A few weeks ago, we shared tips for organizing physical inventory and asked members of our seller community to share their advice. Here are three examples of how different hobby stores organize their trading card games.

 

 

 

To make the most of their limited space, Enlightening Minds Gaming uses cabinets to house five-row BCW boxes that hold their trading cards. Dividers and adhesive book tabs help keep everything organized. Magic: The Gathering cards are organized by color with lands and colorless cards separated. For all other games, each gets a dedicated row with cards sorted by in-game type. This simple system standardizes the way all of their games are organized and keeps extra space reserved so EMG can grow their inventory.

 

 

With an inventory of 300,000 cards, Gear Gaming had to design a system that made it easy to find any specific card quickly. They organize their cards by set, then alphabetically and finally by condition. Blue, red and black card sleeves mark the division between each condition. They place damaged cards in sleeves marked with an X to clearly differentiate them. To protect near mint cards, Gear Gaming keeps them in penny sleeves with up to eight copies of a card per sleeve.

 

 

 

The Rift Collectibles just finished their first year in business. In that time, they have made several iterations on their inventory system. They currently organize their cards so the most popular ones are easiest to access. The Rift keeps all singles worth $5 or more in their display case. All other Magic rares are organized alphabetically. Standard-legal commons and uncommons are also alphabetized separately with all other Magic cards divided into foils and non-foils.

Every store is unique. We hope that this look into other stores’ inventory solutions has inspired you to think creatively about organizing your own physical inventory. For more advice, refer to TCGplayer Tips: Organizing Your Physical Inventory.