Table Tents vs Table Covers vs Counter Cards and When Each One Sells
Three signs, one table, three different reading distances. Here are the real sizes, stocks, turnarounds and prices, and which one to buy first for your room.
A table tent sells to the person already seated at the table, a table cover brands the table from across the room, and a counter card closes at the register. The tent is a 4 by 6 inch folded card on 14pt gloss cover from $554.39 for 250. The cover is 84 inch wide printed polyester from $225. The counter card is a rigid 8.5 by 11 to 11 by 17 inch board with a 9 inch easel included, from $21.97 for one. Choose by reading distance and turnaround, not by unit price.
Quick answer
Pick by reading distance, then by turnaround
The three formats are not substitutes, they are three ranges. A 4 by 6 inch table tent is legible to somebody sitting at that table and nowhere else. A counter card on its 9 inch easel carries down a queue. An 84 inch wide table cover is the only one that works before a person walks over to you. Turnaround splits them again: counter cards are 2 business days with Same Day rush available, fabric covers are 4, table tents are 5. Decide what has to be read from where, check the calendar, then look at the price.
What Each One Actually Is, Side by Side
These three get quoted against each other constantly, usually because someone asked for "a sign for the table" and got three different prices back. They are not competing versions of the same thing. Line up the specs and the split is obvious.
| Format | Finished size | What it is made of | Who it talks to | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Table tent | 4 x 6 in folded, from a flat 4 x 16.25 in sheet | 14pt gloss cover with high gloss UV coating | The person already seated at that table | $554.39 for 250 |
| Counter card | 8.5 x 11, 11 x 14 range up to 11 x 17 in | 56pt SBS board, 24pt gloss laminate or 3/16 in foam core, 9 in easel included | The queue at the register | $21.97 for one |
| Table throw | 84 x 126.5 in for a 6 ft table, 84 x 150.5 in for an 8 ft | 9oz premium polyester, 1 in hems all round | Anyone walking the aisle | $225 each |
| Stretch cover | 92.68 x 135.75 in for a 6 ft table, 92.68 x 159.75 in for an 8 ft | 8.8oz tension fabric, fitted to the corners | Anyone walking the aisle | $250 each |
| Table runner | 18 sizes from 24 x 72 in up to 60 x 90 in, plus custom | 9oz polyester, dye sublimated, 1 in hems | Anyone walking the aisle, with the table still visible | $97.76 each |
Read the fourth column before the fifth. The cheapest line on this table is a single counter card at $21.97, and it is completely useless for the job an 84 inch table throw does, because a card on a counter is invisible from the far side of an exhibition hall. Cost per piece is the wrong number here. Reading distance is the right one.
Table Tents Sell to the Person Already Sitting Down
A table tent is the only one of the three that reaches somebody who has already stopped moving. They are seated, they are waiting, and they are looking at the table. That is a captive thirty seconds no poster on a wall will ever get.
The build is simple and worth understanding, because it decides your artwork. Table tents print full color on one side of a flat 4 by 16.25 inch sheet of 14pt gloss cover, get a high gloss UV coating, then score and fold into a 4 by 6 inch freestanding tent. That single printed side wraps around to become both outer faces. You cannot put a different message on each face, and the inside stays blank. Designers hand us two sided artwork for this product every week and every time it comes back as one design.
The high gloss UV is doing real work in a dining room. A tent lives among glasses, condiment bottles and hands, and a coated face wipes down instead of soaking up a ring. That is also why they suit a restaurant better than a plain uncoated card.
Now the limit. The minimum run is 250 at $554.39, which is about $2.22 a tent, and the price only really falls at volume, reaching roughly $0.17 each at 25,000. Standard production is 5 business days, the slowest of the three. If you have twelve tables and a promotion that changes next Tuesday, this is the wrong product, and a rigid card on the counter will carry the same message for a fraction of the outlay. If you want the full breakdown of sizes and uses first, our guide to what table tents are covers it.
Table Covers Brand the Table, Not the Offer
A table cover does something neither paper product can: it turns the furniture into the sign. Drape one over a bare six foot folding table and the booth reads as a business from thirty feet away, before anyone is close enough to read a word.
There are three shapes of this and they are genuinely different buys. A table throw is a loose drape, 84 by 126.5 inches for a 6 foot table and 84 by 150.5 inches for an 8 foot, on 9oz polyester with 1 inch hems, at $225 each and $197.30 each on a run of 50. A stretch table cover is a fitted skin on 8.8oz tension fabric, 92.68 by 135.75 inches for a 6 foot table, at $250 each. A table runner is a band down the middle, 18 sizes from 24 by 72 up to 60 by 90 inches, dye sublimated on 9oz polyester, at $97.76 each.
The trade-off between throw and stretch is corners. A throw drapes and can sag or crease in the fold lines from the bag, which is honest fabric behavior and not a defect. A stretch cover grips and stays drum tight all day, which is why it photographs better, and it costs $25 more and comes in exactly two fitted sizes. Nonstandard table, no stretch cover. Our comparison of polyester, stretch and vinyl covers goes further into the fabrics, and covers versus runners handles the drape question on its own.
A cover cannot do one of them. Fabric across a hall reads as a shape and a color, so a logo, a single line, and a URL will land. Three bullet points of offer copy will not, and printing them makes the cover look busy without making anyone read them. Put the offer on paper at the table and keep the fabric to identity. That is also why one cover carries across every show you do: it never goes out of date the way a dated promotion does. Browse the full range in table covers printing or see how it sits in a booth in our trade show printing collection.
Counter Cards Close the Sale at the Register
The counter is where the decision gets made, and a counter card is the only one of these three built to stand there without hardware. Every card ships with a 9 inch double wing easel, so it goes from box to counter with nothing else to buy.
