Jump to content
Atomic Avenue User Community

  • Previous: About Atomic Avenue

    Atomic Avenue Grading Guidelines for Comic Books and Magazines

    Collectors have established standard grades to describe the condition of the items they’re buying and selling. It's absolutely essential that sellers grade the items they are selling fairly and accurately. If an item does not match its advertised condition upon pre-shipment review, a seller can regrade the item to a lower condition and discount it immediately. The buyer can choose whether to accept the item at the lower grade, or cancel it off the order (more about that here).

    This guide lists the descriptions of the official grades used by ComicBase and Atomic Avenue. Sellers may use alternate guidelines to grade their items, but these guidelines should meet or exceed the guidelines and descriptions below. Anyone who buys or sells items on Atomic Avenue should familiarize themselves with what these standard grades. While reasonable people can differ slightly in their evaluation of a comic’s condition, and even experienced graders can miss defects, a buyer can return items that do not meet these guidelines. 

    Grading Tips

    Although grading is important, it’s actually not all that difficult. And a few tips can make it even easier:

    • Read the list of grades. There’s really no substitute for actually reading the list of grades to let you know what the different grades are all about.
    • Check out ComicBase’s Grading Wizard. If you use ComicBase, you can use the Comics menu’s Grade Comic command to pull up the Grading Wizard. Then, just select which defects it has from drop-down menus and it will tell you what condition your item is in. 
    • When in doubt, undergrade. Not sure if the comic is in Good or Very Good condition? Choose Good. The worst case is that you’ll sell for slightly too little—but you’ll polish your reputation as a fair grader, as well as prevent needless returns.
    • Use the Regrade option on the Seller page. Items may get damaged in storage, or have defects that weren't noted when they were entered into ComicBase. Using the ComicBase Grading Wizard or being familiar with the cumulative defects described below, you can regrade the item before you disappoint a buyer.
    • Consider using the "List VF and NM comics as VF–NM" option when selling. The special grade, "VF–NM" gives you a quick way to tell buyers that your comics basically look like new, while allowing for the possibility of some tiny defects here and there.
    • If you don’t want to bother grading, or your items are generally in Good or lower condition, list your books as condition "Ungraded". You won’t get as much for the books as you would if they really were in nice condition and you’d graded them accordingly, but if you’re faced with sorting through a large stash of lowish-grade books, you might do well to take the "Make them no promises and you’ll tell them no lies" approach to the whole thing. (Moreover, books listed as "Ungraded" on Atomic Avenue can not be returned for reasons of condition).


    Official List of Grades Used by ComicBase and Atomic Avenue

    Mint (MT)

    Perfect in every way. Note that this is a rare condition. Numeric graders call this a 10, and it requires no flaws.

    Near Mint (NM)

    Nearly perfect copy of an item. The cover is flat and glossy without any surface wear, the spine is tight, and the corners are square. The interior pages are generally well-centered and firmly secured with original staples and no staple tears or stress lines. Only has barely perceptible flaws—e.g. subtle printing defects. No creases, staining, soiling or other discoloration. The comic or magazine looks as if it were just purchased from the store.

    Very Fine to Near Mint (VF–NM)

    Excellent condition but not guaranteed to be near mint. This is not a true grade, but a category for itemss that fall anywhere between the Very Fine and Near Mint grades.

    When selling your items from ComicBase, you have the option of automatically marking all VF or NM comics in your collection as "VF-NM", giving you an easy way to signify to buyers that the comics in question will be basically in "fresh off the newsstand" condition, without requiring you to painstakingly examine each comic for miniscule defects.

    The minimum requirements for an item is the same as for an item in Very Fine (VF) condition (below), though it is likely the item is better than VF, but not guaranteed to be NM.

