Trading card escrow
Buying or selling a high-value card — a graded Pokémon slab, a sealed booster box, a vintage single — usually means wiring a stranger first and hoping the card actually shows up. Vaultion locks the buyer's stablecoins in a smart contract, so the seller can ship with confidence and the buyer only releases once the card is in hand, with a dispute ruling to settle anything that goes wrong — Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, a Vaultion reviewer elsewhere.
Start an escrowTrade cards without going first
Payment locked before it ships
The buyer’s stablecoins lock in the contract before the card is sent, so the seller can ship knowing the money is already committed and can’t vanish mid-deal.
Released when it arrives
Once the buyer has the card in hand and confirms it’s what was agreed, they release the payment in a single on-chain transaction.
Kleros for disputes
If a card arrives damaged, not as described, or never shows up, either side opens a dispute and independent jurors rule on the evidence.
What a high-value card sale should cover
With graded slabs and vintage singles, condition and authenticity are the whole deal. Escrow secures the payment — these checks make delivery verifiable on both ends.
Grading & condition
Agree the exact card, set and grade — graded slab and cert number, or condition for a raw card — and use it as the reference for the deal.
Authentication
For graded cards, confirm the cert against the grader's database. Escrow secures the payment, not the card's authenticity — verify before funding.
Shipping & tracking
Agree insured, tracked shipping and treat delivery as the release trigger. Keep the tracking as evidence if a dispute is opened.
What counts as delivered
“Delivered” is the buyer receiving the card as described. Photos on arrival and the cert make acceptance — or a dispute — clear-cut.
Check the contract before you commit
Vaultion runs on a published, open-source contract that holds the funds — not Vaultion. You can read it and the locked balance on the block explorer before you send anything.
Frequently asked
Does Vaultion check the card is authentic?
No — Vaultion escrows the stablecoin payment; it can’t inspect a physical card or verify that a slab is genuine. That’s why high-value deals are safest in graded, authenticated cards, with tracked and insured shipping and an unboxing video. If something is wrong, that record is what the ruling turns on — from independent Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, or a Vaultion reviewer on every other network.
What stops the seller from taking the money without shipping?
The funds stay locked in the contract until the buyer releases them or a dispute is ruled on by independent Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, or a Vaultion reviewer on every other network. The seller can’t take the payment on their own, so there is no way to take the money and disappear.
What if the card arrives damaged, fake, or not as described?
Open a dispute instead of releasing. Both sides submit evidence — listing photos, the grading cert, condition shots, tracking, messages — and independent Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, or a Vaultion reviewer on every other network decides who the funds go to. Whoever rules decides on what they are shown, so keep a clear record and agree on the card’s condition up front.
Which chains and tokens, and what does it cost?
Payment is escrowed in USDC, USDT, DAI, or PYUSD on Ethereum. A tiered platform fee — 4% on smaller deals down to 2% on larger ones — is paid once when the escrow is created. What a dispute costs depends on the network: on Ethereum you pick the route at creation, so Kleros charges a fee paid in ETH by the party that raises it while a Vaultion reviewer charges nothing, and on every other network a Vaultion reviewer handles it at no charge.
Keep reading
Crypto deal scams
Fake escrow sites and send-first pressure, and what escrow stops.
Deal safety checklist
Vet the seller, the grading and the shipping before you fund.
How long escrow takes
Pick a review period that covers shipping and inspection.
NFT escrow
Private sales and trades of digital collectibles.
Lock a card deal
Set up an escrow in a few steps. Funds stay locked in the contract until the deal is done or arbitration decides.
Create an escrow