Three sizes run from an 8.5 by 11 inch register sign up to an 11 by 17 that reads across the shop floor, and the stock choice matters more than people expect. 56pt SBS board is the rigid one and it stays flat under a fan or an open door. 24pt gloss laminated stock wipes clean, which is the right pick anywhere food, drinks or damp hands are near it. 3/16 inch white foam core is the lightest and cheapest to ship, and it is also the one that takes a permanent dent the first time a corner catches a shelf. Pick foam core for a two week promotion and SBS for a fixture you leave up.
The economics are the opposite of a table tent. A single counter card is $21.97, and the per card price slides down 21 quantity tiers to about $8.81 each at 500. Ordering one is normal. Standard production is 2 business days, with Next Day and Same Day rush, which makes this the format you reach for when a price changes on Friday and the sign has to be right on Monday.
The limit is sightline. A counter card only works if there is counter space with a clear view from the queue, and a busy register with a card reader, a tip screen and a bowl of mints will bury it. Measure the free space before you order the 11 by 17. For a multi location rollout, the retail and point of sale collection lists the rest of the in store signage that pairs with it.
The Verdict, By The Room You Are Standing In
There is no single winner, but there is a clear first buy for each venue, and buying in the wrong order is the common mistake.
- Restaurant, bar or cafe with seated customers. Table tents first. Nothing else reaches a person during the wait between sitting down and ordering. Add a counter card at the till for the loyalty or takeaway message.
- Trade show, market stall or conference desk. A cover first, every time. It is the only one of the three that works before someone walks over to you, and one table throw at $225 covers you for years of shows. A runner at $97.76 is the cheap way in if the table surface has to stay visible.
- Retail floor or a service counter. Counter cards first, because they are the only same day option and the only one you can order a single unit of. Add a runner if the display table is bare.
- A one off event next week. Counter cards, because the 2 business day standard is the only turnaround that fits. Table tents need 5 business days and fabric needs 4.
- You already have a cover and a budget left over. Spend it on the paper that carries the offer, not on a second cover. Identity does not need repeating, prices do.
If the budget only stretches to one and the answer is genuinely not obvious, buy the cover. It is the only one of the three that does not expire, and it is the one people see first. Everything else on the table is a follow up to it. When you are laying out the whole booth, vendor table display ideas shows how the pieces stack, and table tents printing lists every tent style we run.
Wally explains the table
One table, three jobs, three distances
Wally sets one table three ways. The 4 by 6 inch tent stands in the middle and talks to the person who already sat down. The 84 inch cover dresses the whole table and talks to the aisle before anyone walks over. The rigid card on its 9 inch easel sits at the register and talks to the queue. He tells people the same thing every time: the tent carries the offer, the cover carries the name, and the counter card is the only one you can have tomorrow.
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Common Questions
Your tabletop signage questions, answered
What is the difference between a table tent, a table cover and a counter card?
A table tent is a small folded card, 4 by 6 inches finished, that stands on its own in the middle of a table and sells to whoever is sitting there. A table cover is printed fabric that dresses the table itself, 84 inches wide on a throw, and it works as branding you read from across a room. A counter card is a rigid board between 8.5 by 11 and 11 by 17 inches that comes with a 9 inch double wing easel and sits at the register where the payment happens. They answer three different reading distances, which is why most venues end up owning two of the three rather than choosing one.
Are table tents printed on both sides?
The artwork prints full color on one side of a flat 4 by 16.25 inch sheet, and that printed side becomes both outer faces once the sheet is scored and folded into the tent. So a customer sees your design from either side of the table, but the inside of the tent stays blank. If you were planning a different message on each face, that is not how the product is built. Design one face and let the fold do the rest.
What size table cover fits a 6 foot folding table?
A table throw for a 6 foot table measures 84 by 126.5 inches, hemmed 1 inch on all sides, and the 8 foot version is 84 by 150.5 inches. A stretch cover is cut differently because it has to grip the corners: 92.68 by 135.75 inches for a 6 foot table and 92.68 by 159.75 inches for an 8 foot table. Stretch covers only come in those two fitted sizes, so if your table is a nonstandard length, order a throw or a runner instead.
Do counter cards need a separate stand?
No. A 9 inch double wing easel ships with every counter card, which is the main reason they beat a printed sheet in a plastic frame at the register. You take it out of the box, pop the wings, and it stands. The stock does the rest: 56pt SBS board is the rigid choice, 24pt gloss laminated stock wipes clean where hands and food are involved, and 3/16 inch white foam core is the lightest to ship but the easiest to dent at a corner.
Which one costs least per event?
The cover, once you run more than one event. A table throw is $225 for the first one and $197.30 each on a run of 50, and it goes back in the bag at the end of the day. A 250 piece run of table tents costs $554.39 and gets thrown away with the table setting. Counter cards sit in the middle: $21.97 for a single card, about $8.81 each at 500 across 21 quantity tiers, and they last as long as the promotion does. Judge cost per event, not cost per piece, and the fabric usually wins.
How fast can I get each one?
Counter cards are the fastest: 2 business day standard production with Next Day and Same Day rush available. Table throws, stretch covers and table runners run 4 business days standard, with 3 day, 2 day and Next Day rush speeds. Table tents run 5 business days standard. Every one of them offers a free online proof, and choosing the proof adds the time you take to approve it, so if the event is tight, either skip the proof or order the fabric first and the paper last.
Get Started
Counter cards cost $21.97, table throws $225.00
Fold a tent for the seated customer, drape a throw for the aisle, stand a counter card at the register. Pick the size, upload the artwork, and we print it in New York.
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