Cover in Excellent + condition. A little wear around the edges - minor scuffing and minor creasing. Writing on spine intact, Bright, colourful pictures and glossy cover. (see pictures)
Original inner sleeve in Excellent+ condition. Some minor marking in places. No spliting, folding or ringing. Images crisp and clear. (see pictures) We are selling off ad hoc a medium sized varied record collection built up over 50 years by several family members. Almost all were bought new and have all been treated well enough over the years.

 

We were professional collected book sellers (in Hay-on-Wye booktown) for near a decade thus know how to grade and also pack items where the value is often in the condition.

 

All records have been played through before listing – albeit with a fairly basic Technics SL-Q210 turntable which even with new needle isn’t exactly the highest fi. All records have been cleaned with ridiculously expensive Permaclean.

 

Having done ten years ago a comparison – playing  cd and lp versions of the same work through a decent hi fi, was astonished to hear the difference in that yes the vinyl is so much richer, and that would appear to remain the case over new digital formats.  Most records being sold however, unless stated as near mint or above, have had ordinary play, and crackle unavoidably creeps in with time. To our ears despite the crackles often there the extraordinary richness of vinyl still comes through making it a very different experience to that of the bit any byte. And if one has lived with the crackles on a particular record over the years they become an accepted part of it -  almost an old friend. 

 

Grading will be conservative, and if a record is sold that does indeed have any scratches beyond the hairline that only result in the ordinary softish crackle, these will be noted.

 

Specific grading standards

GRADINGS BASED ON THE RARE RECORD GUIDE GRADING SYSTEM AND ARE AS FOLLOWS:

MINT- The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition.  (mint items may have been played through only a few times, including now to ascertain condition for sale)

EXCELLENT
The record shows some signs of having been played,
but there is very little lessening in sound quality.
The vinyl may have some hairline surface scuffs which will be only slightly visible.The cover and packaging might have minor wear and/or creasing.

VERY GOOD
The record has obviously been played many times,
but displays no major deterioration in sound quality,
despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items,
is acceptable.

GOOD
The record has been played so much
that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated.
perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover suffers from folding, spine splits, discoloration, etc. 

FAIR-The record is still just playable but has not been cared for prop­erly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced

DISPATCH:

Post: £4.99 UK, £12.00 rest of world (a little more double albums). Dispatched within 5-10 days of cleared funds (said only in that we will be having a few days away from base in May and June). We pack carefully and dispatch in decent corrugated stiff card packaging. All records will be sent requiring signature on delivery and we will retain proof of post. Please note we do not accept liability if arrangements cannot be made by the purchaser to receive the item inbound from the postal service.

 

RETURNS-IF YOU RECEIVE AN ITEM THAT YOU WOULD CONSIDER NOT AS DESCRIBED IN MY LISTING THEN PLEASE GET IN TOUCH AND WE CAN SORT IT OUT. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT FIRST, ANY PROBLEMS CAN BE DEALT WITH WITH COMMUNICATION. RETURNS WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHIN 7 DAYS OF YOURSELF RECEIVING THE ITEM.