The same is true in our retail store. If you are in Austin, Texas, stop by the store and visit us! Our address is: Waterloo Records 600-A North Lamar Austin, TX. We visually grade all of our records for sale and grade both the record and the jacket. We go by general standards for grading, which are.
Mint (M) - an unplayed, new copy of a record. Near Mint (NM) - a nearly perfect record that has usually only been played 1-3 times, in "like new" condition. Very Good + (VG+) - record still in excellent condition but has minor signs of wear such as surface scuffs/light scratches that don't affect the play.
Jacket has minor signs of wear such as light ringwear, edgewear, shelfwear, and/or light creasing. Very Good (VG) - record has more wear than VG+ and may have some slight surface noise, light pops, some scuffs or scratches. Generally still a great playing copy. Jacket may have more wear, writing, sticker residue, punch out/cut out holes or corners.
Very Good - (VG-) - record has noticeable groove wear, surface noise, scratches, and/or scuffs but still a decent playing copy. Jacket has heavier wear and may have a small split seam. Good + and Good (G+ and G) - record still plays without skipping but has considerable amounts of groove wear, surface noise, scuffs, and/or scratches.Jacket has alot of wear and some defects such as split seams, heavy creasing, writing, marks, sticker residue, etc.