State by State: Sales Tax and Show Permits for Card Vendors

The rules that are the same everywhere

Four things hold in every state before the details start.

• Online sales are collected for you. Every state with a sales tax has a marketplace facilitator law, so eBay and Whatnot calculate, collect, and remit sales tax on your platform sales automatically. You cannot opt out and you file nothing for those sales.
• Your table is on you. Facilitator laws stop at the marketplace. Selling face to face at a show makes you the retailer, responsible for registering, collecting, and remitting under that state's rules. That is what the state entries below cover.
• Resale certificates keep tax out of your inventory. Registered sellers buy resale inventory tax free from shops and distributors. Buying collections from private individuals generally involves no sales tax anyway.
• Sales tax is not income tax. Whatever a state does about sales tax, your profit still faces federal income tax everywhere, plus state income tax where one exists. That side of the ledger lives in our Master Guide to Taxes.

How to use this guide

Find your home state for how to register and what your table owes. Check the state of any show you travel to, because standing at a table inside a state is exactly the physical presence that makes its rules apply to you for that weekend. Many states sell cheap temporary or event permits for this. The quick table gives every state in one view, and each state entry carries the permit, the rates, the marketplace rules, and the sources we verified against, reviewed September 2026. Rules change; the agency links are the final word.

Every state at a glance

State by state

Alabama

• At the show: A vendor selling at Alabama shows uses the standard free sales tax license; there is no separate temporary event permit at the state level. Watch local county and municipal sales taxes where the show is held, many of which ALDOR administers through the same MAT return.
• Promoter angle: No statewide rule making card show promoters collect or answer for vendor sales tax was identified; each vendor is responsible for their own collection and remittance.
• Casual sellers: Yes. A casual or isolated sale by a person not engaged in the business of selling is not subject to sales tax, and Alabama's special casual sales tax applies only to vehicles, boats, trailers and manufactured homes. A dealer who regularly sets up at shows is engaged in business and gets no exemption.
• Cards: Trading cards are taxable tangible personal property at retail. Alabama exempts gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion, coins and money through May 31, 2028 under Act 2018-164 as expanded by 2022 SB 13, but that exemption is metal-content based and does not cover sports or Pokemon cards.
• Online: Marketplace facilitators with more than $250,000 in Alabama sales must collect and remit since January 1, 2019, generally through the Simplified Sellers Use Tax program at a flat 8%, so eBay and Whatnot collect on marketplace orders. Sellers exclude those marketplace sales from their own nexus math.
• Buying inventory: Give the supplier your Alabama sales tax license number; the annually renewed license is what entitles you to buy inventory at wholesale tax free. Form STE-1 is for certain exempt entities and is not needed for ordinary resale.
• Local rates: Counties and municipalities add local sales taxes of roughly 0.1% to 5% or more, so combined rates at a show commonly run 9% to 10% depending on the venue.
• Income tax: Card profits are ordinary income taxed at 2%, 4% and 5%, with the 5% bracket reached above about $3,000 of taxable income for single filers; Alabama also allows a deduction for federal income tax paid, which lowers the effective rate. No collectible capital gains break.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

