RipCompass
A new question after the pull: where should your cards live?
Opening a pack is only the first decision. If you keep the card, you still need to choose whether to bring it home, leave it in storage or use a marketplace to sell it later. RipCompass now has a dedicated card-vault section to help compare those choices.
The launch covers seven services: PSA Vault, Fanatics Collect Vault, Alt Vault, COMC, Arena Club Vault, Courtyard Vault and Collector Crypt Vault. Each review looks at the service model, accepted cards, location, fees, withdrawal process and practical limitations. The goal is to make the tradeoffs visible before your collection is already in somebody else’s building.
Start with the comparison that fits your collection
A general card-vault comparison is useful for narrowing the field, but a Pokémon slab collection and a box of raw singles do not have identical needs. Our TCG page focuses on trading card game collectors, while the European comparison separates where a vault is located from which customers it can actually serve.
For European collectors, each review separates storage access, selling eligibility, payouts and return shipping. These functions can have different country requirements, even within the same service.
Free storage is not the same as a free exit
Our reviews separate the charges that are easy to mix together: intake, recurring storage, early withdrawal, ordinary retrieval, shipping, selling and cashing out proceeds. You may encounter only some of these, depending on the service and what you do with the card.
PSA’s published flat withdrawal structure and Fanatics Collect’s percentage-based fulfillment structure illustrate why the answer changes with collection size, card value and holding period. Alt also distinguishes cards bought on its platform from externally submitted cards. Our three-provider comparison puts those different journeys alongside each other instead of choosing a winner from a storage headline alone.
Seven reviews, with different service models
COMC is a consignment and storage alternative for supported raw singles and shipment consolidation. Its processing, selling and cash-out fees suit a different calculation from a slab vault focused on long-term custody.
Arena Club, Courtyard and Collector Crypt bring their own platform workflows into the decision. When a card is already stored after a purchase or pack opening, retaining it on that platform is a different choice from mailing in a personal collection. The individual reviews identify the relevant intake and retrieval conditions so those use cases stay separate.
What our editorial ratings mean
Each vault review includes an editorial score across four equally weighted criteria: custody information, fee transparency, withdrawal process, and intake and usefulness. The overall score is their average, shown to one decimal place out of ten. Readers can inspect the breakdown and decide which tradeoffs matter to their own collection.
A high overall score is a starting point. A collector sending raw cards may value intake flexibility most, while somebody retrieving an expensive slab may care more about the withdrawal fee. The individual criteria help you choose on that basis.
Check the route home before you choose a vault
Start with a retrieval scenario for your own collection: number of cards, value, holding period and destination. Add vault preparation time to carrier transit, then compare the resulting cost and timing with keeping the cards stored or selling them there.
If you are still deciding where to grade a card, consider the storage route at the same time. If you already hold a vaulted collection, compare the cost of leaving it, selling it and shipping it home. Those are three different decisions—and the new section is designed to help you make each one with the relevant facts in front of you.
Frequently asked questions
Which card vaults does RipCompass review?
The launch covers PSA Vault, Fanatics Collect Vault, Alt Vault, COMC, Arena Club Vault, Courtyard Vault and Collector Crypt Vault. The reviews distinguish specialist custody from marketplace and platform storage.
Are the vault scores customer ratings?
No. They are RipCompass editorial assessments across four published criteria. The review pages show the breakdown.
Does free storage mean shipping cards home is free?
No. Intake, retrieval, early-withdrawal and shipping charges can apply separately. Check the complete route and the current request quote.
Can European collectors use every listed vault?
Eligibility varies by service and function. Check storage access, selling and payouts, and return-shipping support for your country separately.
Sources and research scope
The RipCompass team reviewed provider fee schedules, custody terms and retrieval guides. These editorial ratings assess that documentation; we did not run deposit-and-withdrawal tests.
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