Grading & Condition Guide
At Donk Island TCG, we take the guesswork out of buying raw singles online. Every single card in our store is individually inspected under direct lighting by experienced collectors before it is priced and listed.
We follow strict industry-standard grading criteria modeled after TCGplayer guidelines.
Our Condition Scale
Near Mint (NM)
What to expect: Fresh out of a pack, displaying minimal to no wear.
Details: Sharp corners, clean borders, and crisp surface gloss. Under close inspection, a Near Mint card may allow 1 to 2 micro-flaws (such as a tiny pinpoint speck of white on a back corner or a single minor factory printing line), but no distinct wear.
Holo Foil: Crisp and vibrant with zero noticeable surface scratching.
Lightly Played (LP)
What to expect: A clean, great-looking card that shows minor superficial wear upon closer inspection. Perfect for binder collections and decks.
Details: May show minor back-edge whitening, light corner softness, or small superficial surface scuffing.
Holo Foil: Minor hairline scratches visible when angled directly under light, but no major gouges or foil clouding.
Moderately Played (MP)
What to expect: Card wear is immediately noticeable without needing close inspection, but the card remains fully flat, structural, and sleeve-playable.
Details: Noticeable whitening along multiple back borders, corner wear, moderate surface rubbing, or minor border indentation/pressure marks (no deep structural creases).
Holo Foil: Visible surface scratching across the foil face, light clouding, or border wear into the foil layer.
Heavily Played (HP)
What to expect: Significant, severe wear across the entire card while still being tournament/sleeve playable.
Details: Major whitening along all borders, minor creasing or surface cracking, edge fraying, or light surface grime/discoloration.
Damaged (DMG)
What to expect: Cards with major structural flaws, severe creases that bend card stock, heavy water/liquid damage, surface tears, or ink marks. Any card with major structural compromise is explicitly tagged as Damaged with detailed photos provided.
Crucial Factors We Look For
To protect our buyers from unexpected surprises, we pay extra attention to the details that drop a card's grade:
Dark Back Borders: Vintage cards (such as classic Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! card backs) show white stock very easily. Continuous white chipping along a border drops a card straight to MP, regardless of how clean the front looks.
Holo Foil Scratching: We angle every holo card under direct lighting. Micro-scratches on foils automatically disqualify a card from receiving a Near Mint grade.
Indents & Binder Ring Marks: A card with zero edge whitening that has a subtle binder-ring indent or fingernail mark on the surface is graded down accordingly.
High-Resolution Photos
Raw Cards: High-resolution front and back photos are provided directly on the listing page so you can inspect centering, edges, and surface conditions yourself.
Graded Slabs: All slab listings feature front and back photos showing the cert number, case condition, and official numerical grade.
Secure Shipping Guarantee
A accurately graded card means nothing if it gets damaged in transit. Every single card ordered from Donk Island TCG is packed with maximum protection:
Pennied & Toploaded: Raw cards are sleeved in fresh penny sleeves, placed into clean top-loaders or semi-rigids, and sealed in a team bag.
Reinforced Packaging: Orders are sandwiched securely between rigid cardboard shield inserts to prevent bending, twisting, or corner crushing inside transit mailers.
Have questions about a specific card's condition before purchasing? Contact us anytime at info@donkislandtcg.com!