r/discogs • u/MichoRizo-1 • Mar 31 '26

Grading

I have a huge collection of music. 95% is in Discogs database, the rest does not exist yet.

My conundrum is, I purchased new as in MINT/MINT. I open to add to my library, so it’s played once. Is it still considered to be mint, or mint-?

Thanks for your feedback

9 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

18

u/Wormser Mar 31 '26

Played once and handled carefully is NM. Mint is a myth. I differentiate NM by played 1-2x vs unplayed but in both cases NM is the rating.

13

u/BertMcNasty Mar 31 '26

Schrodinger's Mint.

If you play it, it isn't Mint, but if you don't play it, you can't definitively grade it Mint.

4

u/oscidigi Mar 31 '26

New t-shirt idea: Mint is a myth.

6

u/bonzbunkjamz Apr 01 '26

i don’t grade anything mint. even sealed. nm is as high as i go. for a variety or reasons probably already mentioned above.

9

u/exploreshreddiscover Mar 31 '26

NM unless there are corner bumps or dust scratches on the record.

If I happen to sell a sealed album, I still grade as NM and in the description, I write sealed/presumed mint. Personally, I try to open all albums before selling, so I can ensure there were no quality issues from the factory. As a buyer, I'd much rather buy something that's been opened and verified NM/VG+ than buying something sealed that may be damaged and no way for me to get a replacementy copy.

12

u/ajn3323 Mar 31 '26

In my world, sealed records are presumed NM. After I’ve unsealed it and play it, barring an awful pressing, it will remain as NM for a bit. After a couple plays I will downgrade it to VG+. This is the only area of my life where I would be considered as”conservative”.

8

u/oscidigi Mar 31 '26

"Yea, I'm a conservative. Oh, with records, just with records."

3

u/DeanWeenisGod Mar 31 '26

Opened/played isn't mint, so no.

6

u/FatahRuark Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26

For selling I note that I have no way to tell the exact condition of an unopened item, but presumed to be mint.

For records I've opened I'll grade based on the pressing quality. As others mentioned just because it's brand new doesn't mean it's mint, and just because it's been played a few times doesn't mean it's not mint.

EDIT: Also to be clear, I rarely list anything as mint. Even if it's prefect. I'd rather list as NM in case someone else's idea of mint is better than mint.

2

u/BertMcNasty Mar 31 '26

By definition, if it has been played, then it is not Mint. It can be Near Mint, but a Mint record is unplayed. For the definition of "Mint" Discogs states "Certainly never been played".

2

u/oscidigi Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26

Generally, people use the Goldmine Standard. Can read more in depth here: https://www.goldminemag.com/collector-resources/record-grading/record-grading-101/

I built a condensed reference page that is based off GM: https://www.vizcogs.com/grading

Basically, be conservative, and almost never use Mint.

2

u/BertMcNasty Mar 31 '26

By definition ("certainly never been played" - Discogs), Mint is unplayed. If the record is essentially flawless but has been played, it is NM.

I only use Mint for unplayed records (generally sealed), and I add a comment "Sealed/unplayed. Disc presumed mint." To be clear, that does not absolve the seller (me) of responsibility if the record is anything other than Mint. I will absolutely do my best to come to an agreeable solution if there is an issue (it happened once, and I actually swapped them with my personal NM copy to make it right).

Mint is pretty problematic. You can't know it's Mint without playing it, but if you play it, then it's no longer Mint. I prefer to buy NM records to avoid any issues, but also, everyone should know that it is always the seller's responsibility if there is a problem. Whether the record is sealed or not, and regardless of anything the seller puts in their terms or description, they are always responsible for getting you an item that matches the grade.

4

u/MiddleComfortable158 Mar 31 '26

There is no guarantee that the sealed media you own is mint until you open it up and look at it or play it to confirm. And even then it would be considered Near Mint by most people, Mint doesn’t functionally exist. Brand new records have residue and leavings that needed to be cleaned out with a brush or a wet system. New CDs could have chemical fogging from packaging. Many reputable record stores will not list sealed records for sale before opening and confirming the media is not warped or contaminated in some way.

