Submission Terms & Conditions

1.1This document governs everything relating to the submission of Items to the Company for examination, Authentication, Grading, custody, or any related service, together with the resulting matters of shipping, loss, damage, delay, compensation, fees, and complaints.

1.2The Customer’s submission of any Submission, or its confirmation by any approved means, constitutes express and unconditional acceptance of this document and of the General Terms.

1.3The definitions in Article 2 of the General Terms apply to this document. In addition, the following terms have the meanings set out beside them:

1.3.1Commencement of Service: the moment at which the Company actually receives the Item through the Authorized Dealer and begins any technical or administrative procedure relating to it, whichever is earlier.

1.3.2Business Day: any day from Sunday to Thursday, excluding official holidays in the Arab Republic of Egypt.

1.3.3Calendar Day: any day in the Gregorian calendar, including holidays.

1.3.4Examination Result: the Professional Opinion issued by the Company regarding the Item, whether it includes a grade, a description, or a refusal to grade.

1.4Headings in this document are for convenience only and do not affect the interpretation of its provisions.

2.1This document is read together with the General Terms and the Company’s other documents, and the Order of Precedence set out in Article 4 of the General Terms applies.

2.2In the event of a conflict between this document and any other document regarding the submission, examination, Authentication, Grading, custody, shipping, loss, damage, or compensation of Items, the provisions of this document prevail, except for personal-data matters governed by the Privacy Policy, and except for the mandatory rules of Egyptian law.

3.1No Item may be submitted without a valid Membership with the Company. Membership matters are governed by the Membership Terms & Conditions.

3.2The Customer must maintain a valid Membership throughout the execution of the Submission. If the Membership expires or is suspended before completion of the service, the Company may suspend the service until the Membership status is resolved, without liability for any resulting delay.

3.3Membership does not create a separate legal personality, and the party dealing with the Company remains a “Customer” as defined in the General Terms.

4.1All Items are received and delivered exclusively through an Authorized Dealer. There is no direct dealing between the Customer and the Company regarding the receipt or delivery of Items.

4.2The Company’s Authorized Dealers are listed on the Dealers page of the Website, and any dealer not listed on that page is not considered authorized.

4.3The Authorized Dealer is an independent party within the scope of the role assigned to it, and the Company is not liable for any act of the Authorized Dealer outside the scope of its authorization or the Company’s instructions, including any separate agreement between the Customer and the dealer.

4.4Custody of the Item passes between the Customer and the Authorized Dealer in accordance with the approved receipt and delivery procedures, and the signature or acknowledgment of receipt with the dealer constitutes proof of the fact of receipt.

4.5The Company bears no responsibility for the Item before the moment of its actual receipt from the Authorized Dealer, nor after its delivery to the Authorized Dealer for return to the Customer.

5.1The Customer represents and warrants, upon submitting any Item and throughout the service period, that:

5.1.1The Customer is the lawful owner of the Item or is duly and sufficiently authorized by its owner to submit it and receive its result.

5.1.2The Customer’s possession of and dealing with the Item are lawful and do not violate any applicable law.

5.1.3All data provided regarding the Item, its source, and its condition is accurate, complete, and not misleading.

5.1.4The Item is not subject to any third-party right, pledge, attachment, dispute, or claim.

5.1.5The Customer has not submitted the Item for the purpose of money laundering, concealing an unlawful source, or circumventing any law.

5.2The Customer alone bears full legal responsibility towards any authority — including the authorities competent for the protection of antiquities and any regulatory or judicial body — for any violation relating to the Item, its possession, its source, or its submission, and the Company is released from any responsibility in this regard.

5.3The Company operates in the field of examining, grading, and authenticating Collectibles in accordance with its declared activity and internal procedures. It receives the Item as a bailment (in trust) for the purpose of examination, Grading, Authentication, or custody only, without acquiring title to it, and undertakes to return it to its owner or their legal representative through the Authorized Dealer upon completion of the service. The Company’s receipt of the Item is not an acknowledgment of the lawfulness of the Customer’s possession of it, nor proof of the Customer’s ownership of it.

