eBay consignment terms and conditions

1. Service overview

Lake Card Store Ltd(“we”, “us”) offers an eBay consignment service for trading cards and related items. Our role is as follows.

• List and sell your items via 10 day auctions and/or Buy It Now on our eBay account
• Cover all eBay selling fees, being final value fees and listing fees where applicable
• Handle shipping to buyers once items are sold and paid for

You (“you”, “the consignor”) retain ownership of your items until they are sold and paid for, or returned to you.

2. Eligibility and consignor requirements

We accept consignments from customers worldwide. To use our consignment service, you must meet all of the following.

• Send every consignment using a service that is handed to Royal Mail for final delivery within the UK
• Provide a valid postal address for returns
• Provide payout details we can pay into

We do not accept inbound consignments delivered by other couriers, for example Evri, DPD, Yodel or UPS. Shipments delivered by other couriers may be refused or returned at your expense. We reserve the right to reject consignments that do not meet these requirements.

International consignors

If you are consigning from outside the United Kingdom, the following are your responsibility.

• Any customs duties, taxes or import charges arising on the parcel you send us
• Choosing a shipping service that is handed over to Royal Mail for final delivery within the UK
• Any international bank transfer or payment fees that apply when we send your payout

3. Pricing and payouts, Standard tier

All consignors start on the Standard tier by default. The percentages below are what you receive from the final sale price of each item. We cover all eBay selling fees from our side.

Rates apply per item, based on the final sale price on eBay, excluding shipping paid by the buyer.

Bulk purchases of individually listed items

This applies to both Standard and VIP tiers. If we list multiple copies of the same item for you as individual units, each with its own per-unit price, whether as separate listings or a multi-quantity listing priced “each”, then each unit sold is treated as a separate item for payout and fee tier purposes, even if a buyer purchases many units in the same order, invoice or payment. The applicable tier percentage is based on the sale price per unit, excluding shipping, not the combined total paid in that transaction.

For example, 80 units listed at £150 each, where a buyer purchases 50 units in one checkout, the tier is based on £150 per unit and the percentage is applied 50 times, once per unit, not to the £7,500 combined transaction total.

Lot listings

Only listings that we create as a single lot, for example “10 cards sold together in one listing”, are treated as one item, and the applicable tier is based on the total lot sale price. For example, one listing created as a lot of ten cards that sells for £1,500 in a single sale is treated as one item at the £1,500 tier, not as ten separate £150 sales.

4. Pricing and payouts, VIP tier

We may, at our discretion, grant VIP tier status to consignors who have achieved £50,000 or more in paid sales through Lake Card Store within any rolling twelve month period. VIP status works as follows.

• Personal and non-transferable
• Applied only to items consigned under your own account with us
• Intended as lifetime status, but may be revoked if we believe it is being abused, for example submitting other people’s cards under your name

VIPs benefit from improved thresholds, so each of the higher bands begins at a lower sale price. VIP reaches 90% at £750 rather than £1,000, 93% at £1,750 rather than £2,000, and 95% at £2,500 rather than £3,000. There is no separate band above £9,999 on either tier. The £3 handling fee on sales under £50 still applies. Unless we have explicitly confirmed in writing that you are VIP, Standard tier rates apply. VIP rates apply only to sales made after VIP status is granted, and past sales are not recalculated.

The full comparison, and how to qualify, is on our VIP rates page.

5. Sale processing and payout timing

Lake Card Store Ltd retains the applicable consignment percentage, and any additional agreed fees, from the final sale price of each item.

When a buyer pays in full, we dispatch the item. Payouts are normally made within 10 to 14 working daysof the buyer’s payment being received. The payout period begins when the buyer has paid for the item, not when the item was originally sold, and it allows time for eBay’s 14 day returns period and for any payment issues.

Payout methods are bank transfer, PayPal and Wise.

You are responsible for providing accurate payment details. Any fees charged by your bank, PayPal or Wise are your responsibility, including any international transfer fees where you are paid outside the United Kingdom.

6. Listing titles

We write the titles for the items we list. Titles are how a listing is found on eBay, so we word them for search rather than to any other brief, and the title we choose cannot be changed once a listing is live. That applies especially to an auction that has already started.

If you want a particular title on an item, it has to reach us before that item is listed, written out in full and in a form we can copy and paste, so that we can use it exactly as you wrote it. Send it with your item details when you submit the consignment, or by email before the item is listed. Anything that arrives after we have listed cannot be applied.

eBay allows a maximum of 80 characters in a listing title, including spaces and punctuation, so a title you send us has to fit within that. We may amend a title you have sent, or choose one ourselves, in any of the following cases.

• It is longer than eBay allows
• It would breach eBay’s listing policies
• It does not accurately describe the item

7. Auction formats and schedule

We run two ten day eBay auctions every month, one in the middle of the month and one at the end. Items of all values can be included in either auction. Which of the two blocks an item goes into is at our discretion.

Mid-month auction

A full ten day auction ending in the middle of the month, open to items of all values.

End-of-month auction

A full ten day auction ending at the end of the month, equally open to items of all values. This auction may benefit from eBay promotion and additional visibility, including homepage and marketing support when available.

Unpaid or unsold auction items

If an auction item is unpaid or unsold, we will normally do the following.

• Re-list it in a future auction block, or
• Discuss alternatives with you if an item fails to sell after multiple attempts

We do not guarantee that any specific item will sell, or achieve a particular price.

