The description of the condition of secondhand books is a very subjective matter, one man's very good condition can certainly, on occassion, be another man's pretty darn tatty! There is no absolute set of standards that can be applied, particularly to paperbacks.
With respect to my own listings, the most important factor is - would I be happy to own and read this myself? I am primarilly a book-lover, book-collector and book-reader and a fair number of the titles offered are from my personal collection so the answer will always be yes. I apply the same criteria to other books that I acquire for resale. Sometimes, very scarce books may be offered in only Fair condition which may well translate as "pretty darn tatty" but these are an exception rather than a rule and will in any case be perfectly good "reading copies" ie you won't get your hands dirty picking it up and you won't spend all your time picking loose pages up off the floor!
Generally, my books are in Excellent, Very Good or Good condition, which I define as follows:-
Excellent - the pages will be either bright and new or only slightly yellowed with age. The covers, spines and dust jackets (if applicable) will have very little creasing and wear. Sometimes they will be virtually as good as a new copy. I hesitate to ever use the term "Mint" as even brand new books can have minor imperfections. I generally use the term tightly bound to indicate that the pages are securely bound inside the covers, excellent books will generally also be square, ie not squashed or "slanted" or "curved" on the spine. Any minor faults of this nature will usually be mentioned in the description.
Very Good - the pages will be yellowed with age to a greater or lesser degree. This is generally down to the wood content and general quality of the paper used by the publisher rather than how the book has been treated during its life although prolonged exposure to sunlight does accelerate the process. The covers of these books may also be "tanned" or yellowed with age and/or faded, particularly on the spine. There will also be a certain amount of creasing, wear and evidence of handling of these books and often some "slanting" of the spine or other squashing out of shape. The extent of this will generally be mentioned.
Good - the pages are almost certainly yellowed to a greater or lesser degree but will be clean and securely bound into the covers. There is likely to be quite a lot of creasing and wear to the covers and spine, this may include some splitting of the hinge and possible a little damage to the top and/or bottom of the spine. The book will almost certainly be slanted or curved on the spine and may also be "bumped" ie slightly bent on the corners.
With hardback books, the condition of the dust jacket is often the most important factor for a buyer. Dust jackets suffer from "chipping" or little nicks and tears on the edge. A badly "chipped" dust jacket may also have some larger tears and even small pieces missing. I always try to give some indication of the extent of this and it may be visible in the picture on the listing.
There are a few other common faults that arise in secondhand books :-
- Damage from the removal of a previous sellers price sticker to either the front or back cover
- Indentations from pencilled prices inside the book usually on the first page
- Previous owners names or other inscriptions, generally inside front cover or on first page.
- Previous owners pasted in book plate
- Bent page corners used as place markers
These are generally mentioned in the description but may have been overlooked and might be found in any secondhand book.
My buyers often comment that my books are actually better than described and I have very few adverse comments about condition. If you really believe that the book received is not as described, please let me know immediately and I will always try to resolve the problem or take it back. | 
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