5.4The Customer indemnifies the Company against any damage, claim, fine, or expense incurred by the Company due to the Customer’s breach of any of its representations or warranties in this Article, within the limits of actual damage and in accordance with the law.

6.1The Company receives the Item as a bailment (in trust) for the specified service purpose only, and exercises the care of a prudent custodian over its own property in safeguarding it.

6.2The Company’s receipt of the Item as a bailment does not constitute insurance of it, and does not create any guarantee obligation exceeding the limits of liability set out in this document.

6.3The Company undertakes to return the same Item received. Where multiple Items are in a single Submission, they are returned as they are, without obligation to separate or rearrange them outside the scope of the agreed service.

6.4The Company may engage specialized technical parties to the extent required by the service, while its custody obligation remains in force while the Item is in its actual custody.

7.1Grading and Authentication constitute a technical Professional Opinion issued by the Company based on its examination, standards, expertise, and the means available to it at the time of examination, and do not constitute an absolute, final, or non-reviewable guarantee.

7.2Professional opinions may differ between different grading bodies or between examiners, and a differing opinion of another body or examiner is not in itself an error on the part of the Company.

7.3The Certificate or Grade is not proof of ownership and does not create or transfer any right of ownership or real right in the Item.

7.4The Company may develop its technical standards from time to time, and a subsequent change of standards does not create any obligation to re-grade previously examined Items free of charge or to refund fees.

7.5The Company does not guarantee the acceptance by any other party — market, auction, or buyer — of its result, Slab, or Certificate.

8.1The Company’s service is limited to the technical evaluation of the Item’s condition and Grade. The Company does not issue any estimate of monetary value, market price, sale price, or insurance value for the Item.

8.2The Grade awarded does not guarantee any market value, sale price, profitability, or liquidity, and neither the Customer nor any third party may rely on it in this regard before the Company.

8.3Any figure stated as a “Declared Value” is a figure determined by the Customer alone for the purposes set out in Article 11, and is neither issued by nor attributable to the Company.

9.1The Examination Result may be issued in the form of a grade, a description, or one of the following classifications or their equivalent in accordance with the Company’s declared standards:

9.1.1Not Genuine — the Item is not genuine in the Company’s assessment.

9.1.2Authenticity Unverifiable — the Company was unable to verify the authenticity of the Item by the available means.

9.1.3Details — the Item is genuine but bears defects or interventions affecting its full evaluation.

9.1.4No Grade — a grade could not be awarded for technical reasons.

9.1.5Not Encapsulated — the Item was not placed in a Slab for technical reasons or due to its nature.

9.2If the Company determines during examination that the Item is counterfeit, not authenticable, or subject to doubt, it has the right to record this in its result or to refrain from issuing a Certificate, while notifying the Customer through the Authorized Dealer.

9.3The Company bears no liability for a negative result arising from the nature of the Item itself, and fees are fully due for the service performed in accordance with Article 14, as consideration for the examination work and not for a particular result.

9.4The Company is not obligated to provide a detailed justification for each result that discloses its internal technical methodology, without prejudice to the Customer’s right to submit a review request in accordance with Article 22.

10.1The Company does not issue any opinion as to whether the Item is subject to the antiquities protection law or any special law; its evaluation is purely technical.

10.2The Customer acknowledges that the responsibility to verify the lawfulness of the possession and submission of the Item lies with the Customer alone, and that the Company receives it as a bailment and returns it after examination.

10.3If it becomes clearly apparent to the Company that an Item is the subject of clear criminal suspicion, Article 20 applies.

11.1The Customer alone determines the Declared Value of each Item upon submission, which is used solely for the purposes of calculating shipping and determining the cap on the Company’s liability, and does not constitute a valuation or acknowledgment by the Company of the Item’s value.