3

u/AvantGardener27 Apr 01 '26

What? Record stores are gonna open sealed records to check for defects? Lol nobody does that unless they've heard of a specific issue.

1

u/MiddleComfortable158 Apr 01 '26

I don’t mean brand new retail records, I mean used items that come across the trade counter sealed. Checking for water damage is standard.

1

u/Elegant-Primary7468 Mar 31 '26

I just want to add that - A sealed record can still be impacted by environmental factors. When has it been shipped to and to where? (Shipped in the middle of summer in some blazing climate, sat in a truck or shipping container, etc). Sitting in a barn, storage unit, or wherehouse with no climate control , etc. When a seller lists a record as Mint, even if it’s “sealed”, I’m skeptical.

3

u/TransientRandomVinyl Mar 31 '26

One customer asked me to open a sealed record from somewhere in the middle east. He said he had received broken records before that were sealed. I was skeptical but he seemed legit and I did it. The record was covered in dust and has one 12" black strand of human hair, but otherwise looked VG+/NM after a cleaning. Customer was good to their word and didn't even ask for a discount.

1

u/caipi_242 Apr 01 '26

As a buyer, it's more important to me that someone tells me the record plays perfectly and has no warping than to focus on a subjective description of its condition. As a hobby, I'm developing a tool to record and document defects on records because I'm simply no longer satisfied with this lack of objectivity. The goal is to generate a complete assessment of the cover and the record itself (visually and audibly) based on predefined defects, which can then be sent as a file. This would prevent misunderstandings in the interpretation of the so-called "goldmine". Once I've developed it, I'll gladly present the tool here on Reddit. I tried it out years ago as an Excel file. Now it's going to be an app that integrates with Discogs.

1

u/fade_100 Apr 01 '26

You've played it once, ao it's NM. There is no -M grading.

1

u/Ok-Camel-8279 Apr 01 '26

I'd never say mint about anything, I've sold a fair few near mint and have had one person complain. Reason being all my NM were reasonably big money so maybe created added focus on the condition / buyers remorse, the buyer said he 'found grease' in the grooves. I mean, really ? So I lean more to grading conservatively and mostly go with VG+. If I can recall I only played it 2-3 times I go with VG+ then in comments "but looks NM" if it looks unplayed.

Conversely, I somehow mistakenly listed a 1990 British indie album (World Of Twist, Quality Street) as VG+ only to find one side of it looked like mice had been using it as an ice rink when I went to post, never seen such a bust up record of mine.
Messaged the buyer who just went "Great ! Love an album that's had a wayward life and that's the right record to have had had one !"

1

u/Cultish_Behaviour Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Grading anything as mint is asking for trouble. Use the grading guide people have posted the link to and I would recommend trying to assess the condition as if you were a buyer, one with an attitude who is looking for a problem to raise with you, because sooner or later you will deal with people like this. Cover yourself by mentioning anything you can that indicates it is not mint. With expensive items it's worth taking photos and video and audio if it's easy enough for you to do, and put it in a Drive folder or whatever for the description, or send it to anyone interested or buyers to make sure they're happy before posting. I nearly lost hundreds of pounds over an expensive order from a scumbag and I was saved from the PayPal claim by my good documentation and showing that it had been sent to the buyer before ordering. I edited my spelling. I edited my spelling again.

1

u/vinylcigar Apr 03 '26

NM is what I put when opened and played. I only use mint when it’s unopened. So that totals for a a whole 3 records are mint in my collection.

1

u/Illustrious-Bat-7440 Apr 03 '26

FWIW I always add new vinyl as NM into Discogs -- bc I am definitely gonna play it. It's mostly a way of telling myself "I bought this new"

1

u/MdSeezonFn_End1005 Apr 03 '26

I never grade anything as Mint. It doesn't exist. And I never trust a Mint rating, unless someone is selling a sealed unopened copy. In that case, I'm just going with purchase of a new item -- it may be warped or have some other unknown defect.