Condition drives more of a record's desirability than the pressing does, which is why collectors argue about grades and rarely about catalogue numbers.
What is the Goldmine grading scale?
It's the condition scale published by Goldmine magazine and adopted across the record trade on both sides of the Atlantic. Here's each grade in plain English.
Mint (M). Perfect. Never played, usually still sealed, no marks of any kind on the record or the sleeve. Careful sellers barely use it, because a record that has been out of its sleeve once isn't Mint any more.
Near Mint (NM, sometimes M-). Looks like it came off a shop rack this morning. No visible marks under a lamp, a glossy surface, a sleeve with no creases, no seam splits, no writing and no ring wear. It plays silently. Most records advertised as Mint are really Near Mint, and this is the realistic ceiling for anything second-hand.
Very Good Plus (VG+). Played and handled with care, and faintly showing it. Light scuffs that catch the light without catching the stylus, perhaps a sticker mark, perhaps the faintest ring wear. Playback is quiet, with the occasional tick in a lead-in or between tracks. This is where most honestly described used records sit. Some British sellers write Excellent (EX) for roughly the same thing, which is worth knowing when you're reading listings.
Very Good (VG). Clear signs of a life. Surface noise is audible, particularly in quiet passages, and there may be light groove wear from a heavier stylus. Scuffs and light scratches are visible. The sleeve may have ring wear, a seam split or a name on the front. It plays all the way through and it sounds like a used record. Goldmine's own price guides treat VG as around a quarter of the Near Mint figure, which tells you how much the trade weights condition.
Good and Good Plus (G, G+). It plays without skipping, and that's the promise. Constant surface noise, obvious groove wear, visible scratches, a sleeve that may be split, taped or written on. Worth buying when the record is scarce or when you want to hear it more than you want to admire it.
Fair (F) and Poor (P). Cracked, badly warped, skipping, or a sleeve in pieces. These are for filling a gap in a run you can't fill any other way.
Visual grading or play grading?
Visual grading judges the record by eye. Play grading means the seller listened to it. Both are legitimate, and a good listing says which one you're getting.
To grade visually, take the record out under a strong single light, hold it at a shallow angle and rotate it slowly so the light sweeps the grooves. Then do the fingernail test: run a nail gently across anything you can see. A mark you can see but not feel is a scuff and is often silent. A groove you can feel will probably tick. A scratch that runs across the grooves at a sharp angle is the kind that skips.
Clean the record before you judge it. Dust, fingerprints and old sleeve residue all look like damage under a lamp, and half of what people grade down for washes off. How to clean vinyl records covers the safe methods.
Play grading catches what the eye misses: a warp that only shows on the platter, inner-groove distortion, a pressing fault, a repeating tick. It also takes forty minutes per record, which is why most sellers grade visually and why a listing that says "plays NM" is telling you something real.
Do you grade the sleeve separately?
Yes, always, and you quote both grades together. VG+/VG means a Very Good Plus record in a Very Good sleeve.
On the sleeve, look for:
- Ring wear, the circular shadow the record wears into the card from inside.
- Seam splits, usually starting at the bottom edge or the open side. Note the length in centimetres.
- Spine wear, creasing and fading where it has stood on a shelf.
- Writing, price stickers, and their ghosts once peeled.
- Cut-out marks: a drilled hole, a clipped corner, or a saw notch, added by distributors to deleted stock. They're permanent and worth stating.
- Water damage and mould, which are the ones people forget to mention.
Original inners, hype stickers, posters and printed lyric sheets count too. If the record came with something, say whether it's still there.
Why do careful sellers grade conservatively?
Because the cost of a disappointed buyer is much higher than the difference between two grades. A return means postage twice, a refund, and a record that comes back worse than it left. Sellers who grade a shade under what they see get thanked instead of challenged, and a reputation built that way outlasts any single sale.
There's a second reason: rooms and eyes differ. Your daylight window, your lamp, your stylus and your tolerance for surface noise are all different from the next person's. Grading down a step absorbs that gap. When a listing seems cautious about its own record, that's usually a good sign rather than a warning.
How do you grade your own shelf?
Do it once, properly, while you're cataloguing, and you never have to do it again in a hurry.
Work in one sitting with a lamp, a carbon fibre brush and a stack of fresh poly-lined inner sleeves. For each record: brush it, hold it to the light, grade the record, grade the sleeve, note anything specific ("3cm seam split, bottom edge", "tick in track 2 side A"), then sleeve it and move on. A specific note is worth more than a letter grade in a year's time.
Grade honestly even though nobody's watching. The point is a shelf you can answer questions about: whether to replace a copy, what to say if you ever pass one on, and what your collection holds if you need to insure your record collection.
Cratemint holds that detail against each record: private notes for the grade and the specifics, what you paid, and a self-entered insurance value you set yourself. It also keeps which pressing you own, which matters when two copies of the same album grade differently. If you're separating those copies in the first place, first pressing vs reissue is the companion read.
Cratemint is free on iPhone. Every feature, for everyone.
Common questions
What does VG+ mean on a record?
Very Good Plus means a record that has been played and handled carefully and shows it faintly. Expect light scuffs that catch the light but not the stylus, maybe a small sticker mark or a hint of ring wear on the sleeve, and quiet playback with the odd tick between tracks. It's the grade most honestly described second-hand records land on.
What is the Goldmine grading scale?
It's the condition scale published by Goldmine magazine and used across the record trade. The grades run Mint, Near Mint, Very Good Plus, Very Good, Good and Good Plus, then Fair and Poor. Each grade describes both what the record looks like and how it plays, and the record and the sleeve are graded separately.
What is the difference between visual grading and play grading?
Visual grading judges a record by eye, under a strong light, without putting it on the platter. Play grading means the seller has listened to it and is grading what they heard. Play grading is more reliable and much slower, which is why most listings are visual and why a good listing tells you which one you're getting.
How do you grade a record sleeve?
Grade it on the same scale as the record and quote it separately, usually written as record/sleeve, so VG+/VG. Look for ring wear, seam splits along the bottom and sides, spine creasing, writing, water marks, and cut-out damage such as a drill hole or a clipped corner. A great record in a tired sleeve is common and worth saying plainly.
Should you grade your own collection?
It's worth doing once, slowly, as you catalogue. A grade written down at the shelf is the answer to every later question about insurance, a swap, or whether to replace a copy. Nobody else has to see it, and there's no wrong answer for records you're keeping.
Does a scratch always mean the record will skip?
No. A mark you can see but can't feel with a fingernail is usually a scuff and often silent. A groove you can feel is more likely to tick, and a scratch that crosses the grooves at a sharp angle is the kind that skips. Clean the record before you judge it, because a fingerprint and a scratch look similar under a lamp.
Is a scratched record still worth anything?
Sometimes. A scarce pressing in rough shape can still find a buyer, because scarcity forgives a lot. A common record with visible scratches is a player rather than a seller, and that isn't a failure: it plays, you own it, and the grade tells you what to expect from the needle. Condition weighs heavily either way, so grade honestly before you decide.