11.2The maximum liability of the Company for any loss or damage to any Item is limited to the Declared Value of that specific Item, whatever the cause or basis of liability, whether contractual or tortious.

11.3The Company’s aggregate liability for any Submission shall not exceed the total Declared Values of the Items in that Submission.

11.4If the Customer does not specify a Declared Value, or specifies an exaggerated value without basis, the Company may adopt a reasonable minimum value in accordance with its declared policy, without prejudice to the Customer’s legally established rights.

11.5This Article is not interpreted in a manner that excludes the Company’s liability for fraud or gross negligence, or that contravenes any mandatory right established for the consumer.

12.1The Customer alone bears the costs and risks of shipping in both directions, and alone bears the insurance of the Item during transport, whether through the Authorized Dealer or any carrier.

12.2The Company is not liable for any loss, damage, or delay occurring during shipping or in the custody of the shipping company or the Authorized Dealer before the Company’s actual receipt of the Item or after its delivery.

12.3The Company’s liability for the Item begins from the moment of its actual receipt and ends upon its delivery through the Authorized Dealer.

12.4The Customer bears responsibility for the adequacy and suitability of the Item’s packaging for its nature during transport to the Authorized Dealer.

13.1The Company endeavors to complete the service within a maximum period of ninety (90) Business Days from the date of Commencement of Service, which is an estimated period that is not absolutely guaranteed.

13.2The period may be affected by the nature of the Item, the volume of submissions, the Add-On Services requested, the need for re-examination, or circumstances beyond the Company’s control, and the Company notifies the Customer of any anticipated material extension.

13.3No right to compensation arises from exceeding the estimated period, unless it results from the Company’s gross negligence, and within the limit of liability set out in Article 11.

14.1Fees include: submission fees, Add-On Service fees, and any minimum order amount in accordance with the Company’s declared policy. Membership fees are governed by the Membership Terms & Conditions.

14.2A minimum order amount applies in accordance with the policy declared on the Website. Value Added Tax is added at the rate prescribed by law to the fees subject to it.

14.3Fees are calculated in accordance with the tariff declared at the time of confirmation of the Submission, and any subsequent amendment to the tariff does not apply to Submissions confirmed before it.

14.4Refund of Fees. After confirmation of the Submission and Commencement of Service, the fees paid are not refunded in whole or in part, including in cases of a negative result, non-issuance of a Certificate, or a result of Not Genuine, Authenticity Unverifiable, Details, No Grade, or Not Encapsulated, because the fees are consideration for the examination, authentication, and technical and administrative work performed.

14.5By way of exception to the foregoing, fees may be refunded in whole or in part in cases determined by the Company or required by law, including by way of example and not limitation: duplicate payment, fees collected in error, failure to commence the service for a reason attributable to the Company, or inability to provide the service for reasons not attributable to the Customer, in a manner not contravening the provisions of Egyptian law and consumer protection rules.

14.6This Article does not prejudice any mandatory right established for the consumer under the Consumer Protection Law.

15.1Payment is made in cash or by offline bank transfers in coordination with the Authorized Dealer. The Company does not deal with any direct electronic payment method on the Website.

15.2The Company does not commence performance of the service before confirmation of full payment of the due fees, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

15.3The Customer bears any bank transfer fees or commissions, and amounts due are calculated in Egyptian Pounds unless otherwise agreed.

15.4The Company may withhold the Item or the Certificate until full settlement of the dues relating to the Submission, without this constituting a breach on its part.

16.1The Slab and the Label remain the intellectual and physical property of the Company in their design and elements, and tampering with, opening, reusing, or imitating them is prohibited.

16.2Opening or breaking the Slab voids any evidentiary value of the Certificate associated with it, and the Company bears no liability for an Item removed from its Slab or for a result attributed to an Item outside its Slab.

16.3Deterioration or fading of the Slab over time or due to poor custody by the Customer is not a defect in the service.

17.1The Customer agrees to the Company’s right to photograph the Items and to use their images and technical data for the purposes of study, documentation, archiving, advertising, marketing, Website content, and Population Reports, without consideration and without the need for additional permission.

