The CSG Guarantee

Subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations specified below, a CSG-certified sports card (each, a “Card”) encapsulated in a CSG holder is guaranteed to be:

• Genuine; and
• Not overgraded (meaning it is not graded higher than CSG’s Grading Standards).

Where to Submit a Claim

All claims under the CSG Guarantee must be made to Certified Sports Guaranty, LLC (“CSG” or “Guarantor”) in the United States.

Certified Sports Guaranty, LLC
PO Box 4800
Sarasota, FL 34230
(941) 361 1950
[email protected]
CSGcards.com/guarantee

Guarantee Conditions and Limitations

An owner of a CSG-certified Card (“Owner”) who believes that

1. the Card is not genuine; or
2. the Card is overgraded;

shall submit it for evaluation under CSG’s free “Appearance Review” service. It is not necessary to be a CSG member to submit a Card for Appearance Review.

To submit a Card for Appearance Review, Owner shall furnish Guarantor with all supporting documents, including receipts, that Owner’s claim relies on. If Guarantor determines, in its sole reasonable opinion, that Owner is entitled to a remedy under this Guarantee, Guarantor will offer a remedy as set forth below.

Guarantor is committed in all cases to proposing a fair and reasonable remedy. If Owner does not accept such remedy, the Card will be removed from the CSG holder and returned to Owner along with a payment of the grading fees originally paid to grade the Card and any reasonable shipping expenses incurred in returning the Card for correction. Under no circumstances will (i) a Card that has been determined to be not genuine be returned in a CSG holder or (ii) a Card that has been determined to be overgraded or mis-described be returned in a CSG holder with an incorrect label.

Remedies for Cards that are Not Genuine or Are Overgraded. If Guarantor determines, in its sole reasonable opinion, that

1. the Card is not genuine; or
2. the correct grade for the Card is lower than the one assigned on the CSG label;

then Guarantor will offer one of the three remedies described below. The choice of remedy will be made by Guarantor in its sole discretion, and the remedies are subject to the further limitations set forth below. Current Fair Market Value is determined solely by Guarantor as described in each of the listed remedies and the “Fair Market Value” paragraph that follows.

1. Guarantor shall (a) return the Card to Owner encapsulated with a label indicating the newly established correct (lower) grade and (b) pay to Owner the difference between the current Fair Market Value of an accurately graded Card at the original incorrect (higher) grade and the current Fair Market Value of the Card at the newly established correct (lower) grade.
2. Alternatively, Guarantor may purchase the Card from Owner. Guarantor will pay the lesser of
   1. the Declared Value of the Card as stated by Owner on the submission form for Appearance Review;
   2. the Fair Market Value of an accurately graded, genuine Card at the original grade; or
   3. the amount actually paid for the Card by Owner in an actual arm's length transaction, plus any postage, shipping or other incidental expenses incurred by Owner in submitting the Card for Appearance Review service.
   If Owner was also the original submitter of the Card for certification, then the compensation, if any, will not exceed the Declared Value of the Card either when originally submitted for certification or when submitted for Appearance Review.
3. Alternatively, Guarantor may retain the submitted Card and provide to Owner in its place an equivalent Card that is genuine and has the same grade as originally assigned to the submitted Card.

Important Limitation: Under no circumstance will compensation be paid in instances where Owner has suffered no actual damages as a result of the error in certification or in reliance on the Guarantee.

The above are the exclusive remedies provided under this Guarantee. By making a claim under this Guarantee, Owner agrees to the exclusive remedies provided above and waives its right to all other remedies including, without limitation, through litigation.

Fair Market Value. Guarantor will determine, if and as necessary, and in its sole reasonably exercised discretion, the current “Fair Market Value” of the Card if it were to be sold. Guarantor will determine the current Fair Market Value of a Card based upon what Guarantor believes, in its sole reasonably exercised opinion, to be reliable current market information. Guarantor may use actual pricing and sales information available to it, including prices in the actual transaction history of the Card in question. However, due to the volatile nature of the market and Internet auctions/sales as well as the differences in buying habits of different individuals, such information may not necessarily represent the accurate current Fair Market Value of any particular Card, which again, will be determined by Guarantor in its sole reasonably exercised discretion.

