Restoration Service Agreement Template

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A free liability and scope-of-work agreement for professional card repair and restoration services, supplied as an editable Word document.

Adapted and published with permission from a template originally written by Matthew Musick of Shiny Asset Exchange LLC. Expanded and annotated by Card Conservation.

Far too many restorers take custody of other people's valuable cards with nothing in writing. This template exists to fix that. Download it, adapt it, make it yours.

📄 Card Restoration Service Agreement Template

Version 1.1 · September 2026 · Word (.docx), 9 pages, fully editable

Download the .docx →

Opens in Word, Google Docs, Pages, or LibreOffice. Bracketed fields are highlighted in yellow.

WARNING: This is not legal advice. Card Conservation is not a law firm, no attorney drafted or reviewed this document, and it has never been tested in court. It was written by working restorers based on practical experience, not legal training. Treat it as an organized checklist of what your contract should probably address, not as a contract you can safely use as-is. Have a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction review it before you use it with a real customer.

Why the full text is no longer on this page

Earlier versions of this page reproduced the whole agreement as wiki text alongside the download. Two copies drift apart, and a contract that drifts is worse than no contract. As of September 2026 the Word document is the only maintained copy. This page is just the front door.

Tip: Found an error, or did your attorney suggest a change? Email giovanni@pokemastercenter.com. Improvements from working restorers and their lawyers are what keep this template useful, and every accepted change goes into the next version for everyone.

What's in the document

Legal disclaimer and how-to-use notes – what the template is, what it isn't, and the steps to take before sending it to a customer.
Cover email – a short message that gets written acceptance before any work begins.
The agreement (19 sections) – services and scope, acknowledgment of risk, limitation of liability, no guarantee of grading or value, shipping, custody, hidden defects, authorization of methods, payment and lien, cancellation, release of claims, ownership and disclosure obligations, photography, electronic acceptance, governing law, severability, entire agreement, and acceptance.
Attorney flags – call-outs on the clauses most likely to vary by state or be unenforceable against consumers.
Schedule A: Scope of Work and Tier Authorization – new in v1.1, see below.

Schedule A: scope of work by tier

Added in version 1.1 on the advice of an attorney reviewing a working restorer's agreement. The problem it solves: "restoration" means different things to different people, and a customer who authorized a cold press has a real complaint if they get back a rebacked card.

Schedule A fixes the scope per card using the same three disclosure tiers printed on the Conservation Tech Sheet:

Tier	Name	What it means	Typical processes
I	Conservation	Non-additive. Nothing added or removed, no trace. Intended to be grader-safe.	Cold press, humidor, humidity stack, hydration and drying, tool work on bends
II	Restoration	Could leave traces under a loupe or UV. Disclose on sale.	Heat press, scratch reduction, solvent cleaning, gloss recovery
III	Alteration	Material added or removed, or surface chemically changed. High grading rejection risk. Disclose on sale.	Delamination repair, rosin press, rebacking, scratch fill, UV gloss, corner rebuild, recolor, trim or recut

For each card the customer initials the highest tier they authorize. The restorer may work at that tier or below and may not go higher without written approval. Each row also carries the card's Tech Sheet number, so the agreement, the authorization, and the completed tech sheet that ships back inside the toploader all point at the same card.

The agreement's Section 1 incorporates each card's tech sheet by reference, which makes the tech sheet the scope-of-work record for that card.

How to use it

Download the document and replace every yellow-highlighted [BRACKETED] field.
Delete any optional section that does not apply to your business, and renumber.
Have an attorney review the result.
Send the agreement and Schedule A before any work begins, not with the invoice.
Get written acceptance and the completed, initialed Schedule A back. Keep both.
Open a Conservation Tech Sheet for each card at intake and write its number on Schedule A.
Photograph every card on arrival, front and back, under consistent lighting, before you touch it.

A note on disclosure and ethics

This template protects the restorer. It does not, and cannot, authorize anyone to misrepresent a card. Restoration is legitimate work. Passing a restored card off as unrestored is not. The agreement places the disclosure obligation on the customer, and it should stay there. See Altered Flags, Common Mistakes, and Selling on eBay.

Attribution and reuse

Released to the card conservation community for free use and adaptation, including commercial use by working restorers. Attribution is appreciated but not required.

Originally drafted by Matthew Musick of Shiny Asset Exchange LLC, shared with the community with his permission. Expanded and annotated by Card Conservation.

Neither contributor is an attorney, and no attorney has reviewed this document. No warranty of any kind is provided.

Version history

v1.1, September 2026 – Added Schedule A (Scope of Work and Tier Authorization). Section 1 now defines scope by authorized tier and incorporates each card's Conservation Tech Sheet by reference. Word document becomes the only maintained copy.
v1.0, 2026 – Initial release as wiki text.