Pokémon card conditions explained: Near Mint, Lightly Played and the rest on TCGplayer and Cardmarket

A Lightly Played card on TCGplayer has minor wear; a Light Played card on Cardmarket can have considerable wear. The similar names do not mean the same condition, so match your copy to the marketplace’s definitions before comparing prices.

What do TCGplayer’s condition labels mean?

TCGplayer uses five condition labels, from Near Mint to Damaged, to describe wear and physical flaws on ungraded cards.

Its Card Conditioning Overview defines the categories:

• Near Mint (NM): Minimal wear, crisp corners, unblemished edges and a few slight flaws.
• Lightly Played (LP): Minor edge wear, scuffs or scratches, without significant imperfections.
• Moderately Played (MP): Moderate wear, scratches, scuffing or bends with creases.
• Heavily Played (HP): Significant wear and imperfections beyond Moderately Played standards.
• Damaged (DMG): Wear or imperfections beyond Heavily Played, including integrity issues such as tears, folds or liquid damage.

Near Mint does not mean flawless. The distinction between Near Mint and Lightly Played is about the extent of the wear, not simply whether you can find any imperfection.

TCGplayer also has specific rules that can affect your assessment. Centering up to 70/30 is allowed without affecting condition. Curling more than 5 mm from a flat surface makes a card Damaged.

What do Cardmarket’s condition labels mean?

Cardmarket uses seven condition labels, from Mint to Poor, with definitions that differ from TCGplayer’s.

The following descriptions summarize Cardmarket’s card condition guide:

• Mint (MT): Pristine, with no visible flaws.
• Near Mint (NM): Looks unplayed, with a clean surface and only a few very small white spots.
• Excellent (EX): Looks used for a few games, with minor visible wear and a couple of white spots.
• Good (GD): Strong wear, many white spots, surface scratches or dirt.
• Light Played (LP): Considerable wear from extended use without sleeves.
• Played (PL): Extensive wear from regular use, potentially severe enough to affect tournament playability even in a sleeve.
• Poor (PO): Damage beyond ordinary play wear, such as tears, folds, liquid damage or alterations.

Do not read “Good” as a general recommendation about the card. It is a defined condition label that allows strong wear. Likewise, “Light Played” does not describe the same minor wear as TCGplayer’s “Lightly Played.”

When checking an offer, read the condition alongside its language and finish. A condition label alone does not establish that you are comparing the same version of a card.

Can you translate conditions directly between TCGplayer and Cardmarket?

You should not translate conditions by matching their names or abbreviations.

The clearest trap is LP. On TCGplayer, LP means Lightly Played and allows minor wear without significant imperfections. On Cardmarket, LP means Light Played and allows considerably more wear.

Near Mint is closer in wording across the two marketplaces, but you should still apply each platform’s definition. TCGplayer describes minimal wear and a few slight flaws. Cardmarket describes an unplayed appearance, a clean surface and a few very small white spots.

If you move a listing between platforms, reassess the card against the destination platform’s standards. Do not simply copy the abbreviation. The same applies when comparing two offers: matching letters are not enough to establish matching condition.

How do you check your card’s condition?

Check both sides, all four corners, every edge and the surface before choosing a condition label.

Use a consistent inspection order:

1. Check centering on the front and back. Keep it separate from wear: TCGplayer allows centering up to 70/30 without a condition impact.
2. Inspect all four corners and edges. Look for whitening and wear rather than judging only the front’s overall appearance.
3. View both surfaces under angled light. Check for scratches, scuffs and other flaws that are less obvious when viewed straight on.
4. Look for bends, creases, folds, tears and signs of liquid damage. These matter more than an otherwise clean-looking front.
5. Check curling against a flat surface. Under TCGplayer’s rule, curling over 5 mm makes the card Damaged.
6. Compare what you found with the relevant marketplace’s definitions. TCGplayer’s printable conditioning overlays can also help.

Do not stop inspecting after finding one small flaw. Your card may have slight edge wear and a separate crease. Assess the whole card rather than assigning a label from its best-looking area.

How much difference can condition make to the price?

Condition can make a substantial difference, even when the card, print and finish stay the same.

For an ungraded English Charizard, Base Set 4, Unlimited holo, TCGplayer’s sales-by-condition data for August 18 to November 10, 2026 showed these market prices:

TCGplayer condition	TCGplayer market price
Near Mint	$987.13
Lightly Played	$525.14
Moderately Played	$360.23
Heavily Played	$259.40
Damaged	$210.65

This is a condition comparison for one print, not a comparison between different Charizard versions. The Base Set Charizard page lets you check the print before using a price.

The difference also matters on a cheaper card. For an ungraded English Snorlax, Jungle 11, holo, TCGplayer’s sales-by-condition market price was $166.81 for Near Mint and $83.52 for Lightly Played over August 18 to November 10, 2026. The Lightly Played figure was about half the Near Mint figure.

Check the Jungle Snorlax page when identifying that version. These figures summarize sales from that period; your copy may sell for more or less.

Does the headline price apply to your card’s condition?

A headline price does not necessarily describe a copy in your card’s condition.

TCGplayer’s Market Price calculation uses a rolling weighted average of completed sales, gives more weight to recent purchases and filters outlier transactions. It is not the lowest current listing or a seller’s asking price. Condition-specific calculations also distinguish finishes, such as foil.

The headline TCGplayer figures on the Charizard and Snorlax pages above are not tied to one condition, even where they match a figure in the condition breakdown. Do not relabel a headline number as Near Mint.

Cardmarket Trend Price reflects recent transactions across languages and conditions, so it is not a condition-specific benchmark for your English copy.

Cardmarket’s “From” price is the cheapest current offer. Filter offers by language, condition and finish before comparing that figure with your card. Neither TCGplayer Market Price nor Cardmarket Trend Price includes shipping.

The price data explanation describes the TCGplayer archive and Cardmarket price guide behind these figures.

Does Near Mint mean your card will receive a high grading score?

No, a marketplace Near Mint label is not a promise of a numeric grading result. TCGplayer distinguishes “conditioning,” its non-numeric labels, from “grading,” numeric scores.

PSA uses a scale from 1 (Poor) to 10 (Gem Mint), and even PSA 9 (Mint) allows one minor flaw. Neither a marketplace label nor the word “Mint” should be read as a claim that your card is flawless.