What is you opinion of record, CD, and book ratings systems?

brianlux

As the question is posed.

My own thought is that they are inaccurate and help lead to seller abuse.  I tend to go with #4, "very misleading and difficult to trust". 

And I wonder, with records, how much of the root of this problem extends back to the grade terms coupled with their definitions by Goldmine in the first place? I wonder how much of the confusion would have been cleared up in the first place if these terms had been used:
Sealed. (Not all sealed records are mint.  They can be dish-warped or even scratched.  Goldmine went soft on this one.)
Mint Minus/ Near Fine (As currently defined)
Very Good (very good should be very good, no need for the +)
Good (As currently defined as "very good")
Good minus (Barely passing as "good")
Poor
Trash

I rarely buy CD's on line so I have no opinion.

The same can be said for book ratings. A book in good condition should be in good condition.
I've been in the book business for many years and I rarely see a book described as "good" that I would call good. That's just poor use of English.
I have a copy of AllMusic's Jazz guide that I bought on-line. It has many marking, underlining, and highlighting throughout, library stamps and stickers, several dog-eared pages, and the wraps look like blankety blank. It was rated "very good". I kept it because it's heavy and return shipping would have been more than it's worth. It's serviceable, I just wish it had been rated correctly.
And what the heck is "acceptable?" Does that mean the waste disposal or possibly the recycling center will take it?

brianlux

I think they are very misleading and difficult to trust.

Dumb/boring/irrelevant/uninteresting/stupid question?  Or is it because I forgot to make it anonymous? 

Loujoe

Hiya blux. The important thing is you keep trying.

Purple Fairy Tree

I think they are very well worded and defined, and are useful.

Hi Brian, I don't really follow the grading system myself, but I know that buying vinyl from discogs in Mint or Near Mint condition is very important to some people.

brianlux

I think they are very misleading and difficult to trust.

West Coast Dreamgirl said:

Hi Brian, I don't really follow the grading system myself, but I know that buying vinyl from discogs in Mint or Near Mint condition is very important to some people.

Ah ha!  The stone has rolled away from the Lazarus of polls.   

I'm pretty much that way, Dreamgirl, although if the record is less common and in general is pricey and is truly a VG+, I'm good with that.  The only problem is, I have found that far too often, records rated on Discogs at VG+ are actually VG.  It's a bit of a crap shoot!

Purple Fairy Tree

I think they are very well worded and defined, and are useful.

brianlux said:

West Coast Dreamgirl said:

Hi Brian, I don't really follow the grading system myself, but I know that buying vinyl from discogs in Mint or Near Mint condition is very important to some people.

Ah ha!  The stone has rolled away from the Lazarus of polls.   

I'm pretty much that way, Dreamgirl, although if the record is less common and in general is pricey and is truly a VG+, I'm good with that.  The only problem is, I have found that far too often, records rated on Discogs at VG+ are actually VG.  It's a bit of a crap shoot!

Go for Mint or Near Mint

Wobbie

Five stars!!!!!!!