Alaska

• At the show: For an in-person show, everything depends on where it is. A card show in Anchorage involves no sales tax at all since Anchorage levies no general sales tax; the same table at a Juneau, Wasilla or Kenai show means registering with that city or borough and collecting its local rate. ARSSTC and its $100,000 threshold matter only for online and remote sales shipped into taxing localities.
• Promoter angle: No statewide promoter regime exists. Some localities have their own event or itinerant merchant rules, so promoters and vendors should check the host city or borough code.
• Casual sellers: The state business license applies to anyone engaging in business for profit in Alaska and DCCED reads that broadly; a genuinely one-off casual sale arguably is not engaging in business, but a vendor who books tables at shows is. Local codes may have their own casual sale carve-outs.
• Cards: In any taxing city or borough, trading cards are ordinary taxable tangible personal property under the local code. There is no state collectible or bullion rule because there is no state tax; exemptions are jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
• Online: The ARSSTC uniform code makes marketplace facilitators over the $100,000 threshold collect and remit for marketplace sellers on sales into member jurisdictions, so eBay and Whatnot collect Alaska local taxes on shipped orders. The rules only reach ARSSTC member localities.
• Buying inventory: There is no state resale certificate because there is no state sales tax. In taxing localities you buy for resale using that jurisdiction's resale or wholesale exemption process, and ARSSTC provides a uniform resale of goods certificate for remote purchases into member jurisdictions.
• Local rates: Roughly 100 to 110 cities and boroughs levy their own general sales taxes of about 1% to 7%. Anchorage and Fairbanks have no general sales tax; Juneau, Wasilla and Kenai do. The Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission (ARSSTC) centralizes collection for remote and online sales into member jurisdictions.
• Income tax: Alaska has no personal income tax, so card profits face only federal tax.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

Arizona

• At the show: Before selling, a vendor should have the TPT license showing the tax jurisdiction of the event site, since the city where the show happens sets the combined rate. Some Arizona cities also require a separate city business or event license on top of TPT, and ADOR runs a License Compliance Program that works events in person.
• Promoter angle: Operators of swap meets, fairs, festivals and similar transient selling events must keep a current list of every vendor and produce it to ADOR on request. A promoter may obtain a TPT license and assume collection and remittance for all vendors, but only where a central cash register handles all sales; vendors selling independently must be licensed and remit on their own (ADOR Pub 550).
• Casual sellers: A casual activity or sale by a person not engaged in and not holding out as being in the business is not subject to TPT, the classic example being a garage sale. ADOR states that regularly selling at flea markets or shows is repeated and continuous business, so a recurring card show dealer cannot rely on this.
• Cards: Trading cards are taxable under the retail classification. Arizona exempts monetized bullion and precious metal bullion, including legal tender coins whose value depends on metal content (A.R.S. 42-5061), but that exemption does not extend to sports or Pokemon cards.
• Online: Since October 1, 2019, marketplace facilitators with more than $100,000 of Arizona gross sales must collect and remit state, county and city TPT on facilitated sales, so eBay and Whatnot collect on marketplace orders.
• Buying inventory: Give suppliers Arizona Form 5000A, the Arizona Resale Certificate, citing your TPT license number.
• Local rates: County excise taxes of roughly 0.5% to 2% and city privilege taxes stack on top, so combined rates commonly run about 8% to 11.2% depending on the city.
• Income tax: Arizona taxes card profits at a flat 2.5%. Arizona law also allows a 25% subtraction of net long-term capital gains on assets acquired after 2011, though a dealer's inventory profits are ordinary income and would not qualify.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

Arkansas

• At the show: A card show that is an irregular event at a single location fits the special event regime, so a vendor can collect and remit through the promoter without holding a permit. A vendor with ongoing Arkansas sales activity outside such events needs the regular $50 permit through ATAP; processing takes up to two weeks.
• Promoter angle: The promoter or organizer must register with DFA, give each vendor daily reporting forms, collect vendor tax and reports daily, forward all reports and payments to DFA within 30 days after the event, and submit a full vendor list with FEIN or SSN for each vendor. The promoter is liable for taxes actually remitted to it but not for tax a vendor collected and never turned over.
• Casual sellers: Arkansas has an isolated (casual) sale exemption, but DFA states special event vendors cannot use it; sales made at a special event are taxable.
• Cards: Trading cards are taxable tangible personal property at retail. Arkansas exempts coins, currency, and bullion of gold, silver, platinum or palladium (Ark. Code Ann. 26-52-454, effective October 1, 2021), but that exemption does not cover trading cards.
• Online: Marketplace facilitators such as eBay and Whatnot must collect Arkansas tax if their sales into Arkansas exceed $100,000 or 200 transactions in the current or prior year (Act 822 of 2019, confirmed on the DFA Remote Sellers page).
• Buying inventory: Give the supplier a completed Arkansas Exemption Certificate Form ST391, or the Streamlined Sales Tax certificate since Arkansas is an SST member, citing resale with a sales tax permit number.
• Local rates: City and county local sales taxes are added on top of the 6.5% state rate and vary by location; the combined rate at the event location applies.
• Income tax: A May 2026 special session (HB 1001 and SB 1, signed May 6, 2026) cut the top rate from 3.9% to 3.7% retroactive to January 1, 2026. Arkansas also exempts 50% of net long-term capital gains and 100% of net capital gain above $10 million; card gains held over a year as investments may qualify for the 50% exclusion, but a dealer's inventory sales are ordinary income.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

