Buying
How to find gear, check out, track your order and leave a review, plus what Paintball Vault Protection covers and when you're charged.
How Buying Works
- Find gear you want and press Buy Now, or Make An Offer if the seller takes offers.
- Check out with your shipping address and payment method.
- The seller has 72 hours to accept your order and ships it with a prepaid, tracked Paintball Vault label.
- You're charged when the carrier scans your package.
- Once it's delivered, you have 48 hours to check your gear and review the order. Then the seller gets paid.
Every order includes Paintball Vault Protection, so if your gear is lost in transit, you get a full refund.
Finding Gear
- Search: type in the Search For Gear box at the top of any page. Press Filters to narrow by member, brand, category, model, price range, free shipping or carrier, and use Show Only to see just gear that's for sale, sold, or in members' Vaults.
- Sort: choose Best Match, Newest First, Oldest First, Price High To Low, Price Low To High or Most Likes.
- Browse: explore by category, brand, model and collection from the menus.
- Price guide: model pages show what that gear actually sells for, from real Paintball Vault sales, next to what's listed now. See Price Guide.
Following And Liking
- Press Follow on a member, brand, model or variant to see their new gear in your Feed. For members, models and variants you follow, we'll also alert you when new gear is listed.
- Press the heart on a listing (or Watch on its page) to like it. Liked gear is saved under Your Likes in your Feed, and you'll be alerted when its price drops 5% or more, or when a Vault piece you liked goes up for sale.
See Following, Likes & Your Feed for more, and choose which alerts you get in Notifications & Emails.
How To Buy Gear
- On the listing, press Buy Now to go straight to checkout, or Add To Cart to keep shopping. From your cart, press Checkout, or select a few items and press Checkout With Selected Gear.
- Shipping: choose a saved address or add a new one. The address needs the recipient's first and last name, since it goes on the shipping label and to the payment provider, and you can't continue without it. Then press Continue to Payment.
- Shipping method: if the seller ships with more than one carrier, choose USPS Priority (2-3 business days) or UPS Ground (3-5 business days).
- Payment: review your order summary, enter your payment details and press Complete Order.
You'll land on an Order Placed page and get a confirmation email. Your cart can hold gear from several sellers. You pay once, and each seller's gear becomes its own order that ships separately.
Accepted Payment Methods
We accept all major credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. You can also pay over time with Affirm, Klarna or Afterpay. Orders up to $2,000 can be split into 4 interest-free payments, and larger orders have monthly plans. Press See Plans on a listing to compare them.
What You Pay
Your order summary shows:
- Subtotal: the price of your gear, or the accepted offer price
- Shipping: set by the seller's shipping policy, or Free if the seller covers it
- Paintball Vault Protection: 2.5% + $0.30 on your items plus shipping, the same however you pay
- Sales tax, where it applies (see below)
When You're Charged
When you place an order, your payment method is authorized for the total. You'll see a pending charge, but no money has moved yet. The charge goes through when the carrier first scans your package.
If your order never ships, it's cancelled and the authorization is released, so you're never charged. Released authorizations usually drop off your statement within 5–10 business days, depending on your bank.
- Financing: with Affirm, Klarna or Afterpay, your payment plan starts when the charge goes through, not when you place the order.
- Multi-seller orders: if one seller's part of your order is cancelled, you're only charged for the gear that ships.
Making An Offer
Press Make An Offer on any listing that accepts offers, enter your price and an optional message, and press Submit Offer. The seller can accept, decline or counter, and an accepted offer gives you 48 hours to buy at that price. See Offers for the full guide.
How To Check If Your Order Is In Transit
- Open the account menu and press Buying.
- Find the order and check its status (see the table below). Awaiting Delivery means it's on its way.
- Press Track Package to see every scan on the carrier's website.
You'll also get an email and a push when the package is first scanned, while it's in transit, if a delivery attempt is missed, and when it's delivered. Press View Order for your receipt.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Awaiting Seller Acceptance | The seller has 72 hours to accept your order |
| Awaiting Shipment | Accepted. The seller has the label and is getting it ready to ship |
| Awaiting Delivery | On its way |
| Partially Delivered | Some of your order has arrived |
| Submit A Review | Delivered. Check your gear and review the order |
| Complete | Reviewed, and the seller has been paid |
| Dispute Requested | You've reported a problem and we're looking at it |
| Order Cancelled | The order was cancelled and you were refunded |
Still Showing Awaiting Shipment?
Sellers have 72 hours to accept and 6 days to get your package scanned. Until it's scanned, you haven't been charged. If the seller doesn't accept in time, or the package isn't shipped, the order is cancelled and you aren't charged. You can also message the seller from the order to ask when it'll ship.
How To Leave A Review
When everything is delivered, you have 48 hours to inspect your gear and review the order. If you don't review within 48 hours, the order is automatically rated positive for you and the seller is paid, so check your gear right away.
- Open Buying and press Submit A Review on the order.
- Rate the Overall Rating, and optionally Shipping Speed, Packaging Quality, Product(s) As Described and Communication.
- Add a Comment if you like.
- If something is wrong, turn on Submit A Dispute (see below).
- Press Submit Review.
Your review shows on the seller's profile and helps the next buyer. See Reviews.
Something Wrong With Your Order?
If your gear arrives damaged, doesn't match the listing, isn't authentic, or doesn't work, don't leave a normal review. Within 48 hours of delivery:
- Message the seller from the order to explain the problem.
- Submit your review with Submit A Dispute turned on. That holds the seller's payment while we look into it.
- If you can't resolve it with the seller, contact us with photos of the gear, the packaging and the label.
See Cancellations & Refunds for what's eligible for a refund.
Cancelling An Order
Orders are binding once placed. If you need to cancel, message the seller from the order and contact us before it ships. A seller who hasn't shipped can cancel and refund you in full. See Cancellations & Refunds.
Messaging A Seller
Press Message on a listing or a seller's profile to ask a question before you buy. The listing is attached to your message so the seller knows which gear you mean. See Messages.
Keep payment on Paintball Vault. Paintball Vault Protection only covers orders paid through checkout, and we'll never ask for your password or payment details in a message. Messages that try to move a sale off the site are removed automatically.
Sales Tax
Paintball Vault calculates, collects and remits sales tax on behalf of sellers where marketplace facilitator laws require it. Whether tax applies depends on the item and the delivery address, and it's shown as its own line at checkout. The rate combines state and local taxes for the delivery address, and shipping may be taxable in some states. We don't currently accept sales tax exemptions. See our Sales Tax Policy.