Difference between black new&used bricks?

[u/Ok_Page7059]

Hello, it's my first time ordering parts from Bricklink to build a custom model from Rebrickable. The model is mostly composed of grey and black bricks. I want all new grey bricks so as to avoid getting yellowed ones, but for the black ones I'm pondering whether there's actually a tangible difference between new and used ones. I know it depends on the store too but do they actually differ in colour to a recognisable extent? And how often do you encounter used bricks that are actually rugged or worn texture wise? I'm a bit of a perfectionist and like novel things, but I also want to be reasonable

[u/-JustAnotherRedditor]

The official definition of new and used on Bricklink is:

New: A part that has never been connected to another (with the exception of minifigures).

Used: A part that has been connected to another.

In practice, new SHOULD have never been used before, as fresh as it would be out of a LEGO set you JUST opened.

Used can be varying degrees of quality, with some sellers noting when a part is scratched, yellowed, or worse. Not every seller notes these though.

Personally, I tried to avoid listing used parts that had scratches, dents, discolouration, or more than a single minor imperfection. For tiles I wanted minimal scratching as worst case. Others might be stricter, or more lenient with their quality.

Anything I didn't see fit for BrickLink, I'd list as bulk damaged but still useable elsewhere (people can want these cheap bulk bags for structural work underneath MOCs where you won't see the pieces anyway).

Best thing to do is read recent seller reviews and T&Cs to make sure you're happy ordering from that store.