'Mint' condition.....

Wolfetone

What do people believe 'Mint condition' means?

I am looking for something along the lines of a Jap LP and spotted this. My spirits soared when I saw the phrase 'Mint condition' and then were dashed when I zoomed in to the photos.

The headstock is scuffed, the front of the headstock is faded, there are chips and dings. Am I missing something? Is this an early Yamaha attempt at a custom relic??

I couldn't be bothered to put him straight to be honest.

Mint condition SL500

musicman100

Don't get me started.

The best ones are when people put in mint/excellent condition with only little wear n marks. 

Collings

If somthing is described as mint then i would expect it be exactly like it would have been if new.

Maynehead

Well he might have been from the north where the term "mint" just means "great" 

Wolfetone

Just two of the photo's. There is clear wear on the bottom of the body and a sizeable ding over to the right.

https://i.imgur.com/ywvooPF.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/L14O61H.jpg

Stavros

Yes, agreed, mint means as new. He is probably not breaking any eBay rules though because it is in the ‘used’ category.

mbe

Specsavers?

jrc2806

To me mint = immaculate (i.e. as new from the factory - not sure about relics etc. though....).

To be honest just underlines how important good images are when buying/selling!

jellyroll

Another thing that bugs me is the used gear (especially cameras)  dealers who rate their stuff "Exc++", "Exc +++",  "Exc+++++++, Mint ", etc?

So, whereas the inexperienced buyer would think Exc++ means "flawless", in dealer-speak it means " pretty rough"

guitars4you

Mint should mean mint - effectively factory, spotless or other adjectives, that effectively means untouched, unmolested, unmarked - so barely played - anything else below that is near mint, or worse than that as appropriate

Anything approaching the wear, tear, fade that is equivalent to a Gibson VOS finish can't be MINT 

plus you can't have mint for its age - ie on a 30 year guitar - that would have to be 'clean for a 30 year old' or 'very good condition for a 30 year old'

Near mint would probably just be minor pick markings etc

After that it is hard to fully evaluate as different players accept different levels of wear - no matter what adjective you use

siraxeman

I do chuckle often when I see "mint condition apart from......" then a list of scratches/dings/flaws follows. Well chuckle if I'm not really interested in buying it. If I am I might grumble under my breath and shake my head.

Johnnyseven

Mint means as it came out of the mint/factory.

If it came out of the factory with damage though surely it can still be classed as mint condition?

What annoys me is when people sell things on Ebay and call them New when they aren't. If selling things as New are you opening yourself up to distance selling regulations (or whatever the term is) so have to accept a return if the buyer changes their mind?

Modellista

Johnnyseven said:

If selling things as New are you opening yourself up to distance selling regulations (or whatever the term is) so have to accept a return if the buyer changes their mind?

I'd agree with this.  Describing things as "mint" when they clearly are nothing of the sort is more of a problem for the seller than the buyer (except perhaps for the few seconds between reading the description and seeing the pictures).

If you bought that guitar you'd be quite within your rights to send it back at seller's expense due to it clearly not being mint.  You do wonder about the sanity/intelligence of a seller who calls something "mint" when it self-evidently isn't.

scrumhalf

Didn't we do ths a couple of months ago?

To me "mint" menas that if you took the guitar described as "mint" and placed it next to a brand-new same-model guitar from either the retailer or the importer there would be no difference in condition.

meltedbuzzbox

scrumhalf said:

Didn't we do ths a couple of months ago?

To me "mint" menas that if you took the guitar described as "mint" and placed it next to a brand-new same-model guitar from either the retailer or the importer there would be no difference in condition.

Its all generally repeated in one way or another almost every week/month...

Strat54

If I see something described as Mint then alarm bells sound in my head and I assume there on that I am dealing with a teller of small untruths.

pintspiller

Maybe it tastes of mint

jellyroll

...or there's a hole in it....

richardhomer

scrumhalf said:

Didn't we do ths a couple of months ago?

To me "mint" menas that if you took the guitar described as "mint" and placed it next to a brand-new same-model guitar from either the retailer or the importer there would be no difference in condition.

I’m comtemplating a ‘Should I Top Wrap my Mint Les Paul and buy a Katana?’ thread....

darthed1981

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51b0Kwu0ZbL._SX385_.jpg

Legionreturns

Well aye! That's canny propa mint that like wor pet!