17.2This permission is limited to images of the Item and its technical data, and does not extend to the Customer’s personal data, which is processed in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

17.3The trademark and the name IGA, the Certificates, the Slabs, the Labels, the Population Reports, and their designs remain the exclusive rights of the Company, and the Customer acquires no right in respect of them by using the service.

18.1Some Item and Certificate data — such as the Certificate Number, the technical description, and the Grade — may appear as Public Verification Data on the Verification Page.

18.2The processing of any personal data associated with this is governed by the Privacy Policy, which prevails in everything relating to personal data.

19.1The forgery, imitation, or misuse of Certificates or their numbers, Slabs, Labels, or the name IGA or its mark, or the attribution of an Item to a Certificate that does not belong to it, or the use of Verification Data in a misleading manner, is strictly prohibited.

19.2The Company has the right to take every legal action against any misuse and to claim full compensation for the actual damage from the violator.

20.1If it becomes clearly apparent to the Company that an Item is the subject of clear criminal suspicion, it has the right to refrain from returning it and to take what is legally necessary, including notifying the competent authorities, without being liable towards the Customer for this.

20.2This Article is not interpreted as an obligation on the Company to investigate or verify the lawfulness of Items; that responsibility lies with the Customer alone in accordance with Article 5.

21.1Notice of Readiness for Collection. The Company notifies the Customer or the Authorized Dealer, as the case may be, upon completion of the service and readiness of the Item or Submission for collection.

21.2Collection Period. The Customer or their representative must collect the Item or Submission through the Authorized Dealer within thirty (30) Calendar Days from the date of being notified of readiness for collection, unless the Company specifies another period in writing.

21.3Non-Collection Within the Period. If the Item or Submission is not collected within the specified period, the Company or the Authorized Dealer may notify the Customer again through its registered communication channels, and the Customer remains responsible for any storage fees, administrative expenses, or shipping or re-shipping expenses declared by the Company or agreed in writing.

21.4Continued Non-Collection. If non-collection of the Item or Submission continues for a period exceeding ninety (90) Calendar Days from the date of the first notice of readiness for collection, and after a final notice to the Customer, the Company has the right to take the appropriate legal actions to preserve its rights and recover its dues, including continued custody of the Item at the Customer’s expense, depositing it, or dealing with it in accordance with the procedures permitted by law.

21.5No Transfer of Ownership. Non-collection of the Item does not result in the transfer of its ownership to the Company, and the Company’s retention of it after completion of the service is not an acceptance of bearing additional risks exceeding the limits of liability set out in this document.

21.6Customer’s Responsibility After Readiness. After the Customer is notified of the Item’s readiness for collection, the Customer bears any delay, expenses, or additional risks resulting from non-collection by the specified date, unless it is proven that the damage resulted from fraud or gross negligence on the part of the Company.

22.1Period for Submitting a Complaint. The Customer must examine the Item, Slab, Label, or Certificate data immediately upon collection, and submit any complaint or observation within fourteen (14) Calendar Days from the date of collection or the appearance of the cause of complaint, whichever is earlier, without prejudice to any legally established rights.

22.2Method of Submitting a Complaint. A complaint is submitted through the official communication channels approved by the Company, and must include the Submission number, Certificate Number, or Verification Number, the Customer’s data, a clear description of the complaint, and any supporting images or documents.

22.3Examination of the Complaint and Response. The Company examines the complaint and responds to it within a reasonable period not exceeding twenty-one (21) Calendar Days from the date of receiving all data and documents necessary for its examination, unless the nature of the complaint requires a longer period or the law prescribes another period.

22.4Request to Re-Examine the Item. The Company may, if it sees a necessity for this, request the resubmission of the Item through the Authorized Dealer to examine or verify the complaint, and the Company is not obligated to take any technical action before actually receiving the Item if physical examination is necessary.

