01
Why over-describing flaws makes money
The instinct is that describing damage costs sales. In practice it is close to the opposite, for four reasons that compound.
- It filters buyers before they buy. Someone who reads "3 cm scuff on the lower edge" and buys anyway is not going to be surprised. A return avoided is worth far more than a marginal sale.
- It makes everything else credible. A listing that names a specific small flaw reads as written by someone paying attention. A listing that says "great condition!" and nothing else reads as written by someone who did not look.
- It is your defence. Disclosed and photographed flaws are hard to characterise as a misrepresented item later.
- It protects your metrics. Not-as-described claims are the most damaging category of case on most platforms, and they are almost entirely self-inflicted.
02
Grading scales differ by category
Most collectible categories have an established scale, and using it correctly signals competence to knowledgeable buyers. Using it loosely signals the opposite.
| Category | What the scale looks like | What sellers get wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Records and music media | A standard lettered scale, graded separately for the media and the sleeve. | Publishing one combined grade. Media and sleeve are graded independently and buyers expect both. |
| Cards and comics | A numeric scale, with third-party grading and slabbing available. | Self-assigning a high numeric grade. Ungraded, describe the item; do not claim a number a grader did not give. |
| Books | A descriptive scale for the book and, separately, the dust jacket. | Ignoring the jacket, which can be a large share of the value on collectible editions. |
| Clothing | Platform condition tiers plus a plain description of wear. | Relying on the tier alone. Pilling, fading, stretched cuffs, and repairs need naming. |
| Electronics | Working / for parts, plus cosmetic condition. | Describing cosmetics thoroughly and function vaguely. Buyers care most about whether it works. |
Where a category has a recognised scale, use it and grade honestly against its actual definitions rather than your impression of them. Where it does not, describe in plain language and let the photographs carry the load.
03
Grading the same way every time
Grade drift is a real and subtle problem. The same seller grades generously on a slow week and strictly after a dispute, which makes their grades meaningless and their return rate unpredictable.
- Grade under consistent light The same spot every time, bright and neutral. Flaws that are invisible under warm room lighting are obvious under daylight — and the buyer will open the parcel somewhere you did not choose.
- Inspect in a fixed order A physical routine per category — front, back, edges, corners, base, function. Skipping a step is how the flaw you did not disclose gets missed.
- Grade before you know the price Deciding the grade after you have decided what you want to charge is how honest sellers end up inflating. Grade first, price second.
- Round down when uncertain Between two grades, take the lower one. The downside is a slightly lower price; the upside is a buyer who is pleased rather than disappointed.
Record the grade in a structured field on the item record rather than only in the description text. It needs to be filterable, comparable across your inventory, and available when you list the same item on a second channel with a different description.
04
The vocabulary that holds up
Good condition writing is specific, located, and measured. Bad condition writing is evaluative.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| Good condition | Light wear to the outer edges; no cracks, chips, or repairs |
| Minor damage | A 2 cm scratch on the lower right of the back panel, shown in photo 4 |
| Some wear | Fading across the shoulders and slight pilling under both arms |
| Works fine | Tested and powers on; all buttons respond; battery holds roughly two hours |
| Small mark | A 5 mm ink mark on page 12, not affecting text |
| Almost like new | Opened but unused; original box included with light shelf wear to one corner |
Three habits do most of the work: name the flaw, say where it is, and give its size in real units. "Good condition" is a judgment the buyer has to trust. "A 2 cm scratch on the lower right" is a fact they can verify against your photographs.
Say what you did not test, too. "Untested, sold as-is" is a legitimate and protective statement. "Working" for something you never plugged in is not.
05
Photographs and words have to agree
Every flaw you describe should be visible in a photograph, and every flaw visible in a photograph should be described. When the two agree, the listing is close to dispute-proof. When they disagree, the buyer believes whichever is worse and feels misled either way.
Reference them to each other explicitly — "shown in photo 4" — so a skimming buyer connects the two without effort. It reads as confidence, and it makes the disclosure impossible to miss.
