Posted April 21, 200916 yr A few questions as I'm sorting out some records I need to sell. 1/ Is there a Grading standard that everybody works to ? 2/ How do prices depreciate according to condition ? i.e. If a record is worth £100 M- then what is that record worth at Ex or VG+ , is there a sliding scale ? 3/ How do you grade a record , what is the criteria ? Help !! Cheers Swifty
April 21, 200916 yr The system I use, and the percentage of a Mint value each condition is worth, is as follows: MINT: Perfect. May well have been played once or twice, but there are no marks and no audible evidence of playing (100%) MINT-: As above, but maybe one or two very light marks, possibly caused by removing the record from the sleeve (90%) EX: Very few light marks, but no deterioration in sound (75%) VG+: Many light marks, and a small amount of surface noise, though this should not detract from the music. (55 - 60%) VG: Surface marks - played quite well with some surface noise and maybe one or two superficial scratches. (50%) GOOD: Lots of marks/scratches and noise, but will still play through with no jumps or sticks. Not a nice copy to listen to. (25%) FAIR / POOR: Don't even go there! Using your own judgement, plus and minus can be used between any of the grades. For example, a record in EX- condition is likely to be in better shape than one in VG+. Hope this helps. Gene Edited April 21, 200916 yr by Gene-R
April 21, 200916 yr Author The system I use, and the percentage of a Mint value each condition is worth, is as follows: MINT: Perfect. May well have been played once or twice, but there are no marks and no audible evidence of playing (100%) MINT-: As above, but maybe one or two very light marks, possibly caused by removing the record from the sleeve (90%) EX: Very few light marks, but no deterioration in sound (75%) VG+: Many light marks, and a small amount of surface noise, though this should not detract from the music. (55 - 60%) VG: Surface marks - played quite well with some surface noise and maybe one or two superficial scratches. (50%) GOOD: Lots of marks/scratches and noise, but will still play through with no jumps or sticks. Not a nice copy to listen to. (25%) FAIR / POOR: Don't even go there! Using your own judgement, plus and minus can be used between any of the grades. For example, a record in EX- condition is likely to be in better shape than one in VG+. Hope this helps. Gene Cheers Gene , very helpful mate , whilst on the subject is there any difference in UK & USA grading ( I wouldn't have thought there was but...) , the reason I ask is I have on quite a few occasions had records that were listed on ebay as Ex and were a bag of Shite Thanks again Swifty
April 21, 200916 yr ... is there any difference in UK & USA grading ( I wouldn't have thought there was but...) , the reason I ask is I have on quite a few occasions had records that were listed on ebay as Ex and were a bag of Shite Everyone may have different opinions on this, but I don't think EX is generally a U.S. grade at all, except for 78 rpm records. I know I don't use it, but use VG++ instead. As far as accurate or inaccurate grading, I've seen both - from all parts of the world.
April 21, 200916 yr Goldmine is the US standard - many eBay sellers use this. Go here: https://www.goldminemag.com/article/Collect...g_Your_Records/ Record Collector in the UK does similar I think. The main difference is that UK Northern colectors use Excellent. There can be confusion between US and UK grading systems - essentially VG+ can either be fairly close to Mint, or a total dog of a record Cheers Richard Edited April 21, 200916 yr by Premium Stuff
April 21, 200916 yr This is true - Excellent only appears to be used in the UK, whereas VG+ is the next step down from MINT- in the USA.
April 22, 200916 yr A few questions as I'm sorting out some records I need to sell. 1/ Is there a Grading standard YES that everybody works to ? NO There's a grading system called Goldmine that they use in the US and Record Collector have a system in the UK - give em a google 2/ How do prices depreciate according to condition ? i.e. If a record is worth £100 M- then what is that record worth at Ex or VG+ , is there a sliding scale ? An Ex record is worth about 20% less than a M- one, VG+ about half ..... ...... but it all depends on demand Working out the price of a M- is the hardest - a record is only worth whatever someone will pay for it. Ignore the books as they are massively inaccurate. 3/ How do you grade a record , what is the criteria ? The above grading systems (including Gene's) pretty much explain this but the rule is: Grade it as if you were receiving it in the post - would you be happy given the price you paid? If in doubt reduce the grade. Help !! Cheers Swifty HTH Cheers Paul
A few questions as I'm sorting out some records I need to sell.
1/ Is there a Grading standard that everybody works to ?
2/ How do prices depreciate according to condition ?
i.e. If a record is worth £100 M- then what is that record worth at Ex or VG+ , is there a sliding scale ?
3/ How do you grade a record , what is the criteria ?
Help !!
Cheers
Swifty