eBay Vault Problems - Incorrect Title & Missing Info Hurts Resale Value

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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UPDATE 3-25-23

4 months after raising this issue with eBay, the seller in question has still gotten no assistance and is unable to correct the title on the listing for the card they had sent to the eBay Vault - leaving him no option but to withdraw the card.

Re: eBay Vault - Incorrect Title and Missing Info for Sports Cards
My vault card still has title errors. Would like to sell it but I can’t edit the title to include “Auto” literally the most common word in card titles. So I guess I’m withdrawing it. eBay what has happened? How can you drop the ball on a service like this.

My vault card still has title errors. Would like to sell it but I can't edit the title to include "Auto" literally the most common word in card titles. So I guess I'm withdrawing it.

eBay what has happened? How can you drop the ball on a service like this.

Currently eBay has waived most selling, storage, and buying fees for items in the Vault in order to encourage adoption but one fee they have not waived is the withdrawal fee.

The eBay Vault pricing & fees

It's a pretty sad state of affairs when users who have stepped up to be early adopters end up not being able to use the service, not getting any help, and likely charged fees for taking the only other option available to them - removing themselves from the service.

eBay has definitely dropped the ball here and needs to fix this issue pronto if they hope to ever garner significant usage of the Vault.


UPDATE 11-22-22

After almost a month, the affected seller has still received no direct communication from eBay to correct the issue and is considering withdrawing his card from the Vault.

Re: eBay Vault - Incorrect Title and Missing Info for Sports Cards
Still no direct communication from anyone on the ebay “Vault” team. I checked in and noticed the title is edited, but looks like they copied the text from the PSA slab, but still did not include the date!? This is very disappointing. I will be withdrawing my card and will be advising other collector…

Still no direct communication from anyone on the ebay "Vault" team. I checked in and noticed the title is edited, but looks like they copied the text from the PSA slab, but still did not include the date!? This is very disappointing. I will be withdrawing my card and will be advising other collectors to avoid using the vault service.

What an absolutely dismal showing from eBay - is this really the experience Director of Trading Cards Bob Means wants for Vault users to have?


eBay has been aggressively marketing it's Vault since it was first introduced introduced - rapidly dropping the minimum price from $750 to $250 and extended fee waivers to try to entice trading cards buyers and sellers to use the service.

eBay Vault Officially Launches For Trading Cards
eBay has officially opened the Vault, accepting trading cards sold for $750 or more.

One of the benefits of eBay Vault is supposed to be professional image and listing creation services - once your trading card is placed in the Vault, eBay enters all of the details of the item to enable hassle free selling.

Hassle Free Selling

  • Enjoy same-day payments and insured shipping, all handled for you by eBay.
  • It’s easy to sell from the eBay vault with high-quality images and pre-populated listings.

However, an eBay community member says they found the service to be not so high-quality after all.

eBay Vault - Incorrect Title and Missing Info for Sports Cards
I tried using eBay Vault, honestly against my better judgement. Bought card on eBay, shipped straight to vault. It’s been ingested/listed by ebay into my Vault. However whoever wrote the title, left out the YEAR and other important descriptions. Leaving out the year on a sports card, especially for…

I tried using eBay Vault, honestly against my better judgement. Bought card on eBay, shipped straight to vault. It's been ingested/listed by ebay into my Vault. However whoever wrote the title, left out the YEAR and other important descriptions. Leaving out the year on a sports card, especially for a "Vault" service, is laughably bad. However it's not funny as it's my card, and an expensive one at that.

Tried to get ahold of support through numerous channels, no response. Wondering if anyone is having issues with the Vault? Really disappointed, and mad at myself for trusting that eBay would actually handle this service professionally.

Why is this a problem? Because once eBay creates the listing information, the seller is unable to edit it. 🤯

That means when they go to resell it, if eBay has messed up the listing details, it could significantly impact the selling price.  💸

Using the eBay vault
Use the eBay vault to buy, sell, authenticate and safely store your high-value trading cards.

Viewing your Collection stored in the eBay vaultYou can view and manage your cards stored in the eBay vault with the Collection beta tool.

Here’s how:

  • Go to My eBay and select Collection beta.
  • Go to the In the eBay vault section and select the arrow icon on the right-hand side.
  • Use the Status filter and Search feature to find a specific card.
  • Select the card to see further details and options.

See the Manage your collection page for more information on the Collection beta tool.

