My Grading Scale: Factory Sealed / Excellent / VG+ / VG / VG-….

Factory-Sealed (not applicable to 78's): A tightly factory-sealed record (not a reseal, not a cut-out) that to all appearances has never been played.  It might have a few, very minor breaks in the seal and possibly some incredibly minor edge & shelf wear, but it should essentially look like new old store stock.

Excellent: Virtually flawless, stunningly beautiful, as close to perfect as it gets.  The vinyl might have 1 or 2 exceptionally minor scuffs.  This record should sound absolutely perfect.  An excellent cover will look virtually flawless.  The only flaws it might show are some incredibly minor edge wear.

VG+: This record will still have a very rich luster and will still be in beautiful shape. It is essentially the same as an Excellent record, but with a few more very light surface scuffs.  It will not have any scratches whatsoever.  It will sound very very close to absolutely perfect. A VG+ record will have anywhere from none to all of the following flaws: It might have very light crackles in between tracks.  If any other crackles are heard, the vinyl is VG or worse.  You might hear 1 to 4 very light pops during the duration of an LP side and 1 to 2 very light pops during the duration of a 45rpm or 78rpm side. Covers will still be in beautiful shape and might have some very minor edge & ring wear and some incredibly minor crease & seam wear (with no splits whatsoever).  If the cover has any more wear beyond these limited, minor defects, it is VG or worse.

VG: This is where my grading gets especially conservative.  I believe VG records should still have a rich luster, but there might be a very slight loss to the original luster.  They will show a fair amount of very light surface scuffs and possibly some incredibly light scratches.  VG records will still sound very very nice, but you might hear 5 to 10 light pops during the duration of a record’s side.  And you might hear some very light crackles during quiet musical passages.  VG records should not have groove wear (these cases are VG- or worse).  The surface noise on a VG record should be relatively minimal and infrequent.  The full dynamics of the music will not be compromised by this relatively light wear.  VG covers will have a little bit more wear than a VG+ cover but will still look very nice.  They might show some minor seam-splits (but not completely separated), some very small writing in ball-point pen, a slight loss of color, very minor sticker residue or possibly some fairly minor crease & ring wear.

VG-:  Surface wear on a VG- record will be more apparent.  It will show a fair amount of fairly light scratches and scuffs, but should still retain some luster.  It might show some fairly minor groove wear but nothing extreme.  A VG- record will still have strong sound dynamics, but a considerable amount of pops and/or crackles will be heard in the background of the sound.  This audible wear will be somewhat frequent but not constant.  (If the surface noise is truly constant, it is G+ or G, as long as there are no skips or jumps.)  A VG- record must still be a very enjoyable listen and is essentially an “acceptable” copy.  A VG- cover might have a full-seam split, a fairly minor tear from an old price-tag, a considerable amount of seam, crease or ring wear, etc.  There might be some writing on it in large black marker, but it must not be significantly obtrusive.  It might have some minor seam repairs with clear tape.  A VG- record will have a fair amount of wear, yet will still look pretty nice, or “acceptable” overall.

I rarely will list anything below the VG- grade.  If I do, the record will be very rare, and I will explain the condition defects in full detail.