Terms and conditions of sale

These Terms and Conditions were last updated on 1 January 2010.

General terms

All our items, new or used, are from our personal collection and are sold on an "as is" basis. Please read the item description and look at the pictures carefully before buying. If an item is used, we always try to highlight any flaws in as much detail as possible; sometimes we even exaggerate in describing a flaw, but we want to make sure that you know exactly what you are buying.

Acceptance of terms

By placing an order, you agree to accept the present terms and conditions. We have tried to avoid legal terminology and small print and everything is laid out in plain English. This page will be updated with any amendments to the terms and conditions as and when this is necessary.

V.A.T.

Please note that, since all our items are personal belongings (not purchased for the purpose of resale), V.A.T. is neither included in our prices nor charged separately at the time of sale.

Return policy

We are not registered as merchants and cannot therefore accept return of goods under the Distance Selling Regulations. In the unlikely event that an item is not correctly described and this creates a problem to you, we will accept it back within seven days of receipt and will refund its purchase price, the shipping expenses you paid and the cost of returning it to us. We always provide fair and accurate descriptions but "to err is human" (Alexander Pope, English writer, 1688-1744). If this ever happens, please contact us to work out a solution.

Special notes on DVD or VCD movies

Please click to read important information on DVD or VCD movies sold by Athens Collectibles. Information will open in a separate window and forms part of the present Terms and Conditions.

Sales to European Union countries

There is no restriction to the value of goods shipped from one European Union country to another and no V.A.T., import duty or any other tax is imposed on delivery. All our items are located in and shipped from Athens, Greece, a full member of the European Union.

Sales to non European Union countries

Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping expenses. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be before you buy an item.

These charges are normally collected by the delivering shipping company or when you pick the item up; please do not confuse them for additional shipping charges.

Parcels sent to a non European Union country must be accompanied by a CN22 or CN23 form declaring their value and contents. We do not mark merchandise values below value or mark items as "gifts" - international government regulations prohibit this practice.

Shipment of your order

We use Hellenic Post (the equivalent of USPS in USA and Royal Mail in the UK) for all our shipments. They provide an excellent and fast service with zero loss rate. We always ship your order by registered letter or parcel post as soon as cleared payment is received. Shipments are made daily from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays. You will be contacted by email immediately after shipment and will be provided with the parcel's unique identifier code for tracking the shipment.

We never ship by surface mail; the small difference in cost does not justify the delay of weeks or months in delivery.

We ship to Europe, North America, Australia and most other countries (click to see ). If shipping to your country is not provided, please and we shall consider adding your country to our list if possible.

If you live in the broader Athens area and prefer to collect your order in person, please select "Pay by Post" at checkout and make a note to that effect. We shall contact you to arrange details of collection and payment. Obviously, shipping expenses are not due in this case.

Packing

We try to reuse packing material as long as it's clean and not damaged; this is the least we can do to protect the environment. We encourage you to do the same, keep our box and use it again if it is in good condition.

Delivery

Please notify us by email when your order is safely received. It usually takes 3-4 working days for a destination in Europe and 4-7 working days for other countries, although we have seen faster deliveries. In any case, allow a couple of weeks and, if your order has not been received by then, let us know, so that we take appropriate action.

Under no circumstances sign for delivery of a parcel or envelope which seems damaged. Either return it to us as unacceptable or make a detailed description of the damage on the delivery note and place your signature below your comments (not above; your signature legally covers the preceding text). In either case, let us know what happened for action to be taken.

Combined shipment

Shipment of multiple items will be combined at checkout to reduce postal charges. Even so, the actual postage charges may be lower, in which case any excess postage costs paid, will be refunded to your credit card or PayPal account after shipment.

Postal insurance

All parcels are insured by Hellenic Post for a value of €35.00 at no extra cost. Additional postal insurance is optional at a cost of €2.60 plus 0.5% of the insured value. As an example, for an item insured for €100.00, insurance cost is €3.10. If you want to buy postal insurance to your order, select the product "Postal Insurance", define the amount of coverage required and add it to the cart.

Do not buy postal insurance if the total value of the items ordered exceeds €500. Your order will be fully covered by us free of charge with our compliments.

Shipping expenses

Our shipping expenses are based on the size and weight of the package and include a handling fee of €1. Unfortunately, shipping costs are beyond our control and, like in most countries, they are sometimes increased by the postal services to a higher than inflation level. As a matter of principle, we never make a profit from postage and, unless it's only a few cents, we will refund any excess charge collected if we pay less at the time of shipment. 

Parcels up to 2kg of weight are sent by letter post. Anything from 2kg up to 20kg has to be sent by parcel post. As parcel post rates are substantially higher, we may select to split your order for multiple items to two smaller parcels, if that allows for lower total shipping expenses. Any such saving will be refunded to you!

Shipping expenses are paid in full by us if the total value of items ordered exceeds €300.

Shipment tracking

Greece is a member of the Universal Postal Union (a United Nations organisation that coordinates postal policies among member nations) since 1 July 1875. Practically, all UN member states are also members of the UPU. UPU member countries have developed a common tracking system for postal objects which is based on a 13-digit unique identifier for letters or parcels. The first two digits define the type of postal service, the last two are the country's ISO code and the 9 digits in the middle are the item's number.

When we ship your order, we always provide the parcel's identifier in the form RE1234567890GR to you via email. Most, if not all, countries have a Track and Trace service on their web sites where you can enter the code and get information about your item. Please note that the level of information provided varies with each country. For example, USPS provides information from the moment a parcel enters the country until it's delivered to the recipient, Royal Mail provides information after a parcel is delivered and so on.

For your convenience, we provide links to a few postal services. If you live in one of these countries, click on your postal service provider's logo and track your parcel online. The ΕΛΤΑ (Hellenic Post) site will trace a parcel until it leaves the country. Please understand that we cannot be held responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information provided by these services.