Too many folks refer to their cards for sale as being in "good condition!" or "great condition!" By "good" they usually mean sharp, solid, clean, etc. But in hobby terms, "good condition" is near the bottom of the scale. And "Great" is not a hobby term at all.
Poor / Fair / Good / Very Good / Excellent / Near Mint / Mint / Gem Mint are the general terms with some half steps in between. These terms are older than grading and are how we described card condition in the hobby for decades before grading was even a thing!
A great place to start learning the hobby condition guidelines is on PSA's web site:
https://www.psacard.com/gradingstandards
Once you learn the TERMS (which apply to ALL cards not just GRADED cards), it's time to learn how to apply them. Post some pics or questions in reply to this thread and let's chat!
Do you happen to know how graders "weight" front centering vs. back centering? For example if the criteria is 80 / 20, does this refer to average centering (front / back / top bottom / side side averaged together)? Or is it the centering at its worst point? Thanks!
@jayday PSA and SGC differ a bit on this. PSA gives front AND back centering criteria on their scale (for example, a PSA 10 can be 60/40 on the front (yuck) and 75/25 on the back. SGC just says 55/45 or better for a gem, but they do appear to be more lenient on back centering as well. I have always assessed as though the ratio applies to the WEAKEST aspect of a card. For example, 50 / 50 (top / bottom) and 70/30 (side / side) centering does not average "up" to 60/40. If any aspect of the centering does not fit, count on the lower grade.
This site measures the centering and the top grade a card could get with that centering. Of course other factors can reduce the grade. I can't say for sure how accurate it is but it looks useful.
https://edgegrading.com/centering/
