A card shop, not a warehouse

The Vault is an independent trading card shop on Kilburn Lane in W10. We opened because London had plenty of places to buy cards and very few places to go and be around them — somewhere with a counter you can put a binder on, a back room with the lights on six nights a week, and someone behind the till who will tell you when a card is not worth what you hoped.

How we price

Every single on the shelves is priced against live market data, and the market rate is printed on the listing next to our price. We do not strike it through and call it a discount, because it is not a price we previously charged — it is the number you can go and check.

Condition is graded conservatively. A card sold as Lightly Played that turns out to look Near Mint costs us nothing; the other way round costs us a customer, and this is a neighbourhood shop, so customers are people we see again.

What we will tell you

When a card is worth more sold privately than we can pay for it. When a submission to a grading company is not worth the fee. When the sealed box you are about to buy is being reprinted next month. None of that is generosity — a shop that only ever tells you yes is a shop you stop trusting, and then you buy online instead.

Play space

Thirty seats in the back, decks you can borrow, and a Junior Play Club on Saturdays for ages 7–13. Most nights are free. Nobody has ever been the only new person in the room, because there is always someone learning.

Come and find us

43 Kilburn Lane, London W10 4AE. Two minutes from Queen's Park station, closed Mondays, open every other day.