Buyer service fee
A single, flat service fee of 5% + $0.30 — and it only ever applies to money you pay by card.
- Service fee
- 5% + $0.30
- Charged on
- The card / external payment only
- Charged on balance spend
- Never — balance is fee-free
What the fee is
When you buy on PlayerVault, a service fee of 5% plus $0.30is added at checkout. This is what keeps the marketplace running — escrow protection, support, secure payments, and dispute handling. It's deliberately lower than what most comparable marketplaces charge.
The fee only applies to new card payment
The service fee is calculated on the amount you actually pay with a card (or another external payment method) — never on money that comes from your PlayerVault balance. If part of your order is covered by balance, the fee is charged only on the remaining card portion.
Paying entirely from balance? No fee.
If your PlayerVault balance covers the full order, there is no card payment — so the service fee is $0.00.Worked examples
Say a booster's offer (the subtotal) is $20.00:
- Paying by card only. Fee = 5% × $20.00 + $0.30 = $1.30. You're charged $21.30 to your card.
- Using $8.00 of balance + card. The card covers the remaining $12.00, so the fee is 5% × $12.00 + $0.30 = $0.90. You spend $8.00 from balance and $12.90 on your card.
- Balance covers the whole $20.00. No card is used, so the fee is $0.00 — you simply spend $20.00 of balance.
Why balance is fee-free
Money already in your PlayerVault balance has, in most cases, already passed through checkout once (for example, it was returned to you from a canceled order). Charging a service fee again on that same money would mean paying twice, so we don't. Balance you reuse is spent at face value, with no additional service fee. See Refunds & cancellations for how balance is created.