If you are buying, selling or collecting books, condition is everything. A book in poor condition just isn’t worth bothering with unless it is very rare, or unless you simply want to read it. A battered first edition of Gone With The Wind without it’s dust jacket is worthless. On the other hand, if you ever find a Gutenberg Bible (good luck) with some of its pages missing, it will still be extremely valuable.
How do you rate the condition of a used book? For the most part this is not a matter of opinion. There are industry standards. Groups like the ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America) and IOBA (Independent Online Booksellers Association) have promulgated standards and definitions of condition that should rarely be deviated from.
