Book Condition Grader

How to grade a book

Look at the book

Boards, spine, pages, hinges and any writing or stamps. Hold it to the light and open it gently.

Look at the jacket

Tears, chips, fading and soiling, whether the price is still on the flap, and whether it is the original jacket.

Read the grade

Book and jacket get a grade each on the trade scale, with the reasons and anything that caps the grade.

Find the value

Search for the book to see the value band for that condition, and add the copy to your collection with the grades filled in.

Grades are the trade's shorthand, and every dealer draws the lines a little differently; honest grading errs on the strict side and describes the faults. Our guide to condition grading shows each grade with photographs, and the value checker turns a grade into a value where we have recorded sales.

Frequently asked questions

What do the book grades mean?

The trade uses six grades. Fine is as new; Near Fine has one or two tiny faults; Very Good shows light wear but no serious fault; Good is a complete, worn copy; Fair has a defect such as a loose hinge or a torn page; Poor is a reading copy only. Book and jacket are graded separately, and a dealer prices on the worse of the two.

How much does the jacket matter?

For a modern first, enormously: a jacketed copy can be worth five to ten times an unjacketed one, and a price-clipped or facsimile jacket counts against it. Grade the jacket as carefully as the book.

Is an ex-library copy worth anything?

Rarely much. Library stamps, labels and pockets cap a copy at Good in the trade, and most collectors pass over them unless the book is very scarce.

Why does the grader skip questions I cannot answer?

An unanswered question counts as no fault, so the grade is only as strict as what you looked at. Check every part of the book for the truest grade.

What should I do once I have a grade?

Find the book in the value checker and pick the matching condition to see the value band we have recorded for it, then add the copy to your collection with these grades so its value tracks the market.

Link to this tool

This page has a permanent address and is free for anyone to use or link to. To cite it: MyVolumes, Book condition grader, https://myvolumes.com/tools/book-condition-grader/, accessed 26 October 2026.

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