The photography side of this is covered in product photography for resellers, including how to shoot a flaw so its size reads correctly rather than looking catastrophic in a context-free macro shot.
06
Authenticity, reproductions, and what not to claim
In categories where fakes and reproductions circulate, buyers are looking for reasons to trust the listing. Give them evidence rather than assurances.
- Photograph the identifying marks — labels, stamps, serials, matrix numbers, hallmarks, stitching, print detail. Evidence beats adjectives.
- State provenance where you genuinely have it, and do not invent it. "Bought from an estate sale, no further history" is honest and perfectly acceptable.
- If you are not certain, say so plainly and price accordingly. "Unverified, sold as pictured" is a legitimate listing; a confident claim you cannot support is not.
- Never describe a reproduction as original. This is fraud rather than optimism, and platforms treat it accordingly.
The same principle governs third-party grades: report the grade the grader gave. Assigning a numeric grade to an ungraded item — even a fair one — presents an opinion as an authority, and knowledgeable buyers notice immediately.
07
When you get it wrong
You will occasionally miss something. How you respond determines the cost.
If a buyer reports an undisclosed flaw, resolve it quickly and without argument. Litigating whether a mark was visible in photo three costs more in time, feedback, and platform standing than the item was worth. Refund or partially refund, get the item back if it is worth reselling, and move on.
Then treat it as data. One missed flaw is variance. The same flaw type missed repeatedly is a gap in your inspection routine — you are not checking edges, or not testing function, or grading in bad light. Fix the routine, not the individual case. The returns side of this is covered in handling returns and buyer disputes.
08
Practice
Exercise
Audit three of your own descriptions
- Take three items you currently have listed.
- For each, write down every flaw you can find on the item itself.
- Check whether your description mentions all of them, and whether a photograph shows each one.
- Close any gap now. Every gap is a not-as-described claim with a delay on it.
Check yourself
Describing a flaw plainly will probably cost a few dollars on the sale price. Why do it anyway?
Because the alternative costs far more than a few dollars. An undescribed flaw is a not-as-described dispute with a delay on it, and that category is among the most damaging to standing as well as the most expensive to resolve — you pay postage both ways, lose the sale, and take the metric hit. Rounding the grade down is one of the cheapest forms of insurance available.
You sell on two channels whose condition scales do not match. How should you grade?
Grade once against the strictest applicable scale, then translate outward for each channel. Grading independently per channel guarantees drift, and buyers calibrate to you rather than to the scale — a seller whose "very good" means the same thing every time is worth more to a repeat buyer than one who is technically correct on each platform's own terms.
Progress is saved in this browser only. No account, nothing sent anywhere.
09
Common questions
Should I grade strictly or generously?
Strictly, and round down when you are between two grades. The cost of understating condition is a slightly lower sale price. The cost of overstating it is a return, the postage both ways, a refund, a defect on your account, and often a public review. Those risks are not comparable.
Do I have to mention every tiny imperfection?
Mention anything a reasonable buyer would notice on arrival or would care about at your price point. The threshold moves with value: on a high-priced collectible, a millimetre of edge wear matters. Blanket statements like "typical wear for age" are too vague to protect you on their own.
Can I assign a numeric grade to an ungraded card or comic?
Describe the item and let buyers form their own view instead. Self-assigned numeric grades read as an authority you do not have, and knowledgeable buyers discount them heavily. If a third party graded it, report their grade and photograph the label.
What if I genuinely cannot tell whether something works?
Say exactly that. "Untested, sold as-is" is a legitimate and protective description, and pricing accordingly attracts buyers who are comfortable with the risk. Describing something as working when you never tested it is the single fastest route to a not-as-described case.
Should condition wording be the same on every marketplace?
The underlying grade should be identical — it is a fact about the object, recorded once. The wording often should not be, since platforms have different condition tiers and different buyer conventions. One graded item record, per-channel phrasing.