Here is a grading scale used by camera collectors, I offer this as a proposal for the standard.
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Mint - 100% - Absolutely flawless in every respect which includes cosmetic and mechanical condition. You won't be able to tell this apart from a brand new bike or part. Most realistic collectors believe no such vintage items exist.
Mint Minus - 99.9% - This is realistically the best condition a vintage bike or part can be. Expect one or two very light cosmetic marks - you will have to look closely to find them.
Excellent +++ - 98-99.9% - As above, but with a few more faint cosmetic marks. Unfortunately, I've sold quite a few parts in this condition and seen others turn around and advertise them as mint!
Excellent ++ - 95-98% - A bike or part so graded normally has scattered bright marks, light paint wear and/or light cosmetic wear.
Excellent + - 90-95% - This bike or part has fairly nice cosmetics but you can expect bright marks, moderate paint wear and/or moderate cosmetic wear.
Excellent - 80-89% - Items in this condition will have moderately worn paint, metal, or chrome. The paint will usually have small chips and/or brassing.
Excellent Minus - 70-79% - Items in this category are starting to look well-used. You'll find some moderate to heavy wear on paint, chrome and/or painted finishes.
Everything Below Excellent Minus - I try not to handle bikes or parts in this condition unless they're something rare or unusual. These items are usually on the verge of being quite ugly if they aren't already.
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====================== Mark Petry 206 618 9642 mpetry@bainbridgeisland.net Beautiful Bainbridge Island, WA ======================
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits
Albert Einstein
======================
> Questor wrote:
> >
> > CR and/or Ebay needs to establish "rules of the road" when a seller claims
> > that a vintage part is in a specific condition. I always wonder about
> > sellers asking premium prices for what they describe as "shop-worn" and
> > imply it is in mint condition. The bottom line is that there is no
> > uniformly applied ranking of bicycle part conditions that people adhere to
> > on Ebay or the CR.
> >
> > I have written Ebay about this in the past and they have refused to get
> > involved, saying they are only a listing agent and that any implied
> > descriptions of items for auction are solely between buyer and seller.
> >
> > Consider this a call for action for CR members to decide what descriptions
> > should apply to the following proposed ratings. Prehaps different
> > description should apply to frames versus parts/components?
> >
> > Mint
> > Excellent
> > Good
> > Fair
> > Poor
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> > Regards, Steve
>
>
> What do I think? I think it would be pretty tough to get anyone to
> actually follow any quidelines on stating conditon of items for sale
> when people won't even take the time to sign their posts with their
> first and last name and the city and state they live in ;)
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, California