    Very Fine (VF)

    Item is in excellent condition but has been read. Cover is clean but may be slightly less glossy; cover cannot be rolled or torn. Spine is tight and flat, although tiny, hard to see staple tears and small bends up to 1/4" long on the cover are acceptable if the color is not broken. Corners are still square but may have slight blunting. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present on older comics or magazines. Interior pages are firmly attached and all staples are original. Paper may be cream to tan in color without acidic odor. No creases, staining, soiling or other discoloration except for minor foxing. Item looks like it was purchased new from the store and gently read.

    Fine (F)

    Item is beginning to show minor wear. An accumulation of small defects is allowed, such as a few creases no more than 1/4" on the front cover or spine, blunted corners, tiny staple tears, and minor discoloration or stress lines. Only the slightest rolling on the spine is permitted. Older items may have stamped or inked arrival dates. Original staples could be discolored or replaced. Interior pages are still attached and paper may be cream to tan in color but not brown. No obvious soiling or staining. Item appears to have been read several times but very well-cared for.

    Very Good (VG)

    Well-used, but well-cared for item. Cover surface shows moderate wear and may include: minor to moderate creases, dimples, loss of gloss, blunted corners, minor to moderate staining, discoloration, staple rust, and/or foxing. Spine may be split up to ½" and some mild spine rolling is allowed. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. Staples may be rusted or replaced. Interior pages may be loose but are still solidly attached. Paper is tan to brown and might have a slightly acidic odor as well as some minor tearing of 1" or less.

    Good (G)

    Not very good at all, frankly. A used item with substantial wear. Item still has all of its pages and interiors but significant pieces of the cover and interior pages (no more than 2" in size) may be missing. Creases, stress lines, rounded or chipped corners, dimples, foxing, and fading are all allowed. Stamped or inked arrival dates may also be present on the cover. Binding is loose, a staple may be detached, and spine may have a split of anywhere from 2" plus moderate rolling. Tape and other amateur repair are common in Silver Age and older books. Interior paper color is brown but not brittle and may have some soiling or discoloration in addition to odor and tears. Comic is basically used but still intact and readable.

    Fair (FA)

    An item which shows heavy wear. Creases and folds are common and corners are rounded or missing entirely. Soiling, staining, foxing, fading, pencil or other marks and abrasions on the cover are prevalent as well. Cover and interior pages are generally intact but may have up to one-forth of the cover missing or the back cover missing (although not both). Staples are rusted and may be missing or replaced. Spine roll is expected and split spine may extend for up to two thirds of the book. The interior paper color is brown and brittle and chunks may be missing, and in particular there may be cut outs of coupons. Tape and other amateur repair are common in Silver Age and older books. Often the condition of an item that has been used and read and later collected.

    Poor (P)

    An item that has been used and damaged to a point where it is often not even considered worth collecting. Severe stains, mildew, creases, folding, foxing, and pencil or other markings dominate the cover. Corners are extremely ragged or missing. Spine is rolled, discolored, and/or split. Staples are missing or badly rusted and the pages are falling apart. The interior pages are brown and very brittle with extensive tears and multiple pages or large parts that may be missing entirely. There is significant acidic decay and odor for the paper. Water damage, glue, paints, or indelible dyes may cover the interiors and/or cover as well. Tape and other amateur repair are common. This item has been obviously used and abused.

    Ungraded

    An item whose grade is not guaranteed. This book may range anywhere from Poor to Near Mint and there is no obligation to clarify its condition. The comic is sold as-is. Useful for when you are unsure of the grade of a book or do not wish to grade the comic.

    CGC Grading (CGC 0.5–CGC 10.0)

    A CGC grade is for a comic that has been evaluated and certified by the Comics Guarantee Corporation. These books are sealed in a special case ("slabbed") that cannot have been unsealed or broken. Only use these grades if you have an actual Comics Guarantee Corporation graded comic that is still sealed and includes its official CGC certification. Listing an unslabbed comic with a CGC grade is considered serious misrepresentation.

    Next: Setting Up An Account on Atomic Avenue

     

×
×
  • Create New...