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Card condition

Card condition is how worn an ungraded card is, rated on the raw scale that runs from Near Mint at the top down to Damaged at the bottom.

Condition
Where condition flaws show on a card A card with each kind of flaw marked. A dashed line runs 0.5mm in from the edge: wear past it counts as surface wear. Edge wear, lost color, gloss or material, runs along an edge. Whitening, bare card stock showing, starts at the edge and runs past the line, so TCGplayer files it under surface wear. On the surface are hairline marks, a cloudy patch of scuffing, a small dent, a straight-line dent and a crease. At the corners are a fuzzy corner and a dinged corner, bent by a drop or a knock. Fuzzy corner 0.5mm line: wear past it is surface wear Hairline marks Scuffing Edge wear Whitening: surface wear Dent Crease Dinged corner Straight-line dent
Wear like this sets where a raw card sits between Near Mint and Damaged.

In more detail

Sellers describe a raw card with five steps: Near Mint (NM), Lightly Played (LP), Moderately Played (MP), Heavily Played (HP) and Damaged (DM). Rip.fan's card pages use those short codes.

Each seller or marketplace defines the steps in its own words. TCGplayer, for one, publishes criteria for each, and it notes that a manufacturing flaw such as a miscut can move an otherwise Near Mint card to Damaged. Read the definitions of the seller you are buying from.

Condition changes price more than most collectors expect. Compare a card only with sales or listings in the same condition, and ask for photos of the corners, edges and surface if the listing does not show them.

Related terms

Where Rip.fan covers it

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