Card conditions explained: Mint, Near Mint, Excellent, Played

Condition moves a card's price more than anything else, and it is also the most frequent cause of disputes between sellers and buyers. Europe uses a seven-grade scale, Cardmarket's; the United States a five-grade one, with similar names that mean different things. Here is what each grade means, how to grade a card without flattering it, and the mistakes to avoid.

The European scale, grade by grade

These are the definitions of Cardmarket, the European card market. They apply to every game.

  • Mint (M): perfect, no excuses. No scratches, a clean surface, a back indistinguishable from a card fresh out of a booster. Cardmarket advises using it sparingly: on recent cards it is worth the same as Near Mint.
  • Near Mint (NM): looks as if it has never been played without sleeves. Small white spots on the border are allowed, but very few and very small. No scratches.
  • Excellent (EX): looks as if it was used for a few games without sleeves. That it is not perfect is almost always visible at first glance, but the flaws are minor: a couple of white spots on corners and borders, light scratches visible only on closer inspection.
  • Good (GD): looks as if it was used for a long tournament without sleeves. Strong wear all around, many white spots, scratches, some dirt. No bends and no water damage. Cardmarket itself warns that the name misleads: a Good card does not look good.
  • Light Played (LP): looks as if it has been used without sleeves for a long time. It may look very bad, but it is still legal for play in a sleeve and has not been tampered with.
  • Played (PL): as bad as a card gets through regular use. It is doubtful whether it is still tournament legal, even sleeved.
  • Poor (PO): damage that does not come from regular use. A card that is destroyed or tampered with: inked borders, scribbles on the card.

The rules that decide the grade

Some flaws set a ceiling, whatever the rest of the card looks like. These are all rules written by Cardmarket.

  • Scratches: a scratched card is Good at best. They weigh more on foils.
  • Clouding: that dull haze on the surface, with no visible damage, is enough to rule out Near Mint.
  • Warped cards: a slight curve is accepted at every grade except Mint. If the card is so deformed that it may no longer be legal for play, it is Played.
  • Water damage: Light Played to Poor depending on severity, and it must always be described.
  • Borders touched up with a pen or marker: always Poor. Selling it as better is fraud and leads to exclusion from Cardmarket.
  • Signatures and stamps: a signed or stamped card can never be Mint.
  • Production errors: they do not count as wear and do not lower the grade, but must be declared with a picture.
  • Age does not count: a twenty-year-old card is graded by the same criteria as one released two days ago.

How to grade your own card

Take the card out of its sleeve and look at it in daylight or under a strong lamp, front and back. Always follow the same order, so you skip nothing.

  • The back first: white spots on corners and borders show mostly there.
  • The four corners, one by one.
  • The surface, tilting the card: scratches and clouding only appear with light from the side. On foils look at the front with extra care.
  • Bends and dents: hold the card against the light.
  • When in doubt between two grades, choose the lower. Someone who receives a better card than expected is happy; someone who receives a worse one opens a dispute.

The American scale: same names, different meanings

TCGplayer, the largest American market, uses five conditions: Near Mint, Lightly Played, Moderately Played, Heavily Played and Damaged. It does not sell cards as Mint or Gem Mint. Its Near Mint allows minimal wear: slight edge wear or a couple of minor scratches, as long as the card looks nearly unplayed.

The trap is in the names. Cardmarket says it outright: the American Lightly Played corresponds to the European Excellent, not to the European Light Played, which sits two grades lower. If you buy from the United States or read American prices, translate the grade first.

  • European Near Mint ≈ American Near Mint/Mint.
  • Excellent ≈ Slightly Played or Lightly Played.
  • Good ≈ Moderately Played or Very Good.
  • Light Played ≈ Played or Good.
  • Played ≈ Heavily Played.
  • Poor ≈ Poor. On TCGplayer cards with structural damage are Damaged.

Gem Mint, NM- and EX+: what they mean

“Gem Mint” is the top grade of the grading services, which use a 1 to 10 scale: a card that is perfect in print and centring too. Cardmarket does not accept it as a grade for ungraded cards: for a card like that, it says, a scan says more than a word.

Half grades such as “NM-” or “EX+” mean a card at the low or high end of its grade. Cardmarket recommends not using them and reminds sellers that an NM- must still be defensible as Near Mint: it is not a way to sell an Excellent card as Near Mint.

How much condition weighs on price

The prices you read around usually refer to a Near Mint copy. Each grade lower reduces the value, and the gap grows with the card: on an ordinary playing card the difference is small, on an old and wanted collector's card an Excellent copy can be worth far less than a Near Mint one.

On Amber Road every card's page shows the market value by condition, so you compare your copy with sales of similar copies. And in trades the declared condition matters as much as the card: photograph front and back before shipping and upload the pictures into the trade.

See your card's value by condition →

Frequently asked questions

What does Near Mint mean?
According to Cardmarket it is a card that looks as if it has never been played without sleeves: no scratches, a clean surface, at most a very few, very small white spots on the border.
What is the difference between Near Mint and Excellent?
On an Excellent card the flaws are almost always visible at first glance, even though they are minor: a couple of white spots on corners and borders and light scratches visible up close. On a Near Mint card scratches are not allowed.
Are Light Played and Lightly Played the same thing?
No. The American Lightly Played corresponds to the European Excellent. The European Light Played is a card used for a long time without sleeves, far more worn.
Is a card fresh from the pack Mint?
Not necessarily. Mint means perfect with no excuses, and a card can have flaws straight from the pack. For recent cards Cardmarket advises Near Mint, which in practice means “Near Mint or better”.
Is an old card graded more leniently?
No. Cardmarket states it clearly: a twenty-year-old card has to meet the same criteria as a card released two days ago.

Sources

Sources last read on October 8, 2026. Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! are trademarks of their respective owners. Amber Road is an independent site. Grading a card is not an exact science: this guide sums up the criteria of the two main markets, and the final judgement depends on the single copy.