WARNING: THIS GUARANTEE IS LIMITED. The following terms, limitations and restrictions apply with regard to the above guarantee and available remedies, and Owner agrees to be bound by all of the terms, conditions and limitations set forth herein:

1. Covered Collectibles. This Guarantee applies only to Cards in CSG holders.
2. Co-Certified Collectibles. Cards co-certified by CSG and Collectibles Authentication Guaranty, LLC (“CAG”) are covered only by the CAG Guarantee, not the CSG Guarantee. Claims under the CAG Guarantee must be made to CAG in the United States.
3. Required Information. In fulfillment of this Guarantee, Owner may be required to provide information and available documentation regarding the transaction history of a particular Card, including the date purchased, the purchase price, the seller and the transaction amount. Owner may also be required to minimize Owner’s damage and attempt to reverse a prior transaction. Owner may further be required to provide proof to the effect that negotiations to reverse a prior transaction have failed. Owner acknowledges that Owner’s inability to provide requested information and/or non-cooperation in providing requested information constitutes a failure of an essential condition to this Guarantee and will result in the Card’s exclusion from this Guarantee.
4. Cooperation with Insurer. Owner shall, at Guarantor’s request, fully cooperate with any insurance investigation or claim adjustment process. Owner acknowledges that a refusal to so cooperate will result in the Card’s exclusion from this Guarantee.
5. CSG Holders. This Guarantee does not apply (i) to Cards that have been removed from a CSG holder, or (ii) if the CSG holder containing a Card has been damaged, unsealed, tampered with, or altered. The determination as to whether this has occurred shall be at the sole reasonable discretion of Guarantor. Further, this Guarantee does not apply to counterfeit or tampered CSG holders.
6. Improper Storage. This Guarantee does not apply if Guarantor determines that a Card submitted for Appearance Review has a lower grade than that originally assigned as a direct result of the CSG holder having been subject to abuse, alteration or improper storage conditions such as (but not limited to) extreme temperature, moisture, damaging environmental conditions, excessive light, excessive motion, impact, or vibration or any other extreme conditions and that such exposure of the holder is capable of affecting the condition of the graded Card.
7. Card Sub-Grades. If a graded Card contains sub-grades, those sub-grades are considered part of the assigned numeric grade of the Card for purposes of the CSG Guarantee.
8. Third Party Information and Attributions. Information listed on a label that originates from a third party (including, without limitation, any information from the manufacturer) and any attributions (including variant attributions, reference attributions and pedigree attributions) are NOT guaranteed. Certain sports cards are commonly collected by variants that distinguish cover type, paper type, ink color (i.e., red, blue, ultraviolet, etc.), spelling variant, or other printing difference. CSG will attribute those variants that it deems, in its sole reasonably exercised opinion, to be major variants that are widely collected and accepted as legitimate variants by the relevant collecting community at the time the Card is graded. New information may cause CSG to no longer recognize an attribution that was previously assigned, which, again, is not covered by this Guarantee. It is not guaranteed that a particular variant or designation will always be recognized, and attribution policies are subject to change without notice. Further, Guarantor’s calculation of a Card’s Fair Market Value will be based on a generic example of the Card at the original grade without any variant, reference or pedigree attribution.
9. Pedigrees. Pedigrees are not guaranteed, and if a pedigree is incorrectly assigned to a Card, it is the duty of Owner to return that Card for correction. Further, Guarantor’s calculation of a Card’s Fair Market Value will be based on a generic example of the Card at the original grade without any pedigree.
10. Autographs, Patches and Other Additive Material. Some Cards contain manufacturer-originated autographs, patches of a uniform jersey (called “patch cards”) and other additive materials. CSG does not guarantee the authenticity of any such autographs, patches or other additive materials.
11. Clerical or Mechanical Errors. A clerical or mechanical error occurs when a Card is encapsulated with a label that bears a grade and/or description that clearly does not correspond with the Card. It is the duty of the buyer and seller of a Card to examine such Card for a clerical or mechanical error and to return such Card for correction when warranted. This Guarantee does not apply when Guarantor determines, in its sole reasonable discretion, that a clerical or mechanical error has resulted in the Card having an incorrect grade or description. If requested, any clerical or mechanical errors will be remedied free of charge by re-encapsulating the Card with an appropriate label.
    
