Terms of Service

General Terms and Conditions

The following General Terms and Conditions (GTC) also contain legal information regarding your rights under the regulations governing distance contracts and electronic commerce.

 

  1. Scope/Definitions

1.1 These General Terms and Conditions apply to all services and deliveries provided by ETA Grading Service GmbH, Otto-Hahn-Straße 7b, 50997 Cologne. Any deviating conditions of the customer are hereby expressly rejected. These shall not become part of the contract, neither through the execution of the commissioned service, the return of items, nor through any other conclusive action.

1.2 A consumer, within the meaning of these General Terms and Conditions, is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business, or profession. An entrepreneur, within the meaning of these General Terms and Conditions, is any natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity acting in the exercise of their independent professional or commercial activity when entering into a legal transaction.

 

  1. Contracting Party

A sales contract is concluded with ETA Grading Service GmbH, represented by the managing directors Efthimios Holevas, Otto-Hahn-Straße 7b, 50997 Cologne.

 

  1. Ordering Process

Customers place orders in our shop by:

  1. selecting the appropriate card grading and adding the desired number of cards to the shopping cart
  2. opening the shopping cart and proceeding to checkout
  3. acknowledging and confirming our GTC and the cancellation policy
  4. logging in as a registered customer, registering as a new customer, or ordering as a guest without registration
  5. entering or verifying their shipping address for the return shipment
  6. selecting the shipping method and payment method
  7. confirming the accuracy of their information by clicking the "order with obligation to pay" button at the end.

 

  1. Offer and Conclusion of Contract

4.1 The customer's order represents a binding offer to ETA-GS for the conclusion of a service contract. By placing the order, the customer declares in a binding manner that they wish to purchase the ordered grading.

Following the order, the customer must send the item in question to ETA-GS. The order form displayed on the ETA-GS website may be used for this purpose.

4.2 The customer receives a copy of the order data with the order confirmation email, which can be saved. This receipt confirmation does not constitute an acceptance of the offer.

4.3 A contract is only concluded when ETA-GS accepts the customer's binding order by confirming acceptance in text form via a separate email notification. Acceptance or rejection of the order will take place within five working days at the latest.

4.4 If, following the order, the items are not sent to ETA-GS, or if the performance of the service is impossible or unfeasible for ETA-GS for other reasons due to the customer's lack of cooperation, the order will be cancelled, and any submitted items will either be returned at the customer's expense, stored, or, if the customer refuses to accept them, disposed of by ETA-GS after prior notice to the customer.

4.5 The contract is concluded exclusively in the German language.

4.6 The submission of items to ETA-GS is considered a unilateral declaration of intent by the customer to conclude a service contract with ETA-GS. By sending the items to ETA-GS, customers explicitly declare that the items in their possession are to be transferred into the possession of third-party companies involved in the service process for the purpose of carrying out the commissioned measures.

4.7 The items sent to ETA-GS must be listed completely and individually on the order form. Each individual item should be specified as precisely as possible by the customer. All unique identification features of the items must be listed in writing by the customer on the order form.

 

  1. Correction of Input Errors/Storage of the Contract Text

5.1 Before submitting the order, the customer can correct their contractual declaration at any time by changing the relevant input field or by using the "Back" button in the browser. After submitting the order, corrections are no longer possible.

5.2 The customer's orders are stored by ETA-GS until the contract is fully processed. Should the customer lose their order documents, they can contact ETA-GS via email. ETA-GS will then send the customer a copy of the order data, provided the order has not yet been processed. After the cards have been fully returned to the customer, the order data will be deleted, subject to statutory retention periods, and will no longer be available.

 

  1. Prices and Shipping Costs

6.1 The prices stated on the product pages include statutory VAT plus shipping costs.

6.2 In addition to the stated prices, ETA-GS charges shipping costs for the return. The shipping costs are clearly communicated at checkout.

6.3 Grading services provided by third-party companies in the USA and shown on ETA-GS invoices in Germany are exempt from VAT in accordance with current VAT regulations. ETA-GS undertakes to show the corresponding grading services on the invoices as VAT-exempt.

