Marketplace Fees
There are two ways to close a deal in the Marketplace, and only one of them has a fee. Direct contact, messaging the other collector and closing on whatever terms you both like, carries no DMB Poster Vault fee for either side. Checkout carries the site’s only platform fee, and the buyer pays it: it funds the listing review, the Stripe checkout, the order records, and the claim process that make buying from a stranger workable. Sellers pay no DMB Poster Vault platform fee.
What a buyer pays
Checkout adds one service fee on top of the ask: a 5% platform component (minimum $3) plus card processing (2.9% + $0.30). On a $100.00 poster with $15.00 shipping, you pay $124.67, about 8.4% over the ask plus shipping. On a $30.00 poster with $8.00 shipping, the platform component is the $3 minimum rather than 5%, and you pay $42.54.
The 5% applies to the ask plus shipping, or the $3 minimum when that is more, and every price you see on a listing is all-in: the number on the card is the number you are charged. No surprises at checkout.
Checkout takes US-issued cards and US shipping addresses only. On an accepted offer there is no separate shipping charge: the offer amount is the seller’s full net, and the service fee is added on top of it the same way.
0% DMB Poster Vault seller platform fee
You set an ask and shipping charge. DMB Poster Vault does not deduct a seller platform fee; the buyer’s service fee is added on top of your price.
The sale runs through your own Stripe account. Stripe deducts its card-processing charge there, and the buyer’s service fee is calculated to recover the standard US online-card rate used by Checkout. On a normal completed transaction at that rate, the amount remaining before any Stripe reserve or account adjustment equals your ask plus shipping. You remain responsible for refunds, chargebacks, dispute fees, taxes, and negative balances associated with your sales.
On a full refund the buyer gets every cent back. We return our platform component; Stripe keeps its processing fee, so the refund comes out of your Stripe balance for slightly more than you received, and Stripe debits your bank if the balance is short.
How that compares
To put $100.00 plus $15.00 shipping in a seller’s pocket on eBay, the price and shipping together have to say about $132.18: eBay’s final value fee, roughly 13% in the memorabilia categories, is baked into every ask you see there.
In the collector groups, a PayPal Goods & Services payment on a $100.00 poster with $15.00 shipping runs about $119.51. The buyer gets PayPal’s dispute process, but no edition check, no listing review, and no order record.
Here, the same poster costs $124.67 all-in, the seller keeps the full $100.00 plus shipping, and the purchase carries the listing review, tracked shipping, and the 14-day claim window described below.
What the fee pays for
Every Checkout listing is reviewed before it goes live. You pay through Stripe Checkout to a seller who has completed Stripe identity and bank verification, and the order carries the shipping address, tracking, and both sides’ messages as a record.
You have 14 days from delivery to open a claim. We review the listing, photos, tracking, and messages; an upheld claim is refunded from the seller’s Stripe account to your original payment method. We do not hold the seller’s money and do not fund refunds ourselves, and you always keep the chargeback rights you have with your card issuer.
Common questions
Where do I start if I want to sell?
From your collection. Every copy you own has a Sell button, and you can set a price (buyers pay through Checkout) or open the copy to offers (an optional asking price, or none; collectors message you). That asking price is not charged through Checkout. The first time, you confirm you are 18+ and accept the Seller Agreement, and connect Stripe if you are setting a price. A priced listing is reviewed before it goes live. An open-to-offers listing goes live when you publish it. Nothing is listed until you publish it.
Can I trade, or take offers, without setting up Stripe?
Yes. Open to offers only needs the seller terms and photos of your copy; Stripe is required only when a buyer will pay you through Checkout. And if you only want to track your collection, none of this applies; the marketplace never touches a copy you have not chosen to list.
Why does the buyer pay the fee instead of the seller?
It’s how this community already deals: on the boards, friends-and-family is free and when a buyer wants PayPal Goods & Services protection, the buyer covers that fee. Checkout formalizes the same custom: the person the protection exists for is the person who pays for it, and sellers keep every dollar of their ask.
Do I have to use checkout?
No. The Marketplace also works by direct contact. Message the other person and settle payment however you both like. No fee, and no claim process or order record: that trade-off is yours to make, deal by deal.
Is shipping included in the fee?
The platform fee is computed on the ask plus the seller’s shipping charge, and card processing applies to the whole transaction. The all-in price shown on every listing already includes all of it.
Why is there a $3 minimum?
Every Checkout order costs the site a fixed amount to run, whatever the price, and 5% of a small subtotal does not cover it. The minimum keeps low-priced posters sellable through Checkout instead of pushing them off-site. It only matters below about $60 of ask plus shipping; above that the 5% is larger.
What happens to the fees on a refund?
The buyer is refunded in full, including the service fee. DMB Poster Vault returns its platform component. Stripe keeps its card-processing fee on a refund, so the seller ends up out that amount: the refund is drawn from the seller’s Stripe balance, and Stripe debits the seller’s bank if the balance is short.
Can the fees change?
Yes, but never quietly and never after the fact. The Terms of Service incorporate this page as the fee schedule. Any change is posted here at least 30 days before it takes effect and emailed to sellers with active listings, and the fee shown at Checkout when you place an order is the fee you pay for that order.