California

• At the show: If all selling happens at locations for less than 90 days each, the free temporary permit works. It can be obtained up to 90 days before the start date, requires start and end dates per location, and the return is due by the last day of the month following the month the temporary location closes.
• Promoter angle: Swap meet, flea market and special event operators may not rent space to a seller until they have written verification that the seller holds a valid seller's permit or qualifies for an exemption (Revenue and Taxation Code 6073). Operators collect this on form CDTFA-410-D and should keep the records at least four years (Publication 111).
• Casual sellers: Only a person making no more than two sales in a 12-month period qualifies as an occasional seller with no permit needed (Publication 107); a card show vendor making repeated sales does not qualify.
• Cards: Trading cards are taxable tangible personal property at retail. The bulk-sale exemption for monetized bullion, nonmonetized gold or silver bullion and numismatic coins (RTC 6355, Regulation 1599) applies only to single transactions of $2,000 or more, a threshold effective July 1, 2023 and indexed in $500 steps, and it does not cover trading cards.
• Online: The Marketplace Facilitator Act (AB 147, effective October 1, 2019; Regulation 1684.5) makes registered facilitators such as eBay and Whatnot the retailer for facilitated sales; a facilitator must register once combined California sales exceed $500,000.
• Buying inventory: Issue a California resale certificate (form CDTFA-230 or equivalent) to the supplier showing the buyer's seller's permit number (Regulation 1668, Publication 103).
• Local rates: Voter-approved district taxes add 0.10% to 2.00% on top of the 7.25% base, and more than one district tax can apply in a given location.
• Income tax: California taxes capital gains as ordinary income, so card profits face the full rate schedule. The uncapped SDI payroll tax pushes the top marginal rate on wages higher still, but SDI does not apply to a sole proprietor's card-sale profits.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

Colorado

• At the show: The return is due by the 20th of the month following the month the event began. Shows in self-collecting home-rule cities also trigger that city's own requirements; for example Denver issues its own special event retail license at $5.00 per event, waived for holders of a regular Denver retail license.
• Promoter angle: The event organizer must tell sellers the applicable rates and send the Department a list of all sellers within ten days after the event. An organizer may elect to obtain a special event license and file and remit for participating sellers; sellers may choose to remit to a licensed organizer instead of filing their own DR 0098.
• Casual sellers: No general casual sale carve-out for show vendors; the special event regime itself is the accommodation. It applies when more than three sellers make retail sales away from their regular business locations at an event held no more than three times per year at that location. An event held more often at one location requires a standard Retail Sales Tax License.
• Cards: Trading cards are taxable tangible personal property at retail. Colorado exempts precious metal bullion and coins (Section 39-26-706, C.R.S.), but the Department states numismatic items that are not coins or bullion are taxable, and the exemption does not cover trading cards.
• Online: Marketplace facilitators such as eBay and Whatnot must collect Colorado state and state-administered local tax on facilitated sales (effective October 1, 2019) once past the $100,000 threshold; most home-rule cities have adopted matching facilitator rules.
• Buying inventory: Hold a Colorado sales tax or special event license and give suppliers the Colorado Sales Tax Exemption Certificate DR 0563 marked for resale with the license number; the certificate is kept by the seller, not filed with the Department.
• Local rates: State-administered county, city and special district taxes are collected with the state return, but roughly 70 home-rule cities including Denver and Colorado Springs administer and collect their own sales taxes separately from the state, with their own licenses and returns.
• Income tax: The flat rate is 4.40% under Proposition 121. TABOR surplus mechanisms temporarily cut it to 4.25% for tax year 2024 and can trigger future temporary cuts; capital gains are taxed the same as other income since Colorado starts from federal taxable income.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