 

  1. Subject of the Contract

7.1 The subject of the contract is the provision of a service which consists of passing on commercial items owned by the customer, such as collectible cards or other items traded among collectors, to third-party companies specialized in grading and arranging for the grading of the items. The items are generally used items, the condition of which may deviate from the original condition at the time of purchase.

7.2 All items sent to ETA-GS will therefore be inspected. The condition of the items, especially obvious damage, will be compared with the order documents and documented in writing and photographically. This documentation initiated by ETA-GS remains the sole property of ETA-GS and is not made available to the customer. The documentation serves as proof of a mandate to conclude a service contract and also serves to prove the scope of the commissioned service as well as the condition of the item upon arrival at ETA-GS.

7.3 Should there be doubts regarding the legitimacy of the ownership of the submitted items (for example, if ETA-GS receives indications of theft, embezzlement, or similar), ETA-GS will, on its own initiative, inform the competent investigative authorities. In the event of a suspected case, the submitted items will be separated and properly stored. Until the underlying facts have been clarified in a legally secure manner, the items will be handed over exclusively to state authorities. A return of the affected items to customers is excluded until the matter has been clarified in a final and legally secure manner.

7.4 In the event that the service level (value charge) of the grading company changes and leads to an increase in fees on the part of the grading company, the customer agrees to assume the costs resulting from the change in the service level at the time of ordering and sending the item to ETA-GS. A change in the grading company's service level inevitably leads to an increase in the invoice amount to be paid to ETA-GS. In this case, ETA-GS reserves the right to return the graded items to the customer only after the additional payment has been made. ETA-GS will inform the customer about the amount of the fee change immediately upon becoming aware of it.

 

  1. Prerequisites for Conclusion of Contract / Contract with Minors

8.1 In principle, ETA-GS only enters into contracts with natural persons who have unlimited legal capacity, i.e., all customers must have reached the age of 18 at the time of concluding the contract.

8.2 In individual cases and after consultation, ETA-GS reserves the right to also enter into contractual agreements with minors who have reached the age of seven but not yet 18 (persons with limited legal capacity). The prerequisite for the conclusion of the contract is the consent of the legal representative, which must be given either simultaneously with the offer or immediately thereafter.

8.3 If the customer is a legal entity, ETA-GS reserves the right to demand an extract from the commercial register or other register extract as proof of authorization to represent before the contract is executed.

 

  1. Execution of the Service

9.1 The commissioning process begins with the receipt and acceptance of the items listed in the order form by ETA-GS.

9.2 Unless the customer has explicitly requested that ETA-GS begin the execution of the service before the end of the withdrawal period, ETA-GS will store the received items during the withdrawal period and until it has expired.

9.3 Before storage, the submitted items are compared with the associated form contents by ETA-GS employees and the complete accuracy of the information is verified.

In the event of incorrect information, ETA-GS reserves the right to notify the affected customers of the incorrect information using the contact options provided in the form and, if necessary, to enable a correction by the customers. If no correction of the information occurs and if it is necessary and mandatory for the execution of the service, ETA-GS reserves the right to reject the commission. In this case, the items sent to ETA-GS will be returned to the customer at the customer's expense.

9.4 At the customer's request, ETA-GS can assist with the correction of the form. This service may be subject to a fee. Any costs incurred as a result will be communicated to the customer in advance.

9.5 Defective products owned by the customer are not fundamentally excluded from grading. The defective condition will be reflected in the documented result of the grading. However, customers are obligated to state all defects of the submitted items in the corresponding forms.

9.6 If the submitted item does not correspond to the information in the form and the deviation was obviously made intentionally by the customer to deceive ETA-GS regarding the condition of the item, ETA-GS reserves the right to reject the grading and to exclude the customer from further commissions. The exclusion can be temporary or permanent. This will be communicated to the customer by ETA-GS.

In such a case, the customer will be given the opportunity to organize the return of the items sent to ETA-GS at their own responsibility or to make use of the ETA-GS return service. If the return service is used, the customer must reimburse ETA-GS for the shipping costs and a service fee in advance of the return. The amount of the service fee and shipping costs will be communicated to the customer in advance.

