TCGplayer at GAMA 2025: Recap

This year’s GAMA Expo, the largest gathering of hobby game industry professionals, was an exciting opportunity for TCGplayer to share exclusive information about what’s to come, host two educational seminars, and also announce the winner of the 2024 Hobby Shop of the Year. We also focused on our sellers and gathering feedback through hundreds of meetings to better understand how we can help you succeed.

Index: 

1. Seller Gathering
2. Seminars
3. Programs & Tools Showcased

TCGplayer Seller Gathering

We hosted a retailers-only Seller Gathering in celebration of the seller community, where fellow retailers and TCGplayer employees all had the opportunity to connect. During this event, we summarized the work we did in 2024 to support the community, we had our CEO Rob Bigler provide more in-depth context on our strategy, and we celebrated the 3 finalists for Hobby Shop of the Year. If you couldn’t make the event, here’s our recap:

1. Launched New TCGplayer Strategy Focused On You

a. The news: The week before GAMA, we shared with sellers our new strategy, focused on your top needs for profitably selling large volumes of TCGs. At the Seller Gathering, the CEO of TCGplayer, Rob Bigler, shared more details about this plan. 

b. What this means for you: We know that to be your most trusted partner, we must streamline our legacy seller tools and build inventory management, fulfillment, in-store, and digitization solutions that better support you. In addition to modernizing our tools, we’ve refreshed our vision and logo to better align with our strategy, our legacy, and our values. Our quest is to be the most trusted trading card game platform –– connecting and empowering the hobby community.

c. Tell me more: Rebuilding our full suite of high-volume tools will take time and we are aiming for the end of 2026. Our goal is to roll out improvements as they become available, seeking your input and feedback whenever possible. You can read Our Strategy: Empowering Your Success Every Step of the Way to learn more about our plans.

2. Gamelandia Recognized as 2024 Hobby Shop of the Year  

a. The news: We’re excited to announce that Gamelandia is the 2024 Hobby Shop of the Year. We received over 10,000 votes from the hobby community for this inaugural program. 

b. What this means for you: Hobby Shop of the Year is a way that TCGplayer recognizes and rewards local game stores that have gone above and beyond to support the community. This is an annual program, so stay posted to learn when applications for Hobby Shop of the Year 2025 are open.

c. Tell me more: Gamelandia, located in Palo Alto, CA, is a hobby shop that was established to provide a social and inclusive gaming environment. They focus on creating a safe and welcoming store, particularly for groups traditionally overlooked in the TCG industry, such as women, LGBTQ+ community members, and children. Our two other finalists were Health Points TCG and The Upkeep Games. Read our Hobby Shop of the Year announcement to learn more about all three finalists.

3. We’re Partnering with Wizards of the Coast

a. The news: We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Wizards of the Coast, legendary game developers and the originators of the TCG genre. 

b. What this means for you: Starting this spring, TCGplayer will display the Wizards Play Network (WPN) badge on verified retailer stores on the TCGplayer marketplace. This badge will let buyers know they’re purchasing Magic: The Gathering product from an official WPN local game store, so that customers can shop confidently and you can stand out.

c. Tell me more: Trust is core to selling and buying online. A WPN badge signals to buyers that your store has been recognized by Wizards of the Coast as an authorized retailer and trusted partner, helping buyers shop with confidence. If you’re interested in learning more and applying for a WPN badge, check out our official announcement.

4. One Piece Card Game is Coming To Roca and Scan & Identify

a. The news: We’re adding One Piece Card Game support for Roca and Scan & Identify this month. 

b. What this means for you: In a couple of weeks (official announcement coming soon), you will be able to use your Roca Sorters to sift, sort, and digitize One Piece Card Game inventory. One Piece Card Game will be added to the Roca Sorters that support Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, and Disney Lorcana. You will also be able to use Scan & Identify to mass import One Piece Card Game and Disney Lorcana images for identification and seamlessly add the items to your inventory. 

c. Tell me more: Roca allows you to autonomously sort and index 1,000 cards in just two hours, with labor cost savings of up to 80%. Check out Roca by TCGplayer: How It Works to see the machine in action. As always, we’re committed to continuing to add new product line support for Roca in the future. If you’re interested in learning more about Roca, schedule a call with us. Scan & Identify is a powerful tool that allows you to mass import images for identification and seamlessly add the items to your inventory. Designed with an intuitive interface, this tool is built for scale and speed, offering features like bulk actions, batch pricing, and more. ​​If you're a Pro Seller, you have automatic access to this tool and you can use it right away. If you're interested in using Scan & Identify but aren't a Pro Seller, you can reach out to us for more information.

