Pokemon Card Condition Guide
Condition tiers in Pokemon follow TCGplayer's marketplace standard. Market prices you see quoted — including on this site — assume near mint raw cards; everything below that trades at a discount, and the discount deepens as price rises because buyers of expensive cards are condition-picky.
The five tiers (with a worked example)
| Condition | What it means | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| Near Mint (NM) | Pack-fresh or close: clean edges, no surface wear visible at arm's length. | ~$100.00 |
| Lightly Played (LP) | Minor edge/corner whitening or light scratches visible on inspection. | ~$80.00 (80%) |
| Moderately Played (MP) | Obvious whitening, scratches, or minor border wear; still sleeve-playable. | ~$65.00 (65%) |
| Heavily Played (HP) | Heavy whitening, creases, or scuffs; structurally intact. | ~$50.00 (50%) |
| Damaged (DMG) | Creases through the card, water damage, tears, or writing. | ~$30.00 (30%) |
What to check, in order
- Edges and corners — whitening shows here first, especially on dark-bordered cards.
- Surface — tilt under light for scratches and print lines; holos show wear fastest.
- Creases — any crease, even on the back, drops a card to HP/DMG.
- Centering — off-center borders matter little raw but cap grading scores.
When grading is worth it
Grading (PSA, BGS, CGC) costs $15–25+ per card and months of turnaround. As a rule of thumb it only pays when the card is worth $100+ raw and you genuinely believe it's a 9–10 candidate — a PSA 10 can multiply a chase card's value several times, while a PSA 7 often sells near raw NM price. Start from the most expensive cards list to see which of your cards clear the bar.
More guides
Tables generated from live data, updated 2026-06-14; prices are TCGplayer market prices per finish — not appraisals.