Selling cards stored in the eBay vault
You can easily list any card you’ve stored in the eBay vault. eBay offers reduced Final Value Fees for eBay vault items. If buyers want their item shipped to them, fulfillment is handled directly from the eBay vault at no extra charge.

Here’s how to list a card stored in the eBay vault:

  • Go to My eBay and select Collection beta.
  • Find the card you'd like to sell and select Sell this item.
  • Select the pencil icon in the corner of the Pricing section to add your pricing.
  • Review the rest of the auto-filled listing information.
  • Select List your item.
  • Verify your identity using a one-time security code sent to your phone.

You'll receive payment the same day the buyer pays for the item. Cancellations are only allowed if the buyer hasn't paid for their purchase. See the Order cancellation policy page for more information.

It says you can edit the listing to add the pricing before putting it back up for sale, but the fine print in the terms and conditions says you can't edit the listing info - most likely because the card goes through authentication on the way in and then eBay applies the Authenticity Guarantee to all future sales.

They can't allow the seller to make changes because then they can't guarantee the card as authenticated matches the description.

eBay - Vault Enrollment: Introducing the eBay vault

Terms & Conditions (all the way at the bottom of the page):

Imaging and Listing Services

  • By directing an Eligible Item to the eBay Vault, you agree to allow eBay or its partner(s) to create a high-resolution digital image (the " Digital Image ").
  • eBay will make the Digital Image available in your Digital Collection for inspection. By using the Vault Services, you waive all further rights of inspection.
  • As part of the Vault Services, eBay will create a detailed record that incorporates the Digital Image and includes a preset title, description, and item specifics that will be used to populate an item listing if you opt to list your Vaulted Item for sale on eBay (the " Listing Services "). The resulting item title, description, and item specifics cannot be modified on the listing, but you will be responsible for designating the price and buying format for your item.

It seems the Vault is getting off to a slow start and eBay may not be seeing very high adoption rates, possibly due to a lack of transparent, easily comparable pricing.

Why Would You Use eBay Vault?
eBay Vault for trading cards debuted in June, but lack of transparent pricing may be holding back user adoption.

Others have been turned off by what they see as an overreach with eBay putting a video ad on all listings that are eligible to be sent to the Vault.


Have you used eBay's Vault service? I'd love to hear about your experience! Leave a comment below or contact me.

eBayAuthenticity Guarantee

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.

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lessthanthreerecords
I have not used eBay Vault, but after being a victim of their catalog system with countless item specifics and title errors (more errors than correct info, in many cases), I would never even remotely consider voluntarily handing over listing creation to eBay. Nope, not a chance!
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Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholderConcerned2 days ago
It is Slowwwwwww and is more expensive to the buyer. In the past items I have ordered will sit at the hub for around 2 weeks. I avoid ebay unless I cannot get it elsewhere.
Avatar Placeholdermarks30472 days ago
Hi, I have a friend who had an interesting experience recently that fell under this issue. They sold an item, packed and dispatched to the UK Ebay hub, this was midway through the period as the pause occurred. They then received a message from the buyer that they had checked tracking and discovered that the item had disappeared on ebay, no advice. It then turned out that the tracking had been fudged and the package was with them but not forwarded on to the USA. A few hours of to and fro to get the answer that it was due to the tariff dilemma. NO fault of the buyer(who had paid) or the seller ((who had been paid) and a strange response that the item could not be delivered. The buyer would be refunded in full, the seller would keep payment and the item would not be returned. Strange, Ebay must be hurting paying our both sides of the deal+
Avatar Placeholdercwi3 days ago
  1. Start building out the brand and promoting the heck out of Canadian sellers to our domestic market. Work with Federal/Provincial level governments in the push to build a strong presence here in Canada.

  2. Add other calculated shipping options than Canada Post UPS/FedEx for domestic shipping - partner with couriers nationwide, leverage agreements and software integrations with courier reseller platforms such as Stallion Express. Build out a crowd sourced network using national/regional retail locations as drop points for rural regions, leveraging transport networks to move packages to courier pickup points, akin to the UK courier model but adapted to the Canadian realities.

  3. Create a centralized international shipping clearing house to aide micro businesses with affordable shipping rates and customs clearance to avoid pitfalls and complexities (akin to US eIS).

  4. Bring features forward to the platform from other localizations, such as prepaid best offer acceptance, etc.