Connecticut

• At the show: DRS says the permit is required to sell at any flea market or show in Connecticut even for a single day, and it must be displayed prominently at the booth or table. There is no cheaper temporary permit; the $100 regular permit is the only path.
• Promoter angle: No current promoter collection obligation was verifiable on the DRS site; the published compliance burden is on the vendor.
• Casual sellers: Casual and occasional sales by a person not running a business do not require registration, but DRS states a permit is required for selling at a flea market, craft show, trade show, antique show or fair even for one day, so show selling does not qualify.
• Cards: Trading cards are taxable tangible personal property at 6.35%. Connecticut currently exempts rare or antique coins and gold or silver bullion only when the sales price is $1,000 or more (CGS 12-412(45)); 2025 legislation removes the $1,000 floor and adds platinum and palladium effective July 1, 2027. None of this covers trading cards.
• Online: Since December 1, 2018 marketplace facilitators such as eBay and Whatnot must collect Connecticut sales tax on facilitated sales; the facilitator threshold is $250,000 in facilitated retail sales in the prior 12-month period ending September 30 (OCG-8). Registered sellers still report gross receipts and deduct facilitated sales on Form OS-114.
• Buying inventory: Issue a Connecticut resale certificate, or the MTC Uniform Sales and Use Tax Certificate which DRS accepts for resale purposes, to suppliers; the buyer must be purchasing for resale in the regular course of business.
• Local rates: No local sales taxes; DRS confirms no additional sales taxes are imposed by local jurisdictions in Connecticut.
• Income tax: Connecticut taxes capital gains as ordinary income at rates up to 6.99%; the 2025 proposal for a roughly 1.75% capital gains surcharge on high earners did not pass.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

Delaware

• At the show: What a one-show out-of-state vendor in Wilmington actually owes: the $40 transient retailer license, then gross receipts tax at 0.7468% only on Delaware gross receipts exceeding $3,000 for the year, with the return due after the 10th day of business. Example: $5,000 gross at the show means 0.7468% of $2,000, about $15, plus the $40 license. Gross under $3,000 means license only. Full-time or multi-month transient retailers instead file monthly with the standard retailer exclusion of $100,000 per month at the same rate.
• Promoter angle: No promoter collection or licensing obligation for vendors' taxes appears in Division of Revenue guidance; each transient retailer licenses itself. Local jurisdictions such as the City of Wilmington may require their own business license.
• Casual sellers: No general casual sale carve-out; instead the 10-days-or-less transient category gets a $3,000 annual gross receipts exclusion, so small show sellers usually owe only the $40 license.
• Cards: No sales tax applies to card sales, so buyers pay nothing extra. The seller instead owes Delaware gross receipts tax on its own Delaware receipts, with no deduction for cost of goods, once past the applicable exclusion.
• Online: Not applicable; no sales tax and no marketplace facilitator law, so eBay and Whatnot collect nothing for Delaware. A Delaware-licensed seller's marketplace receipts still count toward its own gross receipts tax base; the Division of Revenue FAQ treats retail receipts as taxable when the customer takes possession in Delaware.
• Buying inventory: No sales tax, so no resale certificate exists; inventory purchases in Delaware carry no sales tax. The tax burden shifts up the chain: a Delaware wholesaler selling to a reseller owes wholesaler gross receipts tax at 0.3983% on its own receipts.
• Local rates: No state or local sales tax; Delaware instead levies a seller-side gross receipts tax plus business license fees.
• Income tax: Top personal income tax rate is 6.6% on taxable income over $60,000; proposals to add higher brackets had not been enacted as of September 2026.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

