How We Grade
Unless otherwise stated, every used vinyl and cover sleeve we sell is no worse than Goldmine's guideline for the grade of EXCELLENT. Except for a few minor condition issues, these records would be Near Mint. We strictly adhere to these standards below and tend to be very critical when we grade. When it says "slight", "light" or "barely", that's exactly what it is. Generally speaking, most listeners will not be bothered - or even notice "issues" that we categorize as "slight", "light", or "barely". We are very determined to sell you the best quality used LPs we can find. If there is anything that we feel doesn't measure up to the standards below or we feel is significant we'll note that in the product description so you are aware. If you should have any questions about an item that you are considering buying, please ask.
Overall Appearance: Shows slight signs of wear.
Vinyl: May have light scuffs or very light scratches that don't affect the listening experience or slight warps that don't affect the sound. Expect minor signs of handling such as telltale marks around the center hole (but hole is not misshapen).
* It is pretty much impossible for us to listen to every track on every album that we sell. What we do is listen to the most vulnerable tracks on the record to check for skips and pops. In the end, your satisfaction will be guaranteed.
Labels: Free of writing, stickers, or major blemishes
Outer Cover: May show slight signs of gloss loss. May show some minor seam wear, typically along the bottom. A cut-out marking may be present. Light ring wear or discoloration may be present. Corners may show some slight wear. We strive to remove all pricing stickers. We may leave original pricing stickers on because of the risk of damage to the cover if removal is attempted. In rare cases, we'll also leave a third party price sticker on for the same reason but only if the cover is in otherwise excellent condition.
Inside Sleeve: We'll provide the inner sleeve no matter what condition it is in. All vinyl is stored, packaged, and shipped in Diskeeper 2.0 Antistatic Record Sleeves. If the original inner sleeve is not included or if it excessively damaged it will be noted in the product description for that item.
Definitions: We strive to include condition notes for every LP we sell. Here are some definitions for terms we use:
- Surface Crease. You'll likely see this a lot. This is nothing more than a very minor one-sided crease mark, typically along the edge. Most of these aren't even noticeable unless the cover is held under a direct light at the right angle.
- One-sided Crease. This is a more noticeable crease than a surface crease but one that does not show through to the other side of cover. You likely won't see this too much unless the cover is in otherwise excellent condition.
- Dinged Corner. This is in reference to cover corners and indicates that the corner has lost is point. Sometimes dinged corners are rounded a bit and sometimes they produce a crease in the corner. These are noted where applicable.
- Ring Wear Shadow. This means that you can see a light outline or "shadow' of the vinyl record on at least some of the cover but the wear is not to the point where it coming through the cover.
- Light Ring Wear. This means that the ring wear is starting to come through the cover but not to the point where it greatly detracts from the overall appearance of the cover. We don't sell covers with excessive ring wear.
- Slit. This will be in reference to the inner sleeve and is nothing more than a clean opening made by the vinyl in the edge of the inner sleeve. This is not the same thing as a tear.
Overall Appearance: Shows slight signs of wear.
Vinyl: May have light scuffs or very light scratches that don't affect the listening experience or slight warps that don't affect the sound. Expect minor signs of handling such as telltale marks around the center hole (but hole is not misshapen).
* It is pretty much impossible for us to listen to every track on every album that we sell. What we do is listen to the most vulnerable tracks on the record to check for skips and pops. In the end, your satisfaction will be guaranteed.
Labels: Free of writing, stickers, or major blemishes
Outer Cover: May show slight signs of gloss loss. May show some minor seam wear, typically along the bottom. A cut-out marking may be present. Light ring wear or discoloration may be present. Corners may show some slight wear. We strive to remove all pricing stickers. We may leave original pricing stickers on because of the risk of damage to the cover if removal is attempted. In rare cases, we'll also leave a third party price sticker on for the same reason but only if the cover is in otherwise excellent condition.
Inside Sleeve: We'll provide the inner sleeve no matter what condition it is in. All vinyl is stored, packaged, and shipped in Diskeeper 2.0 Antistatic Record Sleeves. If the original inner sleeve is not included or if it excessively damaged it will be noted in the product description for that item.
Definitions: We strive to include condition notes for every LP we sell. Here are some definitions for terms we use:
- Surface Crease. You'll likely see this a lot. This is nothing more than a very minor one-sided crease mark, typically along the edge. Most of these aren't even noticeable unless the cover is held under a direct light at the right angle.
- One-sided Crease. This is a more noticeable crease than a surface crease but one that does not show through to the other side of cover. You likely won't see this too much unless the cover is in otherwise excellent condition.
- Dinged Corner. This is in reference to cover corners and indicates that the corner has lost is point. Sometimes dinged corners are rounded a bit and sometimes they produce a crease in the corner. These are noted where applicable.
- Ring Wear Shadow. This means that you can see a light outline or "shadow' of the vinyl record on at least some of the cover but the wear is not to the point where it coming through the cover.
- Light Ring Wear. This means that the ring wear is starting to come through the cover but not to the point where it greatly detracts from the overall appearance of the cover. We don't sell covers with excessive ring wear.
- Slit. This will be in reference to the inner sleeve and is nothing more than a clean opening made by the vinyl in the edge of the inner sleeve. This is not the same thing as a tear.