For music collectors the single largest problem when buying online is quality – plainly, your Very Good Condition might be someone else’s Near Mint. Because there’s no standard for grading CDs by eye, there’s more than a bit of luck involved in buying second hand music.
If you’re buying from your favourite second hand store there’s no problem; you can hold the CD up to the nearest light and shift it around to let the scratches and marks catch the light. Online, you have to take the seller’s word for the condition. After being burned a few times ourselves, we didn’t think this was good enough and decided to improve grading online.
DiscPhoto shows you the CD in the worst possible light. In short, it’s the equivalent of holding a CD in your hand and seeing every single mark on it all at once.
It’s actually that clear it makes the CD look worse than it is. For example, here’s a brand new, unmarked disc:
click for an enlarged version
The coloured halo is a side-effect of DiscPhoto. There’s also a lens flare which appears in most images, usually found at the three’o'clock position on the disc. As you can see, not a scratch in sight.
Now, here’s a disc that we’d grade as in Near Mint:
click for an enlarged version
You can tell the scratches as they appear (usually white) in double, as the camera sees them and their reflection on the disc. In this case, there’s one tiny scratch at the top right. That’s how small a scratch DiscPhoto picks up. Also notice the lens flare on the right as mentioned above, which shouldn’t be mistaken for a scratch.
One last example, this time a disc with some more damage:
click for an enlarged version
As you can see there are numerous scratches on this disc. The funny thing is, this is a disc graded at Excellent Condition. As we’ve said, DiscPhoto makes discs look worse than you’d see them, magnifying every last scratch.
We guarantee every grading that we make, and if you receive a disc you’re not happy with we’ll gladly take it back and refund you, no questions asked. With that in mind, and with a DiscPhoto of every single item that we sell, you can buy with the same confidence as holding a disc to the light in real stores.
