Sleevebay guide
Vinyl record grading: the eight grades, in plain words
Records are graded on the Goldmine scale: Mint (M), Near Mint (NM), Very Good Plus (VG+), Very Good (VG), Good Plus (G+), Good (G), Fair (F) and Poor (P). The record and its sleeve get a grade each, so a listing reads VG+/VG: the record first, the sleeve second.
The grades
The names are the ones shops and collectors use everywhere. The descriptions below are ours, and the pictures are drawn to show the idea, not a measurement: what counts is what you see under a lamp and hear on the turntable.
MMint
The record. Perfect, and almost certainly never played. Often still sealed. Use it sparingly: most sellers never call a record Mint.
The sleeve. No wear at all. Sharp corners, no creases, no marks, no stickers.
NMNear Mint
The record. Looks as if it has never been played. Glossy, no marks you can find, and it adds no noise of its own.
The sleeve. Looks new but for the faintest signs of handling. No ring wear, no splits, no writing.
VG+Very Good Plus
The record. Clearly well looked after. A few faint hairlines or scuffs that show under a lamp but that you don’t hear, or only just.
The sleeve. Slight wear: a soft corner, a faint ring from the record, a small crease, or a mark where a price sticker came off.
VGVery Good
The record. Played and enjoyed. Light scratches you can feel with a fingertip, and some crackle in quiet passages and between tracks, but the music stays on top.
The sleeve. Obvious wear: ring wear, a short split in a seam, a little tape, or a name written on it.
G+Good Plus
The record. Heavily played. Steady surface noise and plenty of scratches, the shine mostly gone, but it plays right through without skipping.
The sleeve. Worn all round: longer splits, heavy ring wear, stains or stickers, though it’s still in one piece.
GGood
The record. Rough. The noise competes with the music all the way and the grooves look grey and tired, though it still gets to the end of each side.
The sleeve. Split along two or more edges, torn or heavily marked. It still holds the record.
FFair
The record. Damaged. It may skip or repeat, or a warp upsets the playing. Worth keeping only if it’s rare, or until a better copy turns up.
The sleeve. Badly torn, water damaged or partly missing.
PPoor
The record. It won’t play properly: cracked, badly warped or skipping throughout.
The sleeve. Barely a sleeve any more: in pieces or mostly gone.
How to grade a record yourself
Hold the record by its edges under one bright lamp and tilt it slowly. Faint hairlines that you can see but not feel are normal on anything that has been played, and belong to VG+. If a fingertip (not a nail) catches on a scratch, it will probably be heard, and the record is VG at best.
Look at the shine. A record that has been played a great deal goes grey and dull in the grooves even without scratches. Check the label for spindle marks round the hole: lots of them means lots of plays.
Lay it on a flat surface, or watch the edge as it turns, to spot a warp. A slight wave that the stylus rides is a note in the description; one that throws the arm about is Fair.
Then play it, at least the start of each side and the quiet passages. A record that looks rough can play well, and a clean-looking one can crackle. If the two disagree, describe both.
Grade the sleeve separately
The sleeve tells its own story: ring wear (the record’s outline rubbed into the picture), seam splits along the top or bottom edge, soft or bent corners, writing, stickers, tape and water marks. Check the spine can still be read, and whether the inner sleeve, lyric sheet or poster that came with it is there.
Write the pair as record/sleeve. NM/VG+ is a clean record in a sleeve with a little wear; VG/G+ is a played record in a tired sleeve.
When you are torn, go lower
Most arguments between buyers and sellers are about a grade that was one step too kind. If you can’t decide between two grades, use the lower one and say why in a note: "VG+, light hairlines, plays with a little crackle between tracks". A plain description is worth more than a hopeful grade.
In Sleevebay each record has a grade for the disc and one for the sleeve, the guide a tap away, and "Help me choose": five questions about how it looks and plays that suggest a grade.
Questions
What does VG+ mean on a record?
Very Good Plus: a record that has clearly been looked after. It may show a few faint hairlines or scuffs under a lamp, but you barely hear them, if at all. For most collectors VG+ is the everyday "nice copy".
Is a sealed record Mint?
Not automatically. The record inside can be warped or pressed off-centre, and nobody can check without opening it. Describe it as sealed and let that speak for itself.
Is there a grade between NM and VG+?
Some sellers write EX (Excellent) or M- for it. The Goldmine scale itself goes straight from Near Mint to Very Good Plus, and that is the scale used here.
Does the sleeve grade matter?
Yes: it is half of what you are buying. A record in a clean sleeve is worth more than the same record in a split one, and for some records the sleeve, poster or insert is the rare part.