===STARBUCKS===
GIFT CARD
GRADING STANDARDS
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...[~~]b©
AS there has been much discussion about what is MINT, and what isn't,
when it comes to grading cards;
we thought we here at lina-mallows  should take a moment to explain our terminology.
While no grading system can likely define every situation;
we will always try to do our best
to fairly represent the condition of the cards you are buying.
MINTo(MOSToDESIRABLE-oASoGOODoAS oIToGETS)-oNOToloaded*,oNOToused,oNOToregistered.
IntactoPINocovering.ooAnooriginalopristineocardodirectlyofrom
theomanufacturer'sobox.
ASoAoCARDoMUSToBEoENCODEDoWITHoITSoSERIALoNUMBERo(and/oropre-loadedovalue*)- EVENoMINToCARDSoMAY
HAVEoSOMEoDEGREEoOFoFAINToSWIPEoLINESoVISIBLE-
THESEoAREoNOToFROMoUSE-oBUToINHERENToTOoTHEoCARD'SoPRODUCTIONo&oDISTRIBUTION.
Asoaocardothatoiso"MINT"omayostillohaveofaultsotheyowouldobe
listedonextotoothisodefinition.ooi.e.:oMINT-oscuffed,oMINT -
lightlyoscratched,oMINT-oPINopartiallyoexposedo(thisoisoaobigoproblemowitho2002oValentine'soDay
Cards-oandoaofewootheroissues.)
*oInotheocaseoofocards-olikeoICHIRO-otheooriginaloloadedovalueoMUSToremainointact.
NEAR MINTo(MINT-oTHOUGHomayobeo'TECHNICALLY'oUSED)-oAocardothat
hasobeenoloaded,oandounloaded*obyomanuallyoenteringotheonumber,onotoby
swiping-oorotheotopoofotheocardowasocovered.ooTherefore,
nooadditionaloscratchesofromoloading/unloading-oexcepting
originaloproduction.ooIntactoPINocovering,oasogoodoasoaocard
fromoanooriginalobox,ohoweverotechnicallyoused.
Asoaocardothatoiso"NEARoMINT"omayostillohaveofaultsothey
wouldobeolistedonextotoothisodefinition.ooi.e.:oNEARoMINT-
scuffed,oNEAR MINTo-olightlyoscratched,oNEARoMINT-oPIN
partiallyoexposedo(thisoisoaobigoproblemowitho2002oValentine'soDay
Cards-oandoaofewootheroissues)
*oInotheocaseoofocards-olikeoICHIRO-otheooriginaloValueowouldobeoremoved.
Howeverotheocardowouldoremainointact,oinoitsooriginaloplasticoouterowrap.
GentlyoUsedo(FORoMOST-oGOODoENOUGHoTOoCOLLECT)-oAocardothat
hasobeenoloaded,oandounloadedo(possiblyoseveralotimes),
exhibitingotypicaloscratching-othoughoveryominimal,ofromothis
process,oasowelloasooriginalosurfaceoscratchesofromocardoto
cardocontactohavingobeenoonoaostoreodisplay.ooIntactoor
mostlyointactoPINocovering.
ooMoreolikelyojustotheousualooddosmallonick,
orohairlineoscratchoisopresent,oinotheoPINocoating.
Whenodisplayed,othisocardoisovirtuallyoindistinguishableofromoaoMINTocard.
USED - Theogradeothatolikelyocoverotheobulkoofoalloexistingocards.
Aopersonotakesoaocardofromoaodisplay,ohandsoitotooaoBarista,oloadsotheocards,
andoplacesoitoinotheowallet/purse.ooTheocardoisousedoaofewotimes,
maybeoreloaded,ocarriedoaroundoforoaowhile,oandothenoretiredoinofavouroofoao"prettierodesign",
atoaolaterodate.ooTheoearlierocardoisothenosetoasideoasoao"collectable".
ABUSEDo/oWORNo(WHYoBOTHER?oUNLESSoVERYoRARE-oTOoBEoUSEDoASoA
FILLERoUNTILoAoBETTERoONEoCOMESoALONG)-o
[Aotermoweohaveoyetotoouseoasoaoseller]
oAocardothatohasobeenoloaded,oand
unloadedonumerousotimes,oexhibitingotypicaloscratching-
likelyoconsiderable,ofromothisoprocess.ooAocardolikely
carriedoaroundoforosomeotimeoinosomeone'sopurseoorowallet.
TheoPINomayooromayonotobeopartially, orofullyoexposed.
Theocardowouldoshowoconsiderableosurfaceoabrasion,
scratches,ooroscuffingofromocontactowithootherocardsoor
objects.ooSerialonumber,oandomagostripeomayoshowsoconsiderableosignsoofocolouroloss,oorofading.
ANYoADDITIONALofaults-oregardlessoofogradeoshouldobeonotedoseparately-
suchoasoGRAFFITIo(NON-Removableowritingoonotheocard)-
aoproblemowithotheonewestoissueoofotheoMother'soDayoCard.
AlsootheoOriginaloSTICKERobeingoremoved-o6005-6006oCoreoCards,
someoSPRINGo2002ocards,oandonowotheoMother'soDayo2005oCard,
someoearlyoSTOREoCREDIToCards.ooA holeopunchedoinotheocard,
oroaoholeofromobeingopinnedotooaobulletinoboardoshouldobeonoted.
Aobend/creaseoinotheocardoshouldoalsoobeonoted.
Someofaultsowillonotobeonoticeableotooeveryoneoatofirstoglance.
Aobendoinoaocard,owhenostraightenedowouldo/omayoonlyobeonoticedobyolookingoatotheoedge.
FORoaoSTARBUCKSoGiftoCardoissuedoinoCanadaoandotheoUnitedoStates,oAustralia,oandoGreece:o
pleaseocallo1-800-STARBUC.
Byofollowingotheoprompts,ooneomayoeasilyoassertainowhetheroaocardohas,oorohasonot,o hadoaobalance,
andoisothereforeoeitheroisoMINT-o"notoactivated",ooroