Civil Liability in Restoring, Cleaning and Intermediation Services for Grading in Trading Card Games.

In today’s market, collectible trading cards have acquired significant economic relevance, with an estimated global turnover in the tens of billions of dollars and dynamics that, in several respects, resemble those of financial assets. Within this scenario, increasingly established “technical” practices of cleaning and restoration, modelled on the conservational and aesthetic interventions typical of the art world, have emerged, together with grading procedures, meaning certification and assessment activities carried out by specialized private entities. This paper systematically reconstructs the profiles of civil liability that may arise from such technical interventions and from the intermediation services connected with the grading of cards. Drawing on the tools of Italian civil law and consumer-protection legislation, and offering conceptual considerations that may also inform reflection in other legal systems, the analysis delineates, by analogy, the scope of the legal obligations incumbent upon restorers and dealers. The growing complexity of the sector makes the careful regulation of professional relationships indispensable, so as to prevent, from the outset, both judicial and out-of-court disputes. Ultimately, this study aims to outline a normative framework capable of guiding both professionals and ordinary collectors in the informed management of the activities that characterize the modern market for collectible trading cards, in line with the general principles of the Italian legal system and, more broadly, with the regulatory approaches and best practices relevant across different jurisdictions.