OFFERED FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:
I have to be honest here....I am not an expert on Grading Records....These belonged to a Friend of Mine and they were her Mother's Albums...So..
This is the way I inspect them. I take the record first, being as careful as they were not to touch the record..I hold it up to the light to see if there are any fingerprints or scratches on it...I do this for both sides and tilt it a little just to make sure I don't miss something.
I look at the sleeve to see if there are any tears or dirt or wrinkles.
The album ..I look for fading (since some of these are quite old) stains, rips, holes, writing, wear to the edges and bumps to the corners. I will still call an album cover mint if there are small bumps to the corners...but I will tell you in my description.
I am very proud to put these albums on Ebay as I know the owners were meticulous in the care of them.
When explaining the condition of these Albums..I will use
Album: for the Cover
Sleeve: for the paper that the record is placed in inside the cover.
Record: Self Explanatory
I will say that they took excellent care of their things. These records were never left out of the cover...They were put back into the sleeve and into the Album and back into the Credenza...but I will explain the condition honestly.
Record: Mint...no fingerprints, no scratches, no smudges, label in mint condition. It has been played, but looks like new - very slick
Sleeve: NM It has a tear at the left upper corner
Album: Mint It does not have shrink wrap...but looks like new.