Condition Grades
Used games and consoles come in five grades. Every grade is tested, cleaned and fully working, Player Grade included. The grade only describes how it looks. If anything arrives not working, the 30-day return policy covers it.
New items (dongles, mod boards, anything I build) are just new, and don’t get a grade.
How grading works
- The worst defect sets the grade. A cart with a perfect label and one crack in the shell is graded by the crack. It gets the highest grade it meets on every line of the table.
- Small flaws add up. Three or more separate flaws that would each make it Good drop it to Fair.
- I check under one bright bench light, using simple tests you can repeat at
home:
- Arm’s length: can you see it from about 20 inches away? Tilting it to catch the light counts. If it shows at any angle, it’s visible.
- Fingernail: does your nail catch on it when you drag it across?
- Pencil eraser: could the end of a pencil eraser cover it?
- Color is judged on its own, not side by side. Fading or yellowing you can only spot next to another copy doesn’t count.
- I grade what’s there now. A label corner I’ve re-glued is graded by the crease it left, and a marker stain I’ve removed is graded by whatever mark is left behind.
- When it’s borderline, I grade down.
- Photos show a typical example of each grade, not necessarily the exact one you’ll get. The grade definition is the promise.
- Want to see the actual copy? Ask me and I’ll send photos of the exact one you’re interested in, including the board inside.
Cartridges
| Grade | Label | Shell | Writing and stickers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near Mint (NM) | Complete and flat, no fading, no mark visible at arm’s length | No crack, chip or discoloration. No scuff visible at arm’s length. All original parts. | None anywhere |
| Excellent (EX) | Complete, no tears. Corner lift of 2 mm or less. Marks may be visible, and one scratch under 1 cm may catch a fingernail. No fading. | No crack or chip. Light scuffs, and one scratch under 1 cm may catch a fingernail. Even overall tint is fine. | No writing. Sticker residue on the back only, smaller than a fingernail. |
| Good (GD) | Small tears. Missing paper (front and back added together) covered by one pencil eraser. Light fading if the title reads clearly. Longer or several scratches. | No crack. Chips a pencil eraser could cover. Uneven or blotchy discoloration. Non-original screws. | Writing, a sticker or sticker residue on the back only. Nothing on the front label. |
| Fair (FR) | At least half the label present and the title readable, even if heavily faded | Bigger chips, no crack through the shell. Bloom (see below). | Writing, stickers or residue anywhere. A reproduction label. |
| Player Grade (PG) | Anything, including no label | Cracks are fine as long as it holds together, seats firmly and nothing is loose | Anything |
A Player Grade cart is the cheap way to own a game you just want to play. It looks rough and plays exactly like a Near Mint one.
Bloom is a white, slightly raised haze or spotting on the plastic: an additive in the shell creeping to the surface over the decades. It’s cosmetic and doesn’t affect play, but if it shows at arm’s length the cart is Fair at best.
What doesn’t count:
- Light contact marks from the console’s cart slot, as long as you can’t feel them and they only show at an angle. Every cart that’s been played has them.
- Factory differences between print runs, like a Seal of Quality on one copy and not another, or warning text molded into the shell instead of printed on a back sticker.
Consoles and handhelds
| Grade | Shell | Screen lens (handhelds) | Markings and labels | Doors, covers, screws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Near Mint (NM) | No crack, chip or discoloration. No scuff visible at arm’s length. | No scratch visible at arm’s length | No stickers or writing. Factory label present and legible. | All present and original |
| Excellent (EX) | No crack or chip. Light scuffs, and one scratch under 1 cm may catch a fingernail. Even overall tint is fine. | No scratch over the display area that catches a fingernail | No writing. Factory label present. | All present. Replacements only if you can’t tell from arm’s length. |
| Good (GD) | No crack. Chips a pencil eraser could cover. Scratches may catch a fingernail. Uneven or blotchy discoloration. | Scratches are fine as long as none show over a lit white screen | Writing or stickers on the bottom or back only. Factory label may be worn or missing. | Cosmetic covers (like an expansion port cover) may be missing. Battery door present. Replacements may be visible. |
| Fair (FR) | Bigger chips, no crack through the shell. Bloom visible at arm’s length. | Scratches visible over a lit screen | Writing or stickers anywhere | Mismatched or replacement screws |
| Player Grade (PG) | Cracks are fine as long as the shell holds together and nothing is loose | Anything, including a cracked lens, as long as the whole screen is viewable | Anything | Anything not needed to play |
Every port, button, switch and power path works at every grade. No “reset button may not work” small print here.
Replacement parts
- Near Mint is all original. Genuine factory parts moved from another copy of the same hardware (screws, shell halves) still count as original.
- A replacement you can’t spot from arm’s length (a battery door, a cover, a reproduction security screw) is fine up to Excellent.
- A replacement you can spot (a color mismatch, a loose fit, a Phillips screw where a security screw belongs) is Good at best.
- A reproduction label on a cart is Fair at best.
- Screws count as original when they all match, sit flush, and the screw holes show no tool damage.
- Carts: the grade tells you what replacements are possible, so a Good cart may have non-original screws. Consoles are listed one at a time, and the listing names every replacement part.
- Aftermarket shells and mods are listed as features, not grades. A console in a brand-new replacement shell gets graded on what’s there, and the listing says it’s an aftermarket shell.
Stickers on the plastic
On a one-of-a-kind listing, I sometimes leave an old rental-store sticker on the bare plastic for its charm. When I do, the photos show it, the listing says so, it doesn’t count against the grade, and I’ll take it off before shipping if you ask. Everywhere else, stickers on plastic come off before I grade.
Questions
If you want to know more about a specific copy before you buy, ask me.