Grading : How We Grade Vinyl

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Grading : How We Grade Vinyl

We grade records using visual inspection unless otherwise noted. We note grading as Cover/Media in our listings. See the below details for the standard we use. The goal is that your expectations are met so that you are extremely satisfied with your purchase. If you receive a record from us and the grading is incorrect, please reach out ASAP so we can help! The quickest way to get in contact with us by clicking the message chat button on our website in the bottom right corner.

Clean Your Records

Other than our ULTRASONIC Clean albums, It's always a good idea to clean "new to you" records before playing them. We do clean some of our records but we just don't have the time and resources to clean everything. If it's been cleaned in our professional grade ultrasonic machine it will be noted in the listing, otherwise, when in doubt, you should just clean it. Your ears and stylus will thank you :)

Vinyl Media Grades

I've added some 1-10 scale numbers next to each grade to help give an idea of what each grade may mean. This is also to show how close the M, NM, EX, and VG+ grades are and how they are all very very nice. Our VG records are also really nice compared to other sellers. 

  • Mint (M) and Near Mint (NM) 10 out of 10. Pristine and appear unplayed.

  • Excellent (EX): 9.5+ out of 10. These records are gorgeous in appearance. This grade may tolerate a single tiny scuff or something extremely minor that doesn't take away from the overall pristine appearance.

  • Very Good Plus (VG+): 9 to 9.5 out of 10. Nearly pristine or nominally pristine. It's hard to talk about what might be on a VG+ record because anything you see on a VG+ record should be so minor that it is not worth mentioning. These records are still considered extremely close to perfect but may have the most minor and usually inaudible imperfections. Media should present very nicely to the eyes and play beautifully.

  • Very Good (VG): 8 to 8.5 out of 10. These are usually downgraded from VG+ due to a greater number of visual imperfections than is acceptable on the more discriminating VG+. These may (but usually don't) have some light surface noise at times or between tracks but it should not overpower the listening experience. Often times it's just cosmetic and they just didn't make the VG+ cutoff.

  • G+ or Very Good Minus (VG-): 6-7.9 out of 10. Surface noise can be expected but usually no skips should be present. These will not be trashed records like many may find on eBay or from other sellers. They are usually just not quite VG, normally from too many micro scratches or hairlines. Not gouged or deeply scratched. These should still be relatively safe to play on a mid level stylus.

Album Cover Grades

  • Mint or SEALED or NM: Visually perfect.
  • EX: Beautifully preserved, corners look awesome, cover looks pristine or virtually pristine. 
  • VG+: Most fall into this grade. This is a clean album cover that may present as vintage with some light corner wear or other light imperfections that don't take away too much from the overall presentation.
  • VG: We typically downgrade to VG when we see some splitting towards the edges, a bad wrinkle, or perhaps some excessive spine wear or someone other than the artist wrote their name extra large on the front.
  • VG- or G+: These may still look OK but they typically have full splits or a chewed up spine.