Near Mint

Almost mint.Very minor paper scuffs and very little else can appear on the vinyl. This will most likely have occurred during packaging, or removing the record from the inner sleeve but obviously it had been handled with extreme care.Any flaw should be very hard to see. The cover should look as close to perfect with only minor signs of wear and/or age. Minor impressions to the cover (due to the outer edge of the vinyl resting inside) may be acceptable, however the artwork should be as close to perfect as can be.

Excellent

An excellent condition for vinyl will allow minor scuffs (Scuffs lay on top of the grooves) which are visible but only slightly.The wear should be minimal.The play should be close to perfect as well. Some impression to the cover (minor outer ring wear) but no ink wear. Some slight creases to the corners, but not wrinkled and obtrusive to the eye. The corners can show a little white, meaning slight wear. No seam splits or writing on the cover or taped repairs.

VG++

As Excellent but with a larger number of scuffs, maybe a couple of hairlines (very light scratch that can't be felt) or a couple of marks. Sound quality should still be very close to that of an Excellent record with only minor crackle in quiet segments only, NO scratches that can be felt. Cover as Excellent but there may be a small seam split on the cover, or a very minimal amount of writing like a name written in small writing or a number. A VG++ record should be an acceptable record to live with if you aren't looking to pay the price of a Near Mint copy.