22.5Complaints Relating to the Professional Opinion. The disagreement of the Customer or any third party with the Grade, the Authentication result, or the Professional Opinion issued by the Company is not in itself an acceptable complaint, unless the request relates to a clear material, clerical, or technical error, or is submitted in accordance with the grade-review or authenticity-review procedures approved by the Company.

22.6Result Review Procedure. The Customer may request a review of the result in accordance with the procedure declared by the Company and against the fees prescribed for it. The Item is returned for this purpose through the Authorized Dealer, and a change of the result after review is not an acknowledgment of a prior error.

22.7Material or Clerical Errors. If a material or clerical error is established in the Certificate data, the Label, or the Verification Page, the Company has the right to correct it in the manner it deems appropriate, including issuing a replacement Label or amending the Verification Data, without this being an acknowledgment of any error in the Professional Opinion or the Grade.

22.8No Suspension of Financial Obligations. Submitting a complaint does not suspend the Customer’s obligation to pay any due fees or expenses, unless the Company decides otherwise in writing or the law requires otherwise.

22.9No Prejudice to Legal Rights. No provision in this Article prejudices the Customer’s rights established under the applicable Egyptian laws, including the mandatory rules relating to consumer protection and the right to resort to the competent authorities.

23.1The service is provided within the limits of the technical Professional Opinion, and the Company is released from any implied or express guarantee beyond that, within the limits permitted by law.

23.2The Company bears no indirect or consequential damages, including lost profit, moral loss, loss of opportunity, or loss of an expected sale.

23.3All limitations of liability in this document are subject to the Declared Value cap set out in Article 11.

23.4No provision in this document is interpreted in a manner that excludes the Company’s liability for fraud, gross negligence, death, or bodily injury resulting from its fault, or that contravenes the mandatory rights established for the consumer by law.

24.1The Company is not liable for any breach or delay arising from circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including natural disasters, fires, epidemics, wars, unrest, decisions of authorities, and interruption of electricity, communications, or internet services.

24.2The Company notifies the Customer of the force majeure event to the extent possible, and the execution periods are extended by a period equivalent to the duration of the impediment.

24.3If the force majeure continues for a period that renders performance of the service impossible, either party may terminate the Submission, and dues are settled for the work actually performed.

25.1The Customer may not assign its rights or obligations under this document to a third party without the Company’s prior written consent.

25.2The Company’s failure to exercise any right, or its delay in doing so, does not constitute a waiver of it, and does not prevent its subsequent exercise.

25.3If any provision of this document is held void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in force, and the void provision is replaced with the nearest valid provision achieving the same purpose within the limits of the law.

26.1All notices are made by the approved electronic means set out in the General Terms: the official email, the contact form, and the support channels within the dashboard.

26.2A notice sent by the Company is deemed effective on the first Business Day following its dispatch, and the Customer undertakes to keep its contact data updated and to review it regularly.

26.3No notice or correspondence made through unofficial channels is recognized.

27.1The Company may amend this document, and the amendment takes effect from the date of its publication on the Website.

27.2The amendment does not affect Submissions confirmed before its effective date, which remain subject to the version in force at the time of their confirmation.

27.3The Customer’s continued use of the service after the amendment takes effect constitutes acceptance of it in respect of subsequent Submissions.

28.1This document is issued in both Arabic and English to facilitate review.

28.2In the event of any difference in interpretation between the two texts, the Arabic text prevails as the authoritative text, consistent with the document’s subjection to Egyptian law and the jurisdiction of the courts of Cairo.

29.1This document, read together with the Company’s other documents, represents the entire agreement between the parties regarding the submission of Items, and supersedes any prior oral or written understandings or promises that conflict with it.

30.1Everything contained in this document is subject to and interpreted in accordance with Egyptian law.

30.2The courts of Cairo have exclusive jurisdiction to hear any dispute arising from or relating to this document, without prejudice to the Customer’s right as a consumer to resort to the authorities competent for consumer protection in accordance with the law, and in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the General Terms.