9.7 If, even after two reminders and a corresponding reasonable deadline set by ETA-GS, the customer does not organize a return collection or does not reimburse ETA-GS for return shipping costs after such a deadline has expired, ETA-GS is entitled to either dispose of the items sent by the customer and invoice the customer for the costs incurred plus an expense allowance, or to put the items up for sale themselves, whereby the proceeds from this will accrue solely to ETA-GS. The customer must be explicitly informed of the two aforementioned possibilities with the second reminder.

 

  1. Delivery

10.1 There are no delivery restrictions.

10.2 If the items sent to ETA-GS are received by ETA-GS up to three working days before the end of a calendar month, these items will be sent to the respective grading companies within 14 working days. Items received later than three working days before the end of a calendar month are generally only considered in the following shipment in the coming calendar month. The customer is not entitled to any claims against ETA-GS due to any late shipment or withholding for reasons of necessary customs clearance or other processing modalities.

10.3 ETA-GS has no influence on the duration of the evaluation/grading. The timing of the return of the submitted items can therefore neither be influenced nor precisely determined by ETA-GS. Delays in the return of the items to the customer and the direct and indirect consequences resulting from this are excluded from liability on the part of ETA-GS.

10.4 All time specifications regarding the duration of the overall process are non-binding and are based purely on past experience. Any liability for inaccurate time specifications of any kind is excluded.

10.5 By sending into the VGA service, the customer confirms that we assume NO liability for games opened by customs or similar, nor do we bear the costs for obtaining a replacement game.

 

  1. Payment

11.1 Payment is made at the buyer's choice by Paypal, credit card, invoice, or Sofortüberweisung (instant bank transfer).

11.2 If the credit card payment method is selected, it will be charged immediately after the order is completed.

11.3 If the PayPal payment method is selected, payment processing is carried out via the payment service provider PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg, subject to the PayPal terms of use, which can be viewed at https://www.paypal.com/de/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full.

11.4 If the invoice payment method is selected, payment processing is carried out via the payment service provider Klarna Bank AB (publ.), a public limited company under Swedish law, Sveavagen 46, 111 34 Stockholm, Sweden subject to the Klarna terms of use, which can be viewed at https://www.klarna.com/de/agb

In the case of payment by invoice, Klarna performs a risk check and decides whether payment using the payment method selected by the buyer is possible. In this case, the claim against the customer for payment of the purchase price is assigned by ETA-GS to Klarna Bank AB (publ.), a public limited company under Swedish law, Sveavägen 46, 111 34 Stockholm, Sweden for the purpose of collection. Following the assignment of claims, payments can only be made to Klarna with debt-discharging effect. By choosing the "Invoice" payment method, the customer therefore declares their consent to the assignment of the claim to Klarna and permits ETA-GS to transfer the data provided by the customer for this purpose, such as name, address, and email address, to Klarna. However, even in the event of the assignment of claims, ETA-GS remains responsible for general customer inquiries, e.g., regarding goods, delivery time, shipping, returns, complaints, declarations of withdrawal, and their submission, or credit notes.

Payments can be made exclusively to Klarna's account. The purchase price claim is due within 30 days of receipt of the goods. The period begins on the day after receipt of the goods and ends on the 30th day thereafter.

11.5 ETA-GS reserves the right to charge a flat-rate reminder fee of five euros per reminder as damages for delay if customers are in default of payment. The customer is permitted to prove that no damage or only lesser damage has occurred.

 

  1. Warranty

12.1 The statutory provisions on liability for defects apply.

12.2 ETA-GS guarantees that the condition of the items is not impaired by ETA-GS. Excluded from this guarantee are unintentional modifications to an item that are causally attributable to the aging process of an item.

