The cheats guide to record grading

[leggo rocker]

I have always found the Goldmine record grading system a bit odd. After all, how can a record be described as VG (Very Good) if it has scratches. The word 'Good', with 'Very' in front of it suggests something close to new!

Worse still, the system is abused, especially by mail order or ebay sellers. And I have been on the wrong end of this too many times!

So I have written some a glossary of grading comments that come up in descriptions with explanations included.

All done in fun of course

Please add your grades and comments...


Still in shrink = Badly dished warped by storage in shrinking shrink wrap

Light Marks on vinyl = Someone has ground the record into the spindle repeatedly

No mention at all of writing on the labels or sleeves = The sleeves and labels are covered in graffiti

Light marks on vinyl = Vinyl has been sandpapered

Small seam split = Sleeve about to disintegrate entirely

Slight water mark on sleeve = Record recovered from a shipwreck

Please ask me any questions before bidding = The record is trashed, the sleeve is trashed, there's writing everywhere and it is also warped. I haven't said any of that in my description but I *have* given you a chance to ask. If you don't ask me to fully describe the faults before bidding then that's your tough luck!

Sorry no pictures, I don't have a scanner or a digital camera = The record is trashed, the sleeve is trashed, there's writing everywhere and it is also warped.

Some surface noise (JA pressing) = The vinyl is trashed but because it is JA pressing I have a get out of jail free card and can blame the pressing plant

No Paypal = I'm a complete crook and I want to make sure you have absolutely no chance of getting your money back when you realise I've sold you a trashed record

[Litelet]

Nice post Leggo...

I admit I first was fooled, thinking that a "Good Quality" record was of "good quality", terms that still should sound strange to mp3 users...

I then bought exclusively from Jamaica and thought it was the common graduation and re-used the grades when I sold them first... I was nearly killed by all buyers...

Finally, its not so easy to grade... Im getting used to, but sometimes you hesitate... Whats the effect on grading of a light starting hiss, a short light click, etc... And I personnally dont grade the label but the sound quality, as its the only important thing imo...

But Ill add some comments in your way:
for a dubplate, *still good for a dubplate* means really poor, no way to grade differently an acetate.
*soundman copy* means a recent made dubplate from mp3 recording....
*remember those records are 30 years old!* you'll be badly disappointed with grading...


In the other way, buyers can be pretty annoying too...

[Vinnie]

a gradingsystem is a convention and can be different from person to person some based on offcicial sites
if you have doubts you should ask for this
most sellers use something like this


M = MINT AS NEW / UNMARKED
EX = EXCELLENT SLIGHT USE / PLAYS FINE VG = VERY GOOD WELL USED / SOME NOISE
G = GOOD PLAYABLE / VERY NOISEY PLUS (+) & MINUS (-) TO FURTHER DEFINE GRADE.
CV = COLOURED VINYL
LD = LABEL DAMAGE
M/L = MISLABELLED
NOC = NO ORIGINAL CENTRE
NS = NO SLEEVE O/C = OFF CENTRE PRESS
PS = PICTURE SLEEVE WOL = WRITING ON LABEL
WOS = WRITING ON SLEEVE
WRP = WARP (NOT AFFECTING PLAY) ofcourse the line is very thin
for some an EX- is a VG+ and so on

the VG you describe sounds like a genuine VG héhé

i agree that there is some confusion when you not used to buy second hand records

[leggo rocker]

Vinnie, you've missed the point of this post completely!

It is a joke. As is some sellers grading!

I've bought 3,000 records in 3 years so I am pretty up to speed with what Goldmine grading is SUPPOSED to mean.

And yes, as an occasional seller I also know what Litelet means, but I always use extensive descriptions of my records to help buyers understand the true condition of the record.

[Bellyman]

"Original Record, never played" = it has been used for cleaning herb/serving meals/playing frisbee

[leggo rocker]

Alternative meaning for:

Soundman Copy = WOL + WOS (more graffiti than a New York Subway train) + Vinyl looks like it spent 10 years in a kiddies sandpit

and

Mint = The music is so awful the owner played it once, and once only and chucked it in the cupboard and has regretted the purchase ever since!

[Litelet]

More to come: *Surface Abrasion Negligible* or *still got shine* means look better than it sounds...

*Dont know much of this group* means chune was poor and needed no futher investigation...

*first time on ebay* speaks more of the seller than record...

*RECORDED in 1975* means its a repress

[leggo rocker]

RECORDED in 1975 means its a repress

Spot on with that one fella!