How to define the condition of used game media?

[Spartacus]

I've always wondered if there was a reasonably accurate scale with which to grade the physical condition of optical media. Just some sort of visual reference guide that would let people reasonably describe the surface finish of the media. I know I've personaly bought hundreds of games with the only picture being the label side, but I don't ever recall seeing a pic of the bottom side. Almost always there's a given description of the quality of the disc, but most seem a mere selling embellishment rather than a actual retail grade. I've noticed that sellers in Japan seem take this subject seriously, but even they don't appear to have a unified system. I've also noticed that most of the items I've purhased from Japan that were listed as GOOD are more often than not in better condition than items I've bought from US sellers that were described as MINT. In fact, after RARE, MINT is the most over used and abused word on Ebay. It's practicaly meaningless in my opinion.
Look, I realize that the physical appearance might not be the ultimate arbiter of a games playability. I have a PS1 "Xenogears" disk that looks fabulous and the game just will not allow me to play past a certain point. The game just freezes there everytime. I also remember buying a used PS1 "Disney's Hercules" on Ebay whose condition was grossly misrepresented. That was THE most horrible looking disc I've seen in my life. I was just about to fire off a nasty Email to the seller, demanding a refund, when I decided to try and load it in my PS2, just to PROVE the game was unplayable. Damned if that thing didn't load right up! It played and sounded just fine. Has Danny DeVito voice acting an antagonistic side kick. Danny's a funny guy, I like him. Sam Kinnison would have been a better choice, but hey, it was a Disney game after all!
I just thought with so many people here, who regularly buy and sell disk games, that someone might have run across some sort of visual grade/scale reference that could be used. If not just for the purposes of grading ones own collection, but also to give the most fair and honest representation for selling or trading games. Most everyone here, at one time or another, has probably been asked to describe the condition of a game. How do YOU go about representing the condition of the disk?

[crazyjackcsa]

There are all sorts of varying ways to grade the condition of a game, and I'm sure there are all various "Official: And "Right" Ways to do it. I'll break it down the way I Do it: (Assuming Complete CD/DVD based Game)

Sealed: Not reseals as if you bought it brand new.

Mint: Like you just brought it home.

Excellent: No matter the age and excellent game would be : Disk with no scratches, Light surface scratches on cover, from light "adult use" Manual looks unopened

Very Good-Good: Some light scuffs on Cd from playing in the system, Maybe a crease in the manual, Perhaps a small crack in the case. (IE on a Saturn case)

Fair: Some heavier CD scratches, what isn't "scuffing" anymore, a beat up case some folded pages in the manual

Playable: Heavy scratches that don't seem to affect play. Beat up well worn manual, mabe a coffee or water stain on art work.

As an aside I always downplay the quality of my games when I post. If I say it's in Very Good shape, most would call it excellent. It saves hassle down the road. I'm more likely however to be softer on a Saturn Case, Actually finding an excellent one in the wild is rare.

[Ed Oscuro]

Grading systems with the "mint/vg/good/fair" system are meaningless for optical media as there isn't an agreed standard for how many scratches a disc can take before it drops down a point in condition.

Simply getting a rough estimate of how many scraches are on there is good; if there's damage (disc label partly scraped off, for an example) that should be mentioned also.

[imanerd0011]

Condition is extremely important to me, and I take it very seroiusly (when buying games, and when selling games). I use a grading scale from 1-10 with .5 in between. Where 10 is a brand new sealed game, and 1 would be a game that looks pretty damn bad! Personally I wouldn't even sell/trade someone anything that is lower than a 7, unless they REALLY didn't care about condition at all. I am talking about cartridges though , and you seem to be talking about CD's , so I don't really know about the condition of CD's all that much.

[crazyjackcsa]

Not to split hairs, but a numbering system is just as random as a wording system. Who is to say the difference between a 9-10 isn't the same as an excellent or sealed? It really is just as random. And the more degrees of variance you have. In your case, 20 (.5,1.0,1.5 ie.) Just makes it that much more difficult to tell, you're 9.5 could be somebody elses 8.5 or even 9. It is all just a personal opinion.