You are finalizing your order  when you see an offer to add business card holders to the order. You don’t need holders. You’re going to stash a few cards in your wallet and a few more in your laptop computer case and you’ll be just fine. As you make the decision to forego the holders, a coworker rushes in and asks you to add some business cards for him to the order. “Didn’t you just get some cards?” you ask. He shudders and mumbles something about coffee and the office klutz before he rushes back out the door. Suddenly, that business card holder is looking like a very smart idea.

Without a way to protect your business cards, you will be pretty likely to end up with bent corners, stained cards and a few rips and tears. Since the whole point of a business card is to present a professional appearance, handing out damaged cards doesn’t make much sense. Business card holders are an affordable and simple way to keep cards looking new and crisp until they are needed. In addition, they can help you avoid one of the most annoying things that can happen to a business person — the dreaded 237 business card pickup after the rubber band that is holding the cards together breaks just as you’re pulling a card out to give to someone and the remaining cards spill to the ground.