If you are about to order NFC review cards for resale, you need to understand how the technology actually works before you commit to a bulk quantity. This matters more than it sounds: an inkoper who buys 1000 cards without knowing what happens inside them cannot judge whether a batch is faulty, whether the chip type matches the use case, or what to test the moment the box arrives. This article explains how do NFC cards work at the level a buyer needs, not the level a hobbyist needs, and ends with a procurement checklist built for an order of 1000 cards at 2,00 euro per card.
An NFC card works through a small passive chip and antenna embedded in the card body. When a smartphone is held close, its NFC reader powers the chip briefly and reads the stored data, in this case a link to a Google review page. No battery, no app installation and no internet connection on the card itself are required, only a phone with NFC turned on. NFC BULK ships these cards blank from the Netherlands, with a 1000-card order costing 2,00 euro per card.
What is NFC (near field communication)?
NFC, or near field communication, is a short-range wireless technology that lets two devices exchange small amounts of data when they are held within a few centimeters of each other. It is a subset of radio-frequency identification (RFID), built specifically for close-range, low-power communication rather than long-distance tracking.
In a review card, NFC is the layer that lets a phone "read" the card without any physical contact beyond a tap. The phone does not need to be unlocked with a special app for basic tag reading, since Android and iOS both support reading NFC tags natively from the lock screen or notification area, depending on the device and settings.
What technology does NFC use inside a review card?
What technology does NFC use is really two separate questions: the chip standard and the data format. A review card typically uses a passive NFC chip built on the NTAG21x family (a common industry standard for this exact use case), storing a small NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format) record that contains a URL.
The chip has no power source of its own. It draws its energy from the electromagnetic field generated by the phone's NFC antenna during the tap, just long enough to transmit the stored URL. This is why the card never needs charging, never runs out of battery and keeps working for years under normal handling. It also explains why a cracked or bent card can fail: physical damage to the antenna loop breaks the circuit that receives the phone's signal.
How do NFC cards work in practice, from tap to review
In practice, a customer taps their phone against the card and their browser opens directly on the business's Google review page. The full sequence is: phone activates its NFC reader, the reader powers the chip, the chip returns the stored NDEF link, and the phone's operating system opens that link in the default browser, all within roughly a second.
Because the cards NFC BULK sells are blank, the wederverkoper is responsible for two things: printing the card design and programming the chip with the correct review link, unless a printing and encoding service is arranged separately. The page on how to resell NFC review cards walks through that process in more detail: How to resell NFC review cards.
Buying 1000 blank NFC cards: a procurement checklist
A procurement checklist for a 1000-card order should cover pricing, sourcing and quality control in one pass, because a batch this size is expensive enough to justify a short inspection routine before you deploy any cards to customers.
Start with the pricing itself. NFC BULK's staffel runs from 6,99 euro per card at 5 pieces down to 2,00 euro per card at 1000 pieces, a difference of 71 procent between the smallest and largest tier:
| Aantal | Prijs totaal (incl. btw) | Prijs per kaart |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 34,95 euro | 6,99 euro |
| 50 | 199,95 euro | 4,00 euro |
| 250 | 699,95 euro | 2,80 euro |
| 500 | 1149,95 euro | 2,30 euro |
| 1000 | 1995,00 euro | 2,00 euro |
All orders ship from the Netherlands and leave the warehouse within 24 hours, which matters when you are planning a rollout date for a client or your own shop. Full detail on the 1000-piece tier, including margin context, sits on the dedicated page: 1000 blank NFC Google review cards - 2.00 EUR per card, and the product itself is here: Google Review Kaarten - 1000 stuks. If 1000 is more than you need right now, the full range sits under Bulkbundels.
What to test the moment 1000 cards arrive
What to test at delivery decides whether a faulty batch gets caught in week one or discovered after cards are already with customers. Run through this before you open the full box for repacking:
- Tap a random sample of at least 20 cards from different layers of the shipment with two different phone brands, since NFC antennas can behave slightly differently between Android and iOS.
- Confirm each tapped card opens a browser prompt, even before you have programmed a real link, to verify the chip itself is alive.
- Check the card thickness and edges for consistency, since a bent card body is the most common cause of a broken antenna loop.
- Count the box against the invoice quantity before signing for delivery, especially on a 1000-card pallet where a miscount is easy to miss.
- Store the untested remainder flat and away from direct heat until you are ready to encode and distribute them.
A short read on lead time and what to expect from a bulk order overall is available here: Buy NFC Cards in Bulk: Tiers, Margins and Lead Time.
What does a 1000-card order cost you and what do you keep
A 1000-card order from NFC BULK costs 1995,00 euro in total, or 2,00 euro per card, which is the lowest per-unit price in the staffel. If you print and resell each card at an example price of, say, 15,00 euro (a figure you set, not a guarantee from NFC BULK), the gap between your cost and your sale price is the margin you keep before printing and handling costs.
This is the calculation an inkoper should run before ordering any quantity: total staffel cost, divided by planned units, compared against your own resale price. Smaller starter quantities are available if you want to test your resale price point first, listed under Starterbundels.
Blank cards versus preprinted cards
Blank cards give the wederverkoper full control over branding, but they also mean the printing step is on your side of the process, not the supplier's. NFC BULK ships every card blank regardless of the order size, from 5 pieces up to 1000, so the technology explained above is identical across every tier: the same chip, the same tap behavior, only the packaging quantity changes.
This is worth repeating because it affects how you plan procurement: you are not choosing between eight different products when you pick a quantity, you are choosing how many units of the same card to buy at once, and the price per card drops as that number goes up.
Frequently asked questions
How do NFC cards work without a battery?
The chip is passive, meaning it has no internal power source. It draws the small amount of energy it needs directly from the electromagnetic field generated by the phone's NFC antenna during a tap. That brief burst of power is enough to transmit the stored link, which is why the card never needs charging and keeps working for years under normal use.
What is NFC near field communication used for besides review cards?
Near field communication is also used for contactless payments, public transport passes, access badges and product authentication tags. In all these cases the same short-range, low-power principle applies: two devices exchange a small piece of data when held within a few centimeters, without needing a live internet connection on the tag itself.
Does the customer need an app to tap an NFC review card?
No app is required on most modern phones. Android and iOS both support reading NFC tags natively, so tapping the card opens the stored link directly in the default browser. Very old phone models or NFC turned off in settings are the two most common reasons a tap does not work.
How long does an NFC review card typically keep working?
The chip itself has no wear-related lifespan, since it is only powered briefly during a tap and stores no rewritable battery. The most common failure point is physical damage to the card, such as bending or cracking the antenna loop, rather than the electronics wearing out over time.
Buying NFC cards in bulk
NFC BULK supplies blank Google review cards in bulk to resellers across Europe. Shipped from the Netherlands within 24 hours, with tier discounts up to 71 percent on larger quantities.
See the bulk bundles · Start smaller · Pricing and margins · Frequently asked questions
- Buy Bulk Google Reviews or Buy Cards That Earn Them
- Google Review Card Aliexpress or EU Stock Compared
- NFC Card Not Working: What to Check in a Batch
- NFC Card Types to Stock as a Reseller