8. Buy It Now listings

We also offer consignment via Buy It Now on our eBay store.

Setting prices

You are expected to set your own Buy It Now prices when submitting items for this service. If you do not set a price and we need to price the item for you, we charge a £1 pricing fee per item. We reserve the right to refuse obviously unrealistic prices that we believe would harm the effectiveness of the service, and may suggest using an auction instead.

Listing period, three months

Buy It Now items will be listed for up to 3 months. At the end of this period, if an item has not sold, you may choose any of the following.

• Pay a £3 relisting fee per item to have the item listed for a further three months, or
• Move the item into one of our auction blocks, at no extra fee for the move, or
• Have the item returned to you for a £3 handling fee per item plus postage and packaging

If you do not respond within a reasonable time after we contact you about unsold Buy It Now items, we reserve the right to move them into an appropriate auction, or to treat them as withdrawn and charge the £3 per item return fee plus postage and packaging if you later request them back.

9. Shipping of sold items

We handle shipping to buyers as follows, subject to change based on postal service availability.

• Items sold between £1 and £250, Royal Mail 48hr Tracked
• Items sold between £250 and £500, Royal Mail 24hr Tracked
• Items sold at £500 and above, Royal Mail Special Delivery Next Day or an equivalent insured service

The cost of postage is paid by the buyer on eBay and is not deducted from your payout. We may use equivalent services from other carriers for outgoing shipments at our discretion. Once items are handed to the shipping provider, we are not responsible for loss or delays caused by the carrier, but we will assist with claims where possible.

10. Ownership, risk and inbound shipments

Ownership

All items remain your property until they are sold and fully paid for, or returned to you, subject to all applicable fees being settled.

Shipping items to us

Your consignment must reach us with Royal Mail. From inside the United Kingdom that means posting it with Royal Mail. From outside the United Kingdom it means using a shipping service that is handed over to Royal Mail for final delivery within the UK. We do not accept inbound consignments delivered by other couriers. Parcels delivered by other couriers may be refused, returned, or accepted only at our absolute discretion, and any additional costs will be your responsibility.

You are responsible for packing your items securely and for choosing an appropriate tracked and insured Royal Mail service. We are not responsible for loss or damage while items are in transit to us. Responsibility begins only once we confirm receipt of your package.

Shipping address. Lake Card Store, PO Box 636, Sutton DO, Sutton, SM1 9WS

Insurance at our premises

Lake Card Store Ltd maintains insurance to cover your items while they are in our care against events such as fire, theft or similar incidents at our premises. We do not cover the following.

• Damage that occurs before the items arrive
• Damage caused by poor packaging, pre-existing condition issues, or grading outcomes
• Acts of God, for example natural disasters, where no party shall be held liable

If cards arrive damaged, Lake Card Store is not responsible for that damage.

11. Early returns and unsold items

Early return requests

If you ask for items to be withdrawn from consignment and returned to you, at any time, we charge a £3 handling fee per item, plus postage and packaging for the return. This applies whether the items have been listed yet or not.

We are not responsible for any items that are lost or damaged during transit when you have requested their return. While we will assist with any claims filed with the shipping provider, we are not liable for any shortfall if the carrier declines to reimburse the full market value.

Unsold auction items

Unsold auction items may be handled in any of these ways.

• Re-listed in future auctions, or
• Returned to you at your request for a £3 handling fee per item plus postage and packaging

Unsold Buy It Now items

As outlined above, unsold Buy It Now items at the end of the three month listing period can be relisted for a further three months for £3 per item, moved into auction with no extra fee for the move itself, or returned to you for a £3 handling fee per item plus postage and packaging. If you do not provide updated instructions within a reasonable time, we may, at our discretion, re-list items, move them to auction, or treat them as withdrawn, with the £3 per item return fee plus postage and packaging applying if you later request them back.

12. Prohibited bidding, shill bidding

You must not bid on your own consigned items, or arrange for friends, family members or other third parties to bid on your items for any of these purposes.

• Artificially increasing the price
• Avoiding a sale at a lower price, or
• Manipulating bidding activity in any way

If we have reasonable grounds to believe that you, or someone acting on your behalf, have bid on your own items, we may take any of these steps.

• The affected listings may be cancelled immediately
• Any current or future consignment items may be removed from sale, and
• You may be permanently barred from using Lake Card Store’s consignment services

We reserve the right to report suspected shill bidding to eBay and relevant authorities if required.

13. No guarantees

• We do not guarantee that any item will sell
• We do not guarantee any particular final sale price
• Market conditions, timing, competition, grading and other external factors can significantly affect results
• We also do not guarantee specific sale dates beyond the general auction schedules and listing periods described above

14. Changes to rates, processes and policies

Our fees, payout percentages, tiers, processes and policies may change at any time. The rates applicable to an item are those in effect at the time you submit the consignment, unless we agree otherwise in writing. Updated terms and conditions will be posted on our website. Continuing to consign items after changes are published constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

15. Agreement

By consigning through Lake Card Store Ltd, you confirm all of the following.

• You are the legal owner of the items or have full authority to consign them
• You meet the delivery requirements described above, including Royal Mail final delivery within the UK, and where you are consigning from outside the United Kingdom you accept the international responsibilities in section 2
• You have read, understood and agree to these terms, conditions and fees

If you have any questions about these terms and conditions, please contact us before submitting your items.