Pokémon card condition guide.
NM · LP · MP · HP · Damaged — with value impacts measured from real sales, not estimatesCondition moves a raw card's price more than almost anything except grading. This guide shows what each level means — and, unlike the usual invented ranges, the value impacts below are the exact multipliers CardTrack prices with: measured from thousands of per-condition price ladders and checked against real sold listings where the same card sold in multiple conditions.
Quick reference
| Condition | In one line | Value vs NM ($5+ cards) | Under $5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near Mint (NM) | The benchmark. Every price on this site is quoted for a near-mint copy unless a condition or grade says otherwise. | 100% | 100% |
| Lightly Played (LP) | Looks great in a binder or sleeve; the wear shows only when you look for it. | 69.5% | 78.4% |
| Moderately Played (MP) | The wear is obvious at arm's length, but the card is intact and fully playable sleeved. | 55% | 60% |
| Heavily Played (HP) | Heavy, immediate wear — a played copy in the truest sense. | 32.2% | 38.5% |
| Damaged (DMG) | Structural damage. Valuable cards are still worth selling damaged — but priced accordingly. | 23.4% | 28.1% |
Cheap cards hold more of their value in worse condition because marketplace price floors compress the spread — a $0.30 card can't fall to $0.07. Multipliers as of 2026-07-24; cards with enough of their own per-condition sales use their measured ratio instead of these defaults.
Near Mint (NM) · 100% of NM
The benchmark. Every price on this site is quoted for a near-mint copy unless a condition or grade says otherwise.
- Sharp corners on all four points
- Clean surface — no scratches visible under direct light
- No edge whitening on front or back
- No creases, dents or shuffle wear; print lines from the factory are acceptable
Value: 100% — this is the headline price on every card page.
Lightly Played (LP) · 69.5% of NM
Looks great in a binder or sleeve; the wear shows only when you look for it.
- Light corner touches or a single soft corner
- Minor edge whitening, usually on the back border
- A few faint surface scratches visible at an angle
- No creases, no water damage — still very presentable
Value: 69.5% of the NM price on $5+ cards — our measured default, applied automatically when you add an LP card to your collection.
Moderately Played (MP) · 55% of NM
The wear is obvious at arm's length, but the card is intact and fully playable sleeved.
- Noticeable corner rounding or fraying on multiple corners
- Clear edge whitening along more than one edge
- Visible surface scratching or scuffing head-on
- Possible light dings or a minor indent — but no crease through the card
Value: 55% of the NM price on $5+ cards — raised in July 2026 after our sold-price study showed real MP sales clearing above the old estimate.
Heavily Played (HP) · 32.2% of NM
Heavy, immediate wear — a played copy in the truest sense.
- Heavily rounded or frayed corners
- Whitening around most of the border, front and back
- Major scratching, scuffs or staining
- May include a light crease that doesn't break the card surface
Value: 32.2% of the NM price on $5+ cards — wide range in practice — photos matter more than the label at this level.
Damaged (DMG) · 23.4% of NM
Structural damage. Valuable cards are still worth selling damaged — but priced accordingly.
- Creases that break the print surface, folds or tears
- Water damage, warping or writing
- Missing surface layers or peeling
- Anything a grader would label 'authentic only'
Value: 23.4% of the NM price on $5+ cards — a floor, not a formula — one clean photo of the damage beats any estimate.
Price your exact copy
Every card page has a condition selector wired to these numbers — open your card, pick the condition, and the price adjusts. Wear you can measure is worth more than wear you can guess at:
- Look up any Pokémon card — price by condition on the card page
- Photo grader — snap your card for a condition and grade estimate
- Centering calculator — measure centering from a photo (it caps the grade a card can reach)
- Fake card checker — condition doesn't matter if it isn't real
Condition FAQ
How much less is a Lightly Played Pokémon card worth?
Our measured default is 69.5% of the near-mint price for cards worth $5+ (78.4% for cheaper cards, which are compressed by marketplace price floors). On cards with enough real LP sales we override that default with the card's own measured ratio.
Where do these percentages come from?
Two independent sources that agree: the median ratio across 9,384 clean per-condition price ladders, validated against 5,068 real sold listings across 156 cards where the same card sold in multiple conditions. They are the same multipliers our collection tracker and card pages use — not a rule of thumb.
Does condition matter if I'm grading the card?
Completely — grading economics depend on the copy's condition, because the odds of a high grade collapse as wear appears. Our Grade-it-or-not verdict on every card page prices this out per condition (NM / LP / MP).
Is Near Mint the same as Mint or PSA 10?
No. Near Mint is a raw-card market condition. A PSA 10 requires centering and surface quality beyond typical NM, which is why graded 10s sell far above raw NM prices — check any card page's graded ladder for the gap.