How The Vault works

Buying and selling, protected on both ends.

For buyers

Buy at the listed price or make an offer. Checkout runs through Stripe — The Vault never sees or stores your card details.

Your payment is protected. When you pay, the money doesn't go straight to the seller — it's held until the carrier confirms the item was delivered, plus a protection window of at least 3 days after that. The seller isn't paid until this passes.

If something's wrong — item not as described, damaged, never arrives — report it from your order page any time before the hold ends. We'll review it and either release the payment to the seller or refund you in full.

Sellers have 7 days to ship. If your order isn't shipped by then, it's cancelled and refunded automatically.

For sellers

List for free. The Vault charges sellers no fees — you keep 100% of your sale price. Buyers cover payment processing at checkout.

You'll need to connect a Stripe account once before you can receive offers or sell — takes about 2 minutes.

When an item sells, ship it promptly with tracking. Once the carrier confirms delivery, your payment is released automatically 3 days later — no need to follow up. This delay is what protects buyers, so it applies to every sale. While you're new, your first three sales are held for 7 days instead, to build a track record.

Orders of $300 or more must ship with signature confirmation. It protects you as much as the buyer if delivery is ever disputed.

Ship within 7 days of the sale. We'll remind you on day 3 and send a final warning on day 5; an order that still hasn't shipped after 7 days is cancelled and the buyer is refunded in full.

If a buyer reports a problem, we'll review it and resolve it fairly. Payment stays held until that's settled.