Is Vinyl Grading Subjective

Note that grading standards do not change based on the age of the record.

Is vinyl grading subjective.

Grading is always subjective and if you purchase a record from us and feel the grade does not live up to the rating we have provided it. This site uses a standard grading for all media formats. Goldmine developed the guide below and it is now the most widely used guide for the buying and selling of vinyl albums. I find the terms on discogs grading scale to focus more on the vinyl then the sleeve.

Please explain meaningfully to any site user what the differences between a g and g and vg and vg and now a vg cd disc would be. So far i think i m doing okay on this but i know i m not perfect. To visually grade a record inspect the sleeve and any inserts lyric sheets posters etc for ring wear discoloration sticker residue and seam splits. Since grading vinyl records can be subjective there have been some effort to standardize a grading guide.

That being said i think the absolute minimum grading would be a record that doesn t skip so i believe that would be a good grading if using the goldmine scale. One confusing thing to me is the difference between vg g. Grading 30 50 year old vinyl records is highly subjective and we do our best to minimize issues. Nm ex ex ex vg vg vg on their own does nothing to properly grade or describe either the condition of the vinyl or the cover without extra words to go into details.

Vintage records can have unexpected noise so w e offer free returns to address unforeseen issues. We primarily use the widely accepted record collector magazine grading system and adopt a cautious approach to grading each record. Grading a vinyl record is inherently subjective but knowing what to look for will help you accurately determine what condition a record is in. A record doesn t always play like you think it will based on how the vinyl appears visually.

And the other way round. Many people have different opinions about how to interpret record grading standards. In other words there s no such thing as vg for its age the same criteria used in grading a record pressed in 1965 exist for one pressed in 2015. Many 50 s 60 s vinyl especially in mono can look very different than how they play.

We clean records before grading but recommend cleaning your records before you play them. There are also different standards such as the goldmine standard or the vjm record grading system. We take great care with the grading of our second hand vinyl. Record grading can be a rather subjective practice that has very objective expectations.

If in doubt go down. Then we will.