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What is "Mint" to you?

Boy, we sure see that word thrown around a lot, don't we? What does "Mint" mean to you? To me, Mint Condition means the same as in Coin Collecting. The product has absolutely never been touched by human hands, much less used in any way. It's still contained in its original wrapper awaiting the first person to dare open it. How do you feel?
 
B

BrightFutur

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R

rainman

Mint to me is the same as like new. Just like it would be brand new but out of the package.
 
But what to call used items in new condition? I then mean real new condition; impossible to see any usage whatsoever. Why don´t call a new item, well... new?

But again, the guidelines are great, since there´s obviously many definitions :)
 
But what to call used items in new condition? I then mean real new condition; impossible to see any usage whatsoever. Why don´t call a new item, well... new?

I was a bit confused by this stuff for a while as well, I'm very glad there's an explicit guideline now.

Used items are not new, even if they are in "like new" condition. There's no harm in honesty. If an item's been used but is perfect in every way, it still shouldn't be called "mint"--just say it's in "excellent" or "near-mint" condition with zero flaws/signs of use. However, note that it's been used once or twice so you're not calling it mint. If you find a vintage razor that has zero flaws, but without its original packaging/case/etc. and you can't verify that it's never been used, I'd also hesitate to use the word "mint."
 
Used items are not new, even if they are in "like new" condition. There's no harm in honesty. If an item's been used but is perfect in every way, it still shouldn't be called "mint"--just say it's in "excellent" or "near-mint" condition with zero flaws/signs of use. However, note that it's been used once or twice so you're not calling it mint. If you find a vintage razor that has zero flaws, but without its original packaging/case/etc. and you can't verify that it's never been used, I'd also hesitate to use the word "mint."

I absolutely agree, honesty is everything. But I still can't see why an unused and new item shouldn't just be called "new". If it's new, it's new, and is therefor flawless and unused. Simple as that. Why not let other words just describe the actual condition?

If I want to buy a new car, I expect the seller to describe the car as new, not mint. If a have a sealed copy of the dark side of the moon, I describe my ebay ad as "new/sealed". If the same cd is played once and then stored in plastic somewhere, I would define it as mint, but used.

Just my thoughts.
 
I defer to our BST guidelines. There are too many people who try to sell an obviously used razor and call it mint. These people should be selling used cars or running for office. :smile:
 
I defer to our BST guidelines. There are too many people who try to sell an obviously used razor and call it mint. These people should be selling used cars or running for office. :smile:

To defer as well, and it's great to avoid any misunderstandings. But still I don't really agree to the definition of the word. Not only to razors, but products in general.
 
It seems to me that the word "mint" is rather obviously derived from the coin collecting hobby where "mint condition" means "just as it came from the mint" . . . in other words, absolutely unused.

To elaborate on this, to make the word more applicable to a razor, which wasn't actually produced in a mint, I believe you can't be much more defining than Ray (Thirdeye) was in his post.

Regards,
Tom
 
I always liked the way it was done in comic collecting. A comic that had never had the cover turned was known as Pristine Mint. A comic that had been read once but was otherwise PM in appearance--technically used--was Mint.
 
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I alwwways liked the way it was done in comic collecting. A comic that had never had the cover turned was known as Pristine Mint. A comic that had been read once but was otherwise PM in appearance--technically used--was Mint.

Sounds fair :001_smile
 
I absolutely agree, honesty is everything. But I still can't see why an unused and new item shouldn't just be called "new". If it's new, it's new, and is therefor flawless and unused. Simple as that. Why not let other words just describe the actual condition?

If I want to buy a new car, I expect the seller to describe the car as new, not mint. If a have a sealed copy of the dark side of the moon, I describe my ebay ad as "new/sealed". If the same cd is played once and then stored in plastic somewhere, I would define it as mint, but used.

Just my thoughts.

I can somewhat see where you're coming from, but let me elaborate a little bit on your comparisons.

If I go to buy a new car, of course I expect it to be new. New in that instance means the car has never been owned since being produced by the manufacturer. It has to be loaded on a truck at the manufacturing plant, then offloaded at the dealership, so I would also expect to see a few miles on the odometer. As soon as I drive it off the lot, its value drops considerably because it has now been owned. If instead of driving the car home, I have it loaded on a truck and delivered to my house where it is offloaded, driven into my temperature controlled garage, completely covered with a protective car cover, and left there, its value has still dropped because it has now been owned. Now, let's say that after some period of time passes, I decide to sell the car. It is no longer new because I have already owned it. It is definitely as close to like new as one could possibly ever get, but it is still not new. However, I think I would call that mint due to practicalities. The only miles on the odometer were a result of transferring the car from the manufacturer to the dealer to my garage. If I were the 2nd buyer, I don't think I could view the car as new because it's already had one owner before me. I would view it as mint because it was never driven as evidenced by the odometer.

Now, let's apply that same theory to the CD. If I buy Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" CD (Great choice here!) at a music store, take it home and never open it, then it was new when I bought it. If I sell it to someone else, it is no longer new because I've owned it. However, it is mint because I never opened it. Again, If I were the 2nd buyer, I couldn't view the CD as new because it was previously owned. If I break the seal, play it only once, and then store it in plastic as you described, it is no longer mint because it has been opened and played.

No matter how many times something is bought and sold, it remains mint if never opened or used. Once an item is opened and used, even if only once, it's no longer mint. But, it can only be new until purchased the first time.
 
What is mint to me?

What is posted in the guidelines for B&B that have been linked to earlier in this thread.

If we standardize on this setting for product description... it will make things much more efficient and easier to visualize.

I think many of us already know who to trust when it comes to B/S/T sellers. People new to the scene would eventually get the hang of things and learn the ropes of how business is done here. Because they are the ones who have to compete against those who we trust and encourage with our dollar.
 
Ray, one of the moderators, pretty much nailed it.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=66914

Thank you. To clear this up, the guideline I created was a collaborative effort amongst myself and several other well known collectors in order to give some "common ground" guides to follow so that folks on B&B could better understand the general knowledge rating of a razor. This was indeed tracked along based on coins as Tom mentioned above.
 
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