How to find a local card shop
How to use CGC's and the card makers' store locators to find a card shop, what a listing does and does not tell you, and what to ask before you visit.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published 6 min read
The quickest way to find a local card shop is to search two kinds of store locator: CGC’s dealer locator, which covers both trading card and sports card shops, and the locator run by the maker of the cards you collect. Each locator lists the stores in its own program, so a shop missing from one may sit in another. A listing is not a promise of stock: a store on Bandai’s Digimon list may have sold out. Call before you go, and ask whether the shop sells singles, buys cards and carries what you want.
Which store locators can you use?
| Locator | What it covers | How you search | What a listing means |
|---|---|---|---|
| CGC dealer locator, trading cards | Shops and dealers for Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh! and other trading and non-sports cards | A shop’s name, or a place from country down to postal code, with filters by card specialty or store service | A store in CGC’s directory; the authorized dealers and official submission centers it lists have no affiliation with CGC |
| CGC dealer locator, sports cards | Shops and dealers for basketball, baseball, football and other sports cards | The same search and filters | The same |
| Upper Deck store locator | Upper Deck’s Certified Diamond Dealers | Upper Deck’s website | A brick-and-mortar store open at least 35 hours a week that applied through one of Upper Deck’s distributors |
| Wizards of the Coast Store & Event Locator | Stores in Wizards’ retailer network, plus Magic and D&D events | A search bar with a stores option, and a filter for its premium stores | Each store’s details page has upcoming events, an address, a phone number and a website, as Wizards announced in November 2022 |
| Konami store search, North America | Konami-certified official stores for Yu-Gi-Oh! | ZIP code, city or state, within 10 to 200 miles | Konami asks you to contact the store directly for its most current details |
| Ravensburger, for Lorcana | Retailers in your area | A store locator on the Lorcana site | A store that carries Lorcana products |
| Bandai, for Digimon | Stores that carry Digimon products, on an outside store list | A link from Bandai’s Digimon site | A listed store may have sold out, and chain retail stores may also carry the products |
| Bandai, for One Piece | Bandai’s One Piece Official Shops, in the US, UK, France and Germany | Bandai’s Official Shop page | These shops hold exclusive events and limited-edition products |
For Pokémon, our guide to where to buy Pokémon cards lists the official channels and retailers The Pokémon Company names.
Use two or three locators, not one. CGC’s searches cover shops for every kind of card, while each maker’s locator covers only the stores in its own program, so the same town can turn up different shops in each.
What does a listing tell you?
A listing tells you that a store belongs to a program and how to reach it. Some programs set rules that tell you more.
- Upper Deck. A Certified Diamond Dealer must have a traditional brick-and-mortar store open at least 35 hours a week. Carrying Upper Deck products is limited to these dealers, and customer care is guaranteed only to their customers. There is also a separate group of Authorized Internet Retailers for online orders.
- Bandai. For Fusion World, Bandai asks the retailers that buy its products to keep strictly to release dates, and a store that does not may lose future orders. So a new Fusion World set should not reach a shop’s shelves before its release date. The order period falls about six months before a release, so a shop orders well ahead; if you want a box set aside, ask early.
- CGC. The authorized dealers and official submission centers CGC lists have no affiliation with it, and it recommends that you evaluate them carefully before using their services.
Most listings do not tell you whether the product is on the shelf today, what the shop charges or whether it sells single cards. CGC’s trading card locator is the exception on services: its filters include buying collections, card supplies and operating a storefront. The rest are questions for a phone call.
What does a card shop usually offer?
A shop can offer five things, and not every shop offers all of them.
- Packs and boxes. Upper Deck calls a local hobby shop the best place to see many kinds of card products, and its dealers get first access to product information and some hobby product choices that differ from mass retail. Our guide to hobby and retail boxes explains the difference.
- Supplies. Shops carry insert pages, collector’s albums and card holders. Our guide to card sleeves and holders covers which holder suits which card.
- Advice. Shop owners can answer questions and help with what you collect.
- Buying your cards. CGC’s listed dealers include card sellers and dealers looking for cards, and its trading card locator has a Buys Collections filter. Our guide to selling cards to a local shop shows how shops set cash and store credit offers.
- Grading help and events. Some shops in CGC’s locator are its authorized dealers or official submission centers. Wizards’ locator lists Magic and D&D events beside its stores, and Bandai’s One Piece Official Shops hold exclusive events.
How do you check a shop before you visit?
CGC suggests contacting a dealer about its years in business and areas of expertise, ideally visiting in person to see that it has real stock, and asking other collectors about its reputation. Then call with a short list:
- Which games and sports does the shop carry, and does it sell singles, sealed product or both?
- Does it buy cards, on which days, and in cash, store credit or both?
- Does it handle graded cards, and does it help with grading submissions?
- What are its hours this week, and which payment methods does it take?
How do you buy at a shop?
- Singles. Compare the sticker with what the same card has recently sold for, in the same condition. Our guide on how to find what a card sold for sets out the method, and for English Pokémon cards the card price lookup gives a dated NM market price.
- Sealed product. Check the wrap before you pay. Our guide to spotting resealed Pokémon packs shows the warning signs, and the glossary explains sealed product.
- Graded cards. Look up the cert number on the grader’s own site before you buy, and compare the card in the slab with the grader’s record.
How do you sell to a shop?
Know your cards’ recent sold prices, call first, and ask for the offer card by card. Our guide to selling cards to a local shop covers the published buy rates, cash against store credit, and how to prepare. CGC names a local shop as a good fit for a typical collection and a card show for more valuable cards, and our guide on how to find a card show shows where shows are listed.
For guides by topic, see the trading card hub, the Pokémon hub and the sports cards hub.
Frequently asked questions
Does an Upper Deck dealer sell only Upper Deck cards?
No. Upper Deck sets no minimum order and no exclusivity rule for its Certified Diamond Dealers, and a dealer can order part of the Upper Deck range without committing to all of it.
Which chain stores carry Digimon cards?
Bandai names participating Walmart, Target and GameStop stores, along with other chains.
How does a shop start selling Digimon cards?
Through an official distributor. For the English Digimon Card Game in the US, Bandai lists GTS Distribution, Universal Distribution USA, PHD Games and Southern Hobby Distribution.