12.3 If the customer is a merchant (Kaufmann) within the meaning of the German Commercial Code (HGB), any warranty rights are subject to the customer duly fulfilling all inspection and notification obligations owed pursuant to § 377 HGB. For recognizable defects, a customer who is a merchant must assert complaints in writing without delay, but at the latest within 8 days of receipt; for defects not immediately recognizable, complaints must be asserted in writing immediately after they become recognizable. After the expiry of this period, the goods shall be deemed approved.

 

  1. Liability

13.1 The assessment of an item's value made by ETA-GS is non-binding and does not claim to be accurate.

13.2 Furthermore, ETA-GS is liable without limitation according to statutory provisions for damages to life, body, and health resulting from a negligent or intentional breach of duty by ETA-GS, its legal representatives, or vicarious agents, as well as for damages covered by liability under the Product Liability Act. For damages not covered by sentence 1 and which are based on intentional or grossly negligent breaches of contract as well as deceit by ETA-GS, its legal representatives, or vicarious agents, ETA-GS is liable according to statutory provisions. For damages based on the absence of a guaranteed quality but which do not occur directly to the goods, ETA-GS is only liable if the risk of such damage is clearly covered by the quality guarantee.

13.3 ETA-GS is also liable for damages caused by simple negligence, provided that the resulting damages are based on the violation of rights which are to be granted to the customer according to the content and purpose of the respective contract and/or provided that the resulting damages are based on the violation of obligations whose fulfillment makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on whose compliance the customer regularly trusts and may trust (cardinal obligations). Liability for such claims is limited to the typically occurring and foreseeable damage, but in any case, it is limited to the replacement value of the corresponding item. The replacement value is measured by the value of an item in new, unplayed condition.

13.4 Any further liability is excluded, regardless of the legal nature of the asserted claim.

13.5 ETA-GS does not conduct the grading of items itself and is not liable for any material or immaterial damage resulting from a performed grading. ETA-GS cannot assume responsibility for the completeness, accuracy, or result of a grading. The engagement of the grading company is carried out to the best of ETA-GS's knowledge and belief and based on strict selection criteria.

13.6 ETA-GS adopts the information from the customer's order form without verification. Should incorrect grading occur due to incorrect information provided by the customer, ETA-GS cannot be held liable for this by the customer.

13.7 If the grading company causes damage to the customer's item, the customer has a separate claim against the grading company for damages. If the enforcement of this claim fails, ETA-GS will step in vis-à-vis the affected customer upon the assignment of the claims against the grading company to ETA-GS. A prerequisite is a written assignment of claims by the customer to ETA-GS.

13.8 ETA-GS is not liable for the loss of the customer's items unless a culpable breach of duty by ETA-GS can be proven. The customer is expressly advised that the items accepted and stored by ETA-GS are not insured by ETA-GS.

 

  1. Transport to and from Grading

14.1 ETA-GS undertakes to insure customers' collectible cards for transport to PSA or a comparable grading company in the USA.

14.2 In the event of loss during transport to PSA or a comparable grading company in the USA, a refund of up to the respective value of the card prior to grading will be provided, unless a different individual agreement regarding a higher value of the items has been made between the customer and ETA-GS.

14.3 There are various transport insurance options for the return shipment of the cards graded in the USA from ETA-GS to the customer. The respective insurance sums amount to up to

a: €500.00

b: €3,000.00

c: €10,000.00

d: €20,000.00

e: Upon request

The customer is urged to contact ETA-GS regarding one of the available insurance sums before shipping and to conclude a corresponding agreement with ETA-GS; otherwise, none of the above-mentioned insurance sums shall apply. Furthermore, the provision of insurance benefits is conditional upon the customer submitting the evidence mentioned in section 14.4.

14.4 In the event of loss or damage to a shipment during transport, the customer is required as part of their duty to cooperate to provide all necessary evidence demanded by DHL Group or the respective carrier for the reimbursement of the insurance sum in case of package loss. Required evidence includes, in particular, a written loss report, all relevant shipping documents and information, as well as any other requested documents. Suitable evidence of the package contents can only be acknowledged posting receipts (e.g., invoices, receipts, photos). Proof of the value of the package contents can only be provided by an original invoice, an appraisal, or an excerpt from a trading platform, such as "Ebay" or "Cardmarket," where comparable collectible cards are traded at current values. Proof of ownership for cash purchases can only be provided by a purchase contract. Without the submission of the corresponding evidence, there is no claim to insurance coverage.