Florida

• At the show: Vendors at flea markets and other temporary locations must have the registration certificate in their possession at the temporary location. Registration is per location, so a vendor doing occasional shows typically registers a primary Florida location and keeps the certificate on hand at shows.
• Promoter angle: Florida puts the registration duty on the vendor, keyed to the exhibitor agreement: per GT-800040 an exhibitor must register whenever the agreement authorizes retail sales, and exhibitor agreements must be available to the Department for inspection. No statute making show promoters liable for vendors' sales tax was found in Chapter 212. Booth rent charged by promoters is no longer subject to Florida sales tax for occupancy periods on or after October 1, 2025, since the commercial rent tax was repealed by HB 7031.
• Casual sellers: The occasional or isolated sales exemption (Rule 12A-1.037) covers at most two sales, or two series of sales each lasting up to 30 days, in any 12-month period; a third makes you a dealer required to register. Repeated card show selling does not qualify.
• Cards: Trading cards are taxable tangible personal property at 6% plus surtax. Florida exempts US legal tender coins and, effective August 1, 2025 (HB 7031, TIP 25A01-03), gold, silver and platinum bullion with no minimum price, replacing the old $500 threshold. The coin and bullion exemption does not cover trading cards.
• Online: Since July 1, 2021 marketplace providers such as eBay and Whatnot must register and collect Florida tax on facilitated sales delivered into Florida, using the same $100,000 threshold as remote sellers; no transaction count test.
• Buying inventory: Registered dealers automatically receive the Florida Annual Resale Certificate for Sales Tax (Form DR-13), which expires each December 31 and is reissued annually; suppliers document exempt sales by keeping a copy of the DR-13 or obtaining a per-sale transaction authorization number.
• Local rates: Counties add discretionary sales surtaxes, commonly 0.5% to 2%; for a single item of tangible personal property the surtax applies only to the first $5,000 of the sales price.
• Income tax: Florida has no personal income tax; a sole proprietor's card profits face only federal tax.

Verified against source · source · source. Reviewed September 2026.

State sales tax FAQ

Do I need a permit to sell at a single card show?

In most states with a sales tax, yes, even for one show. Many sell cheap or free temporary permits for exactly this, and a few excuse genuinely casual sellers below a small threshold. Your state's entry above has the specific answer and the agency link.

The promoter never mentioned permits. Am I off the hook?

No. The obligation to collect is yours, not the promoter's. Several states actually make promoters liable for unpermitted vendors, which is why organized shows check. A promoter who never asks is a sign of a loose show, not a legal exemption.

I travel to shows in other states. Do their rules apply to me?

Yes. Standing at a table inside a state is physical presence, the oldest trigger there is, and it makes that state's sales tax rules apply to that weekend's sales. Check the destination state's entry before you load the car. Temporary event permits exist for exactly this.

Does eBay handle all of my sales tax?

eBay and Whatnot handle sales tax on sales made through them, in every state with a sales tax. They handle nothing about your in-person sales, and they do not touch your income tax anywhere.

Which states have no sales tax at all?

Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon have no statewide sales tax. Two caveats: many Alaska cities levy their own local sales taxes, and Delaware charges sellers a gross receipts tax instead. The entries above cover both.

Do I charge my home state's rate or the show state's rate?

The rate where the sale happens. An in-person sale is taxed at the venue's location, state plus local, under the show state's rules. Your home state's rate travels with you exactly nowhere.

What is a resale certificate and do I need one?

It is the document, tied to your sales tax registration, that lets you buy inventory tax free from shops, distributors, and wholesalers, because sales tax is collected once from the end customer. If you buy mostly from private individuals you will rarely use it, but it costs nothing once you are registered.

I also sell from my own website. When do other states reach me?

Through economic nexus: once your sales into a state pass its threshold, typically $100,000 a year, it can require you to register and collect even with no physical presence. Marketplace sales are collected by the platform either way, though in many states they still count toward the threshold.

This guide is general information, current as of September 2026 and verified against state revenue agency sources linked in each entry. It is not tax, legal, or accounting advice, and Comped is not a CPA firm. State rules change often. Confirm with the state agency or a tax professional before you sell.