Help centre

Every piece on VaultBase is offered at a fixed price — there are no auctions. When you click "Buy now," the purchase contract is formed directly between you and the seller. VaultBase itself is not a party to the contract, but provides the platform, payment processing via Stripe, and — if booked — the inspection of the piece.

For listings with the offer feature enabled, you can send a counteroffer directly from the listing. Your offer is binding for 72 hours — if the seller accepts it within that time, the purchase goes through at the proposed price. If no one responds or it's declined, the offer automatically expires and nothing is charged to you.

In rare cases, a purchase can be cancelled even after confirmation — for example if there was an obvious pricing or system error, the piece is no longer available in the meantime, payment cannot be processed, or there are indications of a legal violation (e.g. counterfeit, stolen goods). In this case you'll be informed immediately and any payment already made will be refunded in full.

Use "List for free" to upload compelling photos of your piece, specify category, brand, material, condition, and price, and optionally add extra services like polishing or an authenticity check. Listings from private individuals are briefly reviewed by our team before going live.

Creating listings is completely free, even if you offer several pieces at once — you only pay when a sale actually takes place.

VaultBase charges a VaultBase fee of currently 5% plus a payment processor fee of 3% of the sale price, each plus VAT. Both are only due on a successful sale and are automatically deducted from your payout — listing alone incurs no costs. You'll see the exact breakdown transparently before publishing your listing and in every order summary. The applicable rates are set out in our fee schedule.

Your payout is triggered via Stripe as soon as the buyer confirms receipt or the 14-day inspection period expires without a justified complaint. VaultBase does not hold a classic escrow account — payment is technically held by Stripe until these conditions are met, and then transferred directly to your registered account.

Whoever is responsible for the cancellation bears the costs already incurred. If, for example, it turns out a piece isn't genuine or material defects were concealed, the seller bears the service and shipping costs, and the buyer receives a full refund of the purchase price. Conversely, if the buyer cancels the purchase without a justified reason after services have already been rendered, those costs are charged to them.

Professional dealers (verified commercial sellers) are responsible for the authenticity of their own pieces — an additional VaultBase inspection is not required. Verified dealers can also use a separately approved billing option, where the commission is charged afterwards to a card on file instead of being deducted directly from each sale's proceeds. This option is reserved exclusively for verified dealers and is enabled on a case-by-case basis.

Payment is made exclusively through the methods provided on VaultBase, processed technically via our payment partner Stripe (credit/debit card and other common payment methods). Direct payments outside the platform are not permitted, even at a seller's request.

Not in the classic sense. VaultBase does not hold an escrow account and is not a bank. Your payment is technically processed by our payment partner Stripe and only paid out to the seller once the conditions for that are met (see "When and how do I receive my payout?"). For you as a buyer, this has the same effect as an escrow payment — but legally, it is a platform- and payment-provider-controlled payout mechanism, not an independent escrow or banking service.

The displayed price is always the amount you pay in the end. Under Swiss platform-taxation rules (Art. 20a VAT Act), VaultBase is treated as the deemed supplier: Swiss VAT (currently 8.1%) is already included in the displayed price for every purchase on VaultBase — regardless of whether you're buying from a private individual or a professional dealer. There are no surprise extra costs at checkout.

No. Neither buyers nor sellers receive interest for the time a payment is processed, reviewed, or held via Stripe until payout.

Whoever is responsible for the underlying cause also bears the resulting costs. If a chargeback results from a defective, counterfeit, or misdescribed piece, the seller bears the consequences. If the chargeback is unjustified or abusive, the buyer bears the resulting costs.

Shipping is generally sent registered or via an equivalent track-and-trace method, insured to match the item's value, and packaged carefully and neutrally. For particularly high-value pieces, VaultBase may require a specific courier service or in-person handover.

Shipments are insured up to their full declared value. If something is lost, damaged, or stolen in transit, contact us immediately — we handle the claim together with the insurer, provided the shipment was correctly declared and insured.

If a piece doesn't match its description, fails its booked inspection, or you raise a justified complaint within the 14-day inspection period, we'll arrange for the transaction to be reversed. See "Buyer protection & disputes" for details.

Starting the day after verifiable delivery, you have 14 calendar days to check the piece for authenticity, condition, and match with the listing description. If you don't raise a complaint within this period, the piece is considered accepted and the payout to the seller is released.

Contact us within the 14-day period and describe specifically which feature is being disputed and why — with photos, videos, or other evidence if available. The more comprehensible and well-documented your complaint, the faster we can process it. Vague, unsubstantiated complaints may be rejected.

While the dispute is being reviewed, we hold back the payout to the seller. If the complaint is confirmed, you return the piece in the condition you received it and receive a full refund of the purchase price.

Defects that weren't identifiable through careful inspection within the 14-day period should be reported immediately upon discovery. We then decide on a case-by-case basis whether the matter can still be handled under buyer protection.

This includes, in particular, false defect claims, swapping or damaging a piece after receipt, unjustified returns, and abusive chargebacks. In case of abuse, we may refuse payouts or refunds and suspend accounts.

Trained specialists examine the piece using non-destructive methods standard in the industry — including visual inspection, weight determination, hallmark testing, and precious metal quick tests. The result is an expert assessment made to the best of their knowledge; it does not replace destructive lab analysis.

The authenticity check costs CHF 40. As a buyer, you can add it at checkout for private sales. Sellers can alternatively include it permanently when creating the listing — then every sale is automatically checked, without buyers needing to add anything separately. For professional dealers, the check is not required, since they guarantee the authenticity of their own pieces.

Our specialists clean and professionally polish the piece before shipping. This naturally involves a minimal, technically unavoidable amount of material removal — that's normal and not a defect. For vintage or heavily worn pieces, polishing can also reveal pre-existing weak points (e.g. loose settings); we're not liable for that either, as long as the work was done properly.

For unbranded pieces without protected origin markings, we optionally offer refurbishment with a permanent VaultBase engraving and inclusion in our database. Branded goods are expressly excluded from this. Since the engraving permanently alters the piece, your explicit consent is required.

Yes. Purchases, sales, and listings are reserved exclusively for registered users with legal capacity (at least 18 years old). You can browse without an account.

After a transaction is completed, both parties can review each other. Reviews must be factual, truthful, and based on your own experience — we remove reviews that are unlawful, manipulative, or abusive.

You can cancel your account at any time in account settings, provided there are no open transactions, disputes, or claims. We're still required to retain certain data for a period due to statutory retention obligations — see our privacy policy for details.

The full platform terms are available under "Terms." They govern, among other things, contract formation, payment processing, buyer protection, and liability in detail.

All the details — what data we collect, what we use it for, and what rights you have — are available in our privacy policy.

Company name, registered office, and other mandatory details are available in the legal notice.