    CSG certification labels with incorrect dates, issue numbers, and card types (all of which should be obvious to someone who performs an inspection of the Card and label) or obviously incorrect grades are considered clerical or mechanical errors. Examples of such errors include, but are not limited to, the following:
    1. A Card is graded 10 when it should have been graded 1, a clerical error with respect to grade that would be obvious to a collector.
    2. A Card label description references card #39 when the Card actually reads #72.
    3. A Card label description references a 2005 issue date when the Card is actually dated 2015.
    4. A Card is listed as being from a refractor set when the Card is not a refractor Card.
    Owners and prospective buyers of CSG-certified Cards are encouraged to enter the Card’s CSG certification number in the Verify CSG Certification section of the CSG website to confirm a Card’s grade and description and, for most Cards, view images of the Card. If CSG becomes aware that a Card was encapsulated with a label that bears a clerical or mechanical error, it will correct the error in its records and display the correct grade and/or description for that Card in Verify CSG Certification.
12. CSG Registry.This Guarantee does not cover a Card’s status in the CSG Registry, including eligibility or points assigned. Changes to the CSG Registry may be made without notice, and it is not guaranteed that a Card will always be eligible for inclusion in the CSG Registry nor is it guaranteed that it will receive a certain point score.
13. Knowledge of Error. If Owner is informed by CSG that a Card is not genuine or has been overgraded or that the label has a clerical error, it is the duty of Owner to immediately return the Card. If Owner does not immediately return the Card after such notice, then (a) this Guarantee will no longer apply to that Card, (b) if Owner sells, trades or otherwise transfers ownership of the Card instead of returning it, then Owner may be liable to the buyer for fraud or otherwise be subject to legal recourse, and (c) Guarantor reserves all rights to pursue any available remedies against Owner. Owners and prospective buyers of CSG-certified Cards are strongly encouraged to enter a Card’s CSG certification number in the Verify CSG Certification section of the CSG website for notification of possible errors.

EXCEPT FOR ANY EXPRESS WARRANTIES SET FORTH IN THIS GUARANTEE AND PROVIDED THAT COMPULSORY STATUTORY WARRANTY OBLIGATIONS MAY APPLY TO ANY LOCAL SUBMISSION TO A CSG AFFILIATE UNDER APPLICABLE LOCAL LAW, CSG AND ITS AFFILIATES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING CSG, ITS AFFILIATES, AND/OR THE SERVICES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. AS CONCERNS THE PRESENT GUARANTEE, IN NO EVENT SHALL CSG OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, OR ANY OF ITS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS OR AGENTS, BE LIABLE TO CUSTOMER OR ANY OTHER PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THIS GUARANTEE IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF CSG, ITS AFFILIATES, AND ANY OF ITS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS OR AGENTS TO THE CUSTOMER OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR WHOM THE CUSTOMER MAY BE ACTING, ARISING FROM ANY CAUSE, ACT, OMISSION OR OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE, EXCEED THE FEES PAID OR PAYABLE FOR THE SERVICES ORDERED BY THE SUBMITTER OF SUCH ITEM(S).

APPLICABLE LAW

CLAIMANTS UNDER THIS GUARANTEE HEREBY WAIVE TRIAL BY JURY.

Severability

If any part of this Guarantee shall be declared invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, it shall not affect the validity of the balance of this Guarantee. In such circumstance, the provision declared invalid/unenforceable shall be re-drafted as closely to the original provision as allowed by law, so as to give effect to CSG and its affiliates’ intent.

Exclusive Venue for Disputes and Governing Law

All claims made under this Guarantee will be governed by the substantive law of the State of Florida, USA, without regard to its choice-of-law principles.

Language Discrepancies

Should there be any discrepancy between the English language version of this Guarantee and the version of the Guarantee as translated into another language, the English language version shall prevail, govern and control in all respects.

Revised: 11/02/2020