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PASJDMr. Allen promptly responded to my post by email and expressly gave me his permission to share his response, which was as follows:
"The boxes related to charging for Restoration/Grading/Authentication do in fact appear on the schedule A of our contracts. They are administrative boxes that notify accounting if outside costs are incurred for any of these charges whether they are charged back to the customer or incurred by MastroNet.
Regarding restoration charges....we use companies that provide restoration for a number of things. The two typical areas where these charges are incurred are in the areas of photo restoration and display piece restoration. In the case of photos it can include anything from simple cleaning grease pencil editing to repairing tears. In the case of photo repairs it can include anything from linen backing a poster to impainting areas of damage. I would safely say that 95% of the cost we incur on an annual basis relates to these two areas. To directly respond to what I think you are getting at, this work can also include work like we had done on the Keeler card where I believe surface stains and glue were removed from the surface of the card.
Regarding disclosure we disclose any restoration work that alters the surface or original appearance of the item. We do not disclose grease pencil cleaning, surface cleaning, flattening and other work that simply brings back the original appearance of the piece without adding to it. On the other hand work such as tear repair, impainting and other work that alters or adds to an item is always disclosed."