TCGplayer Seminars: In Summary

1. Mastering the Marketplace: Insights and Strategies
Mason Berry of Card N All Games, Berry Hatfield of Gamelandia, and Nick Coss of Card Titan joined together in a fireside chat-style panel to share their best practices and business strategies with other sellers.

Here are high level topics that were discussed: 

a. Prioritize customer service –– have systems in place to handle problems before they occur

b. Lean into technology –– streamline systems and workflows to maximize efficiency and profit 

c. Establish a baseline –– 1 minute of labor costs 25 cents at $15/hour wage, so ensure you develop a minimum so that you are profitable with each sale 

d. Focus on product acquisition –– advertise that you’re buying product from players during events

e. Enroll in the Growth Acceleration Program (GAP) –– Berry and Mason shared their personal experiences going through GAP, and how it helped them scale their businesses

2. Seller Success Stories: Mastering Trading Card Automation for Growth
Bryan Salerno of Jersey’s Cards and Comics dives into his daily operations and workflows using Roca. This includes sifting, sorting, categorizing, pack-building, card distribution, and more.

Here are high level topics that were discussed: 

a. Bryan’s daily operations –– organize by TCG product line, categorize by whatever makes sense for your store, prioritize based on the value, condition. Then, sift and sort 

b. Cost savings –– Bryan saves $26,000 every year just in labor savings alone

c. Empowering employees –– automation isn’t about replacing people, but rather empowering them elsewhere 

d. Ideal customer for Roca –– any seller can use a Roca to scale their business, and it’s not just reserved for well-established sellers

TCGplayer Programs and Tools Showcased at GAMA

While at GAMA, TCGplayer was excited to showcase various tools and programs. These included: 

1. Scan & Identify
We recently launched an open beta for Scan & Identify, a new tool that allows you to mass import images for identification and seamlessly add the items to your inventory. Designed with an intuitive interface, this tool is built for scale and speed, offering features like bulk actions, batch pricing, and more. 

a. Bulk actions and batch pricing lets you handle large volumes of cards quickly and efficiently

b. Powered by Roca Vision, which has processed over 700 millions cards with an accuracy of 98%+

c. Add cards to TCGplayer inventory directly from their images, with or without prices 

Get Started with Scan & Identify: If you're a Pro Seller, you have automatic access to this tool –– no need to opt-in. If you're interested in using Scan & Identify but aren't a Pro Seller, we encourage you to reach out to us for more information.

2. Roca
Image recognition and automation technology that quickly sorts and alphabetizes your Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, Disney Lorcana, or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards (One Piece Card Game coming soon!). 

a. Autonomously sort and index 1,000 cards in just two hours

b. Labor cost savings of up to 80%

c. Over 50 unique programmed sorts and sifts

d. Digitize and upload inventory to TCGplayer or eBay

Get Started with Roca: If you’re interested in learning more about Roca or purchasing a Roca Sorter, schedule a call with us.

3. Growth Acceleration Program
Designed to empower sellers to unlock their full potential and boost their sales. Participants receive personalized reporting, comprehensive training, and expert guidance from our dedicated team, at no cost, to help sellers navigate selling on the marketplace and grow their businesses.

a. Average 55% increase in daily sales after completing the program

b. Dedicated Growth Advisor over 3 months through a series of about 6 meetings

c. Support and business plans tailored to your business

d. Over 1,000 sellers have completed the Growth Acceleration Program

Get started with the Growth Acceleration Program: You can fill out this form to enroll in the Growth Acceleration Program.