 

  1. Refund for Damage to the Case

15.1 ETA-GS undertakes to replace damaged cases free of charge, regardless of the cause of damage, provided the damage occurs before receipt by the customer.

15.2 A prerequisite for the free replacement of the case is that the customer reports every individual case of damage to ETA-GS at the email address submissions@eta-gs.com. The report must necessarily include a photo of the front and back of the damaged case.

15.3 The damaged goods must be returned by the customer to ETA-GS immediately. To comply with this provision, the dispatch of the shipment to ETA-GS must occur within 14 working days after sending the complaint.

15.4 After verification of the damage, ETA-GS will replace the damaged case free of charge. ETA-GS's liability in this regard is limited to the replacement of the damaged case. Further claims by the customer are excluded.

 

  1. Terms of Use

16.1 Unless otherwise agreed, ETA-GS permits its customers to use, store, load, display, run, and reproduce the results provided within the scope of the ETA-GS service permanently.

16.2 Furthermore, customers are granted the right to modify, translate, process, or otherwise adapt the results provided within the scope of the ETA-GS service, not only for their own purposes but also to use them for the provision of services to third parties.

16.3 The use of results provided within the scope of the ETA-GS service by commissioned third-party companies is granted to customers to the same extent as the rights to use the results provided within the scope of the ETA-GS service. The right to use the results provided within the scope of third-party services can be explicitly confirmed by the third-party companies at the customer's request.

 

  1. Promotional Vouchers and their Redemption

17.1 ETA-GS may offer promotional vouchers to its customers. Promotional vouchers cannot be purchased and are issued with a specific validity period. There is no entitlement to receive promotional vouchers.

17.2 Promotional vouchers can contain either specific monetary amounts or percentage discounts. Discount information refers exclusively to the invoiced amounts.

17.3 Promotional vouchers cannot be used for the purchase of gift vouchers.

17.4 Promotional vouchers are only valid during the specified period and can be redeemed only once during a payment process. Individual services may be excluded from the voucher promotion.

17.5 Promotional vouchers may also be limited to specific services.

17.6 The redemption of a promotional voucher may be tied to a minimum invoice amount. Should the amount indicated on the promotional voucher be higher than the invoice total settled with it, no difference will be paid out.

Should the amount indicated on the promotional voucher be lower than the invoice total, the difference can be settled using the offered payment methods.

17.7 The value of a promotional voucher cannot be paid out in cash.

17.8 Promotional vouchers cannot be combined with each other unless otherwise expressly agreed.

17.9 Redeemed promotional vouchers will not be refunded by ETA-GS in the event of a refund of the invoice amount received.

 

  1. Data Protection

18.1 ETA-GS complies with data protection laws and takes the protection of personal data seriously in the interest of the customer. Personal data is used by ETA-GS exclusively for processing the customer's order. All customer data is stored and processed by us in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), the General Data Protection Regulation, other data protection laws applicable in the member states of the European Union, and other provisions with data protection character.

18.2 In principle, ETA-GS collects and uses personal data of its customers only to the extent necessary to fulfill the contract. The collection and use of personal data regularly occur only with the consent of the person concerned. An exception applies in cases where prior consent cannot be obtained for factual reasons and the processing of data is permitted by statutory regulations.

18.3 Insofar as ETA-GS obtains consent from the data subject for processing operations of personal data, Art. 6 (1) (a) EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) serves as the legal basis for the processing of personal data. When processing personal data required for the fulfillment of a contract to which the data subject is a party, Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR serves as the legal basis. This also applies to processing operations required for the performance of pre-contractual measures.

