I am conservative in my grading. Here are the guidelines I follow:

NM/MT– an almost flawless card

NM– only very slight imperfections, perhaps very, very slight corner or edge wear. I am hesitant to give cards a NM grade, so if a card is NM, it’s an impressive looking card

EXMT+ is a card that is very close to NM. It may have a slightly touched corner or some other very minor imperfection.

EXMT– a very nice card, but one with enough imperfections to keep it from NM; a little more noticeable corner, edge, or surface wear

EX– a card with good eye appeal, but one with more significant corner, edge, or surface wear

VGEX– a card with enough corner, edge, or surface wear to affect its eye appeal in a negative way; or a card with a wrinkle, a more significant scratch, or a very minor wax/gum stain

VG– if a card has a deep crease or a significant wax/gum stain, I automatically reduce it to VG; also, a card that is well-worn

G– a badly worn card; a card that is without holes, tears, or writing, but is still in bad shape