Condition Grading Guide
A plain-language glossary of how used-book condition is described — and how Ældern Tomes grades every listing.
How we grade
Every book in our inventory is inspected by hand, photographed from multiple angles (including the copyright page and any notable flaws), and graded against the four levels below. Photos are the source of truth — if a flaw is visible in the listing photos, it’s baked into the grade and the price.
We use the same grading scale eBay uses so the two platforms stay consistent. For the official eBay reference, see eBay’s condition guidelines.
Our four grades
Like New
Indistinguishable from a shelf copy at a bookstore. Tight binding, no reading creases, no markings, clean dust jacket if present.
Uncommon on older titles. Reserved for books that look genuinely unread.
Very Good
Light, honest shelf wear. Cover and pages clean, binding tight, may have a small inscription on the flyleaf or minor dust jacket edge wear.
Most of our hardcover inventory.
Good
Clearly read but intact. May have bumped corners, a bit of edge wear on the dust jacket, minor foxing, or a former-owner name plate. All text is readable and no pages are missing.
Older paperback runs and ex-library copies.
Fair
Significant wear — possible cocked spine, heavier foxing, chipped dust jacket, or a loose binding. Still a complete reading copy, but not a display copy.
We rarely list at this grade. When we do, it’s called out in the listing title and priced accordingly.
Glossary of terms you’ll see in listings
- Bumped corners
- The corners of the hardcover boards are slightly dented from being dropped, shelved tightly, or handled. Cosmetic only.
- Cocked (or leaning) spine
- The book no longer stands flush when closed — the text block has shifted so the spine leans left or right. Common in thicker paperbacks and heavily-read hardcovers.
- Dust jacket (DJ)
- The removable paper cover on a hardcover book. Its condition is often graded separately from the book itself (e.g. "Very Good book in Good DJ").
- Ex-library
- Previously owned by a library. Usually carries stamps, pocket sleeves, a call number on the spine, and a plastic protective cover. Never priced as a first-edition collectible.
- Flyleaf
- The blank page at the very front of the book (attached to the inside cover). Where you’ll often find previous-owner inscriptions or bookstore stamps.
- Foxing
- The rusty-brown age spots that appear on older paper, especially on the edges of the text block. Caused by oxidation, usually from humidity. Doesn’t affect readability.
- Hinge
- The inside joint where the cover meets the text block. A "starting hinge" is beginning to crack; a "cracked hinge" is broken but the book is still held together by the binding threads.
- Price-clipped
- The corner of the dust jacket flap where the original retail price was printed has been cut off. Usually indicates the book was once given as a gift.
- Remainder mark
- A permanent marker stripe or stamp on the bottom page edges, indicating the book was sold as a publisher’s overstock. Common on 1990s–2010s hardcovers.
- Shelf wear
- Light scuffing or rubbing on the edges and corners from the book being shelved and unshelved over the years. Essentially unavoidable on any book older than a decade.
- Sunning
- Fading of the spine or cover from prolonged exposure to light. A book with a pristine front and a faded spine has been sitting face-out on a sunny shelf.
- Text block
- The pages of the book, as a unit. "Tight text block" means the pages are still firmly bound together.
Photos beat words
Every listing has at least four photos: the full front cover, the spine, the copyright page (so you can verify edition and printing), and any notable wear. If you want additional angles before buying — a specific page, the gutter margin, the dust jacket flaps — email contact@elderntomes.com and we’ll send more.
A note on first editions
A “first edition” means the first printing of the first edition. On most modern hardcovers you can identify it by the number line on the copyright page — if the sequence ends in a 1 (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1), it’s a first printing. Book club editions, even if dated the same year, are NOT first editions and are priced separately in our catalog.
For a deeper walkthrough with photos, see our blog — first-edition identification guides for specific authors are published there.
Questions on a specific listing?
If anything in a listing’s condition description isn’t clear, email contact@elderntomes.com before buying. We’d rather answer five questions than process one return.