Contents:

• Card conditions on our webstore
  • Mint
  • Near Mint
  • Excellent
  • Good/Light Played
  • Played
  • Poor
• Introduction (for new collectors)
• Special cases
  • Graded cards
  • Misprints
  • Altered cards

 

Card conditions on our webstore

We've made a guide below that explains the various card conditions that we apply to trading cards, and the meanings of those conditions.
Our conditions lean close to those used in most of Europe. Other names are used for some conditions in the USA - we will explain further in the explanation for each condition.

Please note that the condition of a card is a measure of how intact/undamaged the card is. Other factors - such as how centered a card is cut, or the strength of the printing color - are therefore not measured by the card's condition.
You can read more about this underthe section "Special cases" further down.

 

Mint

A card in Mint condition is in near-perfect condition - a better condition than what is to be expected from a sealed product.
The card has no scratches, bends, miscolorations or anything similar.
In most cases, it will not make a difference in terms of the card's value whether it is Mint or Near Mint - in the case of especially rare and sought-after cards, however, we will mention it specifically if a card is Mint. If you own such a card, it might be a good idea to get the card "graded" - you can read more about this under the headline "Graded cards" further down.
 

Near Mint

A card in Near Mint condition is of the condition that can be expected when removed from a sealed product, for example a booster pack. Sometimes a collector will refer to a card as "booster fresh" - these cards are most often Near Mint.
The card will have very slight wear, for example on the surface or along the edges and/or corners of the card.
Sometimes a card that is actually in Mint condition will be presented as Near Mint - hence some collectors use the term "NM/M", meaning "Near Mint or Mint".

 

Excellent

A card in Excellent condition has minor wear.
The card is in generally impressive condition, but has slight signs of use, and it might be ambiguous whether it is in fact still Near Mint.

 

Good/Light Played

A card in Light Played condition has signs of having been played, stored or transported outside of sleeves, across multiple games.
The card might, for example, have scratches on the surface, and might be slightly frayed along the edges.
Some choose to split Good and Light Played into separate conditions, but with us, they are only a single condition since the difference between them is very small.

 

Played

A card in Played condition appears to have been played without sleeves for an extended periode of time, while having been handled frequently.
The edges and corners might be frayed, the surface might be notably scratched, and there might be text or stamps as on a card in Light Played condition.

 

Poor

A card in Poor condition is heavily worn, and might be ruined and unplayable.
The card might be frayed and scratched, and might have small notches in the surface; there might also be text on the card (for example if it has been used as a proxy for a different card).
The card might have been bent and creased, might have notable tears or cuts, and might even be missing one or more small parts (for example a small part of a corner).

 

Introduction (for new collectors)

On our webstore, we sell lots of single cards from various card games, and they are all generally in impressive condition - what we would define as "Near Mint".

The cards are partially valuable as collector's items, and as a card is played or worn, its value will drop. As such, a card in "Poor" condition is worth less than it would be in "Near Mint" condition. Most cards in worse conditions (eg. "Poor" and "Damaged") have lost a lot of their original value, but in case of especially rare cards, they might still hold some value for collectors.
A few of the cards we sell have been discounted because of a lower condition than "Near Mint".

In case of especially rare and sought-after cards, we also make sure to distinguish between "Near Mint" and "Mint".
In all of these cases, the condition is noted explicitly on the webstore next to the card name - if no condition is specified, the card's condition is "Near Mint".

Furthermore, single cards for card games always have a small margin for variations due to the manufacturing process.
Sometimes this results in notable printing errors (for example due to a lack of colored ink during the printing process), but in other cases it might simply be a case of a card having been cut with a few mms of deviation compared to another card of the same type. Small variations such as these generally have no effect on the collectable value of a card - it will only be relevant in case of especially rare cards with a high value for collector's, if the cards are graded (read more about this in the section "Graded cards").
We explain more about notable variations in the section "Misprints" further down on this page.

In general, single cards for card games are not described as "new" or "used" - since they are most often sold in packs with random cards, and thus almost always sold without the original packaging, single cards can almost never truly be called "new" in the sense that we would desribe other products as "new".
However, it is not very helpful to simply call all cards "used" - that's why there are established standards for grading cards, used worldwide.

 

Special cases

Here you will find explanations of some of the special situations that might affect the value of a card.
 

Graded cards

It is possible to get a card appraised, authenticated and protected in a process called "grading" - most often done by one of two US companies: BGS (Beckett Grading Services) and PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator).
A graded card will be locked in place in a clear plastic case (a "slab"), and will be graded on a scale of 1-10. On this scale, a 1 equates to one of the worst card conditions (often "Poor" or similar), and a 10 is as perfect condition as possible for a card.

When a card is graded, the authenticators judge not only the wear and tear of the card, but also whether the card is printed as centered as possible.

• The term "Pristine" can be used for a card with a grading of 10.
• "Gem Mint" is used for a card with a grading between 9,5 to 10.
• "Mint" is used for cards with a grading of 9.
• For gradings lower than 9, US conditions are used (Near Mint, Excellent, Very Good, etc.).

It is only truly feasible to call a card "Gem Mint", "Pristine" etc. if the card has been graded - otherwise most people will simply use the term "Mint". As such, certified Gem Mint or Pristine condition is a step (or two) above Mint.

Graded cards have their conditions "locked in place" due to the certificate and the protection afforded by the slab, and this also makes it impossible to play with the card. As such, graded cards are mostly in demand with collectors, and not with people who with to play with the cards.

We can offer to help you get your cards graded through Cardmarket Grading - click here to read more.

Misprints

Cards are often printed with a certain degree of variation, and most of the time these variations are so small as to be unnoticeable at first glance - for example in case of a card being very slightly off-center, or having slightly different coloration.
If a card has a high degree of variation, however, it will be regarded as a "misprint".
Examples of misprints could be wrong or missing coloration, stripes or patterns that should not be present on the card, blurry text or image, or multiple prints on top of each other (sometimes the same print, sometimes different prints).

If a card is cut so it is missing a part of itself on one end of the card, but instead has a part of another card at the other end, it is often described as a "miscut" rather than a "misprint".

Misprints most often do not fall within the typical standards of grading, as they do not appear as they are supposed to, but simultaneously might be unique and special (without actually being worn or damaged) - hence, some misprints can end up being worth more than the regular version of the same card.

Cards on our webstore without a mention of being miscut or misprinted are neither of the two. Standard variations of centering and print strength may still occur.
 

Altered cards

Sometimes a card is altered without being damaged - here are a couple of examples:

• A card is signed by the artist who illustrated the card, by the designer of the card game, or by a famous player who has a special connection to the card (for example because they designed the card).
• A card is stamped as part of a deck used for a high-level tournament.
• The image of the card is modified or expanded, either by the original artist or by someone else. This is also known as "altered art", and is separate from "alternate art" (where a card is printed with an illustration that is different from the regular illustration).

Oftentimes, rare and sought-after cards will be more valuable if they are also signed by someone relevant to the card - for example the artist who made the art for the card.
A card with an illustration that has been altered by the original artist, or which has been expanded in the style of the original image, can often be worth more than the regular version of the card.
However, some altered card will be worth less, for example if someone has drawn or written on the card, aside from a notable or relevant signature.