture and customer follow-up preparation

Build the offer before printing the sign. The sign, destination, confirmation, and delivery email should promise the same thing. The FTC warns consumers that malicious QR codes can hide spoofed destinations, so show a readable seller-branded fallback URL and recognizable business identity.

Select one primary, sustainable collector benefit. - Create an event-specific QR destination and source tag. - Use a short mobile form with visible labels. - Keep resource delivery separate from optional marketing consent. - Add a confirmation page and immediate delivery email. - Add a monitored reply address and working links. - Print the seller name and short destination URL beneath the code. - Test every printed code on iPhone and Android over cellular data. - Submit twice with the same email and confirm deduplication. - Test the unsubscribe path and confirm later marketing is suppressed. - Prepare a short staff explanation that names the benefit without pressuring the collector.

Read the email collection playbook for the complete consent and attribution workflow.

Pack-out checklist

Use labeled containers organized by function so a missing critical item is visible.

Inventory and secure transport. - Cases, table coverings, stands, signs, price labels, lighting, and approved fixtures. - Payment devices, phones, hotspot, batteries, chargers, cables, adapters, and extension equipment permitted by the venue. - Cash float, locked storage, receipts, and reconciliation sheet. - QR signs, backup URLs, business cards, and the staff run sheet. - Sleeves, bags, boxes, tape, markers, labels, and shipping supplies. - Water, permitted food, medication, clothing layers, and basic comfort items. - Badges, confirmations, insurance evidence, parking details, and emergency contacts. - A separate post-show review bin for products that cannot be relisted until checked.

Keep the most sensitive or valuable items under direct control during loading, travel, setup, and breakdown according to the team's security plan.

Opening the booth

Photograph the completed setup for both security documentation and repeatability. Then run a short systems test before public traffic.

Count high-value and sealed inventory against the opening record. - Count the cash float with two people when policy requires it. - Confirm the correct payment seller account, reader, tax, and receipt behavior. - Scan the printed QR code over cellular service, submit the form, receive the resource, and open every link. - Confirm signs are readable from the aisle without blocking products. - Review roles, discount authority, breaks, security signals, emergency procedure, and scheduled checks. - Put private operating targets where staff can see them but customers cannot. - Remove empty boxes and trip hazards from customer and staff paths.

During the show

Protect accuracy while keeping the booth human. Staff should be able to answer a question, take a payment, and help another visitor save the next step without moving customer or product data between unrelated notes.

Record every sale, discount, hold, bundle, trade, and quantity change promptly. - Keep cash and high-value items secured after each interaction. - Record useful want-list or follow-up context only with the appropriate customer record. - Present the QR benefit when relevant and keep the sign visible during busy periods. - Check destination visits and completed forms after the first traffic window. - Confirm payment connectivity and pending transactions at scheduled intervals. - Reconcile high-value and sealed inventory at shift changes or planned times. - Record common questions, objections, and product requests. - Give staff breaks and never leave the booth below the planned security coverage. - Escalate payment, safety, inventory, or customer incidents through the documented path.

Do not respond to a slow signup count by hiding consent or pressuring unrelated visitors. Diagnose traffic, offer exposure, destination loading, and form completion as separate stages.

Closing and breakdown

Public close is not the end of the event. It is the start of controlled reconciliation.

Stop new holds and clarify unresolved transactions before packing. - Separate sold, reserved, review, and available inventory. - Count high-value and sealed products against the record. - Reconcile cash, card payments, pending payments, refunds, fees, and receipts. - Photograph discrepancies or condition changes. - Secure products before removing displays or attention from the booth. - Sweep the space, comply with organizer breakdown rules, and record any venue damage or incident. - Save traffic, capture, order, and staff notes before devices or paper are packed away. - Confirm the owner of each unresolved follow-up.

Within 24 hours after the show

Deliver promised resources immediately if they were not already automated. Send the contextual first marketing follow-up only to eligible contacts. Reconcile inventory before making it available online.

Verify all transactional resource deliveries and retry safe temporary failures. - Recheck consent and suppression before recurring marketing. - Send personal replies for high-intent want lists or specific products. - Reconcile inventory and remove sold or review-state products from public availability. - Publish focused available collections. - Record booth, travel, labor, processing, fulfillment, and product costs. - Calculate the event-day result.
Schedule the extended-window review. - Record one operational failure, one successful practice, and one test for the next event.

Use the follow-up timing guide and the complete email sequence for the customer schedule.

One to two weeks after the show

Close the loop rather than filing the event away.

Add qualified attributed post-show orders to the extended result. - Compare contribution margin, ROI, profit per labor hour, contacts, accounts, and new customers with the plan. - Review unsubscribes, bounces, replies, and delivery failures. - Inspect inventory discrepancies, oversells, refunds, and support issues. - Decide which remaining inventory needs better listings, different grouping, or a deliberate price review. - Update the next event forecast with observed funnel rates. - Store the final run sheet, scorecard, and source identifier where the team can reuse them.

Frequently asked questions

What should a first-time card-show vendor prioritize?

Prioritize secure inventory, accurate pricing, reliable payments, clear roles, and a tested closeout process. Add one simple QR offer only after the delivery and consent flow works end to end.

How much cash should I bring?

That depends on pricing, expected payment mix, security controls, and organizer rules. Set a documented float and replenishment process without exposing the amount publicly.

What should I do when venue internet fails?

Use only payment and operating fallbacks supported by your providers and risk policy. Do not collect card details manually. Keep a typed QR fallback URL and test cellular service before opening.

When should I calculate final show ROI?

Calculate event-day results after reconciliation, then calculate an extended result when the stated post-show attribution window closes. Keep both numbers visible.