GRADING STANDARDS

FINE

Turn back the clock 50 years and pick it up at the news-stand. Mint. There might be a little darkening due to time. I rarely use this grade as there are very few Mint condition paperbacks.

ABOUT FINE

These might have a couple of very minor flaws or blemishes such as a little rubbing, a tiny edge bump, interior news-stand stamp, slight time darkening. This is pretty much my top grade.

VG++ (Very Good to Fine)

Closer to AF than VG.These might have a couple of minor flaws such as minor rubbing, a very small crease or two, tiny corner or edge bump, slight fading, tiny color chip.

VG+ (Very Good Plus)

Closer to VG than AF but still a well preserved copy. Might have a light reading crease, couple of very slight cover creases, light spine wear or flaking, name written inside cover, lamination beginning to lift at edges, news-stand date stamp or letter, couple small edge chips. No major defects.

VG (Very Good)

This is your average used condition - used but not abused. It could be one big defect such as a short spine split or a moderate cover crease, or 3 or 4 smaller defects such as: several light creases, some color flaking, spine lean, cover pull-back, light edge chipping, price marked out, couple of letters written on cover, short spine splits, a little spine end damage, light page browning, couple dog eared pages, few spider spots and so on. These books are still very collectible but usually the lowest grade acceptable for most collectors.

ABOUT VERY GOOD (Abt VG) or VG-

These are starting to get into the borderline area and are acceptable if you've been looking a long time or as filler/reading copies copies. VG- is a little worse.

G+ (Good Plus)

This is the lowest grade I might list but only if it is a very difficult book to find in any condition. Crossword Puzzle books could fall into this category.

You can always CONTACT ME if you have questions regarding a book (or anything else for that matter).

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