A, B and C: what a condition grade actually means
The short answer
Grades describe cosmetic condition, not whether a phone works. A is mint with no marks worth mentioning. B is good, with light wear you notice in the right light. C is working, with visible marks. Every grade should be fully functional; a phone that is not is not a graded phone.
The three grades, plainly
The word doing the work in all three rows is condition. A grade is a description of how a phone looks, not a description of how well it works, and every graded phone should be fully functional regardless of letter.
A phone with a fault is not a grade C. It is a faulty phone, and it should be described as one and priced as one.
| Grade | Name | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| A | Mint | No marks worth mentioning. Looks unused from arm's length and close up. |
| B | Good | Light wear. Fine scratches you see when you tilt it to the light, maybe a small mark on the frame. |
| C | Working | Visible marks. Scratches, edge wear, possibly a dent. Screen intact and everything works. |
What a grader actually checks
That last line is the order it happens in here. There is no point grading a phone nobody can sign into.
Battery health belongs on the list even though it is not cosmetic, because it is the single number that most changes what a used phone is worth to the person buying it.
- The screen, at an angle under a bright light, which is where fine scratches hide
- The frame and corners, because that is where a drop leaves evidence a flat surface does not
- The camera glass, which stands proud and scratches first
- Every button, every port and every speaker
- Battery health and cycle count, which is the number that matters most and is not cosmetic at all
- Signs of previous repair: adhesive, screw heads, panel gaps
- IMEI, network lock and account lock, before any of the above matters
Why battery health should be quoted with the grade
Two grade A phones of the same model can be a year apart in useful life. One with a cell at 95 per cent will last most of the day; one at 81 per cent is close to the point where the phone starts throttling itself to avoid shutting down.
The cosmetic grade tells you nothing about that, which is why a listing with a grade and no battery figure is only half a description. Ask for it, and ask for the cycle count if the phone reports one.
It is also the cheapest thing to fix. A tired battery in an otherwise mint phone is a repair, not a reason to walk away, and knowing the number lets you price that in.
What actually moves the price
Model and storage first, by a distance. Then battery health. Then cosmetic grade, then colour, then whether it is unlocked.
Cosmetic condition matters least of the four for a phone that is going straight into a case, which is where most of them go. A grade C phone in a case looks identical to a grade A phone in a case, and it costs meaningfully less.
What destroys value rather than reducing it: a cracked screen, an account lock, a blocked IMEI, and a history of liquid damage. The first is a repair; the other three are not.
- Model and storage set the ballpark
- Battery health moves it more than most people expect
- Grade moves it less than most people expect, especially for a phone that lives in a case
- A cracked screen usually costs more in value than the repair costs to do
- An account lock or a blocked IMEI is not a discount, it is a phone nobody can use
How we grade, and what we will not do
Trade-in credit always beats cash here, because a phone that stays in the shop is worth more to us than one that leaves as money. That is stated up front rather than discovered at the counter.
Every device is IMEI checked and account checked before anything else, and we will not buy a phone somebody cannot sign out of in front of us.
And we will not grade a faulty phone. If something does not work it gets described as broken, priced as broken, and sold as broken if it is sold at all.
Common questions.
Cosmetics only. Grade A has no marks worth mentioning; grade B has light wear you notice when you tilt it to the light. Both should work perfectly, and both should come with a battery health figure.
It should not. Grade C means visible cosmetic marks with everything working. A phone with an actual fault is a faulty phone, not a grade, and should be described and priced as one.
Battery health, for most people. Two grade A phones can be a year apart in useful life depending on the cell, and a phone that lives in a case looks the same at grade C as at grade A.
Because a device that stays in the shop is worth more to us than one that leaves as money, and we would rather pass that on than pretend the two are equal. It is stated before you decide, not after.
On most models, yes. A cracked screen takes more off a valuation than the repair costs, so doing it first is usually the better arithmetic.
Where this leads.
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