18.4 ETA-GS will not pass on the personal data of its customers, including name, address, and email address, to third parties without the express and revocable consent of the person concerned. This excludes the transfer of data to service partners who require the transmission of customer data for order processing. This concerns exclusively name, address data, and, if delivery notification is requested, the telephone number of the respective recipient of a shipment. Data is passed on exclusively to the commissioned shipping/freight forwarding company. In any case, the scope of the transmitted data is limited to the necessary minimum.

18.5 The personal data of the data subject will be deleted or blocked by ETA-GS as soon as the purpose of storage ceases to exist. Furthermore, storage may occur if this is provided for by the European or national legislator in EU regulations, laws, or other provisions. Data will also be blocked or deleted if a storage period prescribed by the aforementioned standards expires, unless there is a necessity for further storage of the data for the conclusion or fulfillment of a contract.

18.6 As a person affected by the collection or storage of personal data, you have the right at any time to obtain free information about your stored personal data, its origin and recipients, the right to correction, blocking, or deletion as well as restriction of processing, the right to data portability, the right to object, the right to revoke granted consents, and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Additional customs, import, handling, and processing costs for Beckett Grading

For submissions under Beckett Grading Services ("Beckett Base" and "Beckett Standard"), the cards submitted by the customer are sent to a third country, in particular the USA, for the purpose of grading and are returned to Germany or the European Union after the grading is completed.

Both in connection with the outbound and return shipment, duties, taxes, and other costs may arise depending on the respective customs treatment, the value of the goods, the valuation by the competent authorities, and the respective applicable legal and customs regulations.

1. Card value for outbound shipment

For the outbound shipment, the market value of the card in its ungraded state ("Raw Fair Market Value") is generally decisive. Upon placing an order, the customer is obliged to state a realistic current market value of the ungraded card, determined to the best of their knowledge.

If the customer does not state a card value, ETA Grading Service is entitled to initially use a flat rate of €200.00 per card for internal processing.

2. Card value for return shipping after grading

Since the grade assigned by Beckett is not yet known at the time the order is placed and the grade can significantly influence the market value of a card, the customer is not required to state a market value for the subsequently graded card at the time of placing the order.

After the grading process is complete, an appropriate market value for the graded card ("Graded Fair Market Value") determined based on the grade achieved can be used as a basis for the return shipment. This value can be determined in particular by Beckett, ETA Grading Service, or in the course of customs processing based on comprehensible current market data.

3. Official valuation

The values stated or determined by the customer, Beckett, or ETA Grading Service are not binding for the relevant customs and tax authorities.

The relevant authorities are entitled to set their own customs valuation and assessment basis in accordance with statutory provisions. If an authority sets or recognizes a different value or a different assessment basis, this official determination shall be decisive for the calculation of the actual customs duties and other import charges incurred.

This applies to both the outbound and return shipments.

4. Additional costs for card values over €200.00

For cards with a value relevant to the respective processing of up to and including €200.00 per card, any additional customs costs are generally covered by the agreed service price.

If the card value relevant for the outbound or return shipment exceeds €200.00 per card and ETA Grading Service incurs additional customs, import, or processing costs as a result, ETA Grading Service is entitled to charge the customer the following additional amounts:

1. the actual customs duties and other import-related or customs-related costs incurred,
2. an additional processing fee of €5.00 per affected card, and
3. an administrative fee of €10.00 per affected order for the additional administrative effort, in particular for valuation, customs processing, inspection, allocation, and invoicing.

This applies to additional costs in connection with both the outbound and return shipments.

The actual customs and other import costs incurred will be passed on at the actual amount incurred. The applicable statutory value-added tax will be charged in addition to the net costs passed on, as well as the processing and administrative fees, to the extent required by law.

ETA Grading Service has no influence on whether, on what assessment basis, and in what amount customs duties, import charges, or other costs are set by the relevant authorities.

  1. Final provisions

19.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply exclusively, excluding the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, provided that this does not deprive the customer, if they are a consumer, of the protection granted by mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which they have their habitual residence.

19.2 For contracts with merchants, i.e., customers who operate a commercial business or are otherwise classified as merchants under the German Commercial Code (HGB), as well as with legal entities under public law, Cologne shall be the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising directly or indirectly from the contractual relationship.