Mastro Auction Descriptions

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Posted By: boxingcardman

I've brought this up before but it bears reiterating given the debate at hand. All the auctioneers are doing business in California. California has a specific law barring alteration of cards without disclosure:

Business & Professions Code 21671.
(a) Any sports trading card that is altered or refurbished shall be accompanied by a certificate stating the exact work done to the sports trading card, the date the work was performed, the cost of that work, and the name, phone number, and address of the person who performed the work.
(b) Any person or agent thereof, who knowingly sells or trades a sports card in violation of subdivision (a), shall both:
(1) Refund to the buyer, the full amount paid for the altered or refurbished sports trading card or the full retail value of any nonmonetary consideration received in exchange for the altered or refurbished sports trading card, or both.
(2) Be liable to the buyer for a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation. Each card sold represents a separate and distinct violation.

What is an alteration is covered in section 21670(a): "Altered or refurbished" means repair work which has been performed to enhance the value of the sports trading card as a collectible. This work includes, but is not limited to, filling in holes, building new corners, ironing out creases, or touching up the pictures or borders on the sports trading card.

Doesn't matter if it passes SGC or PSA; the act of altering the card results in the disclosure requirement. If Mastro is "preparing" cards for grading by doing the things of which it is accused, it has to supply the required certificate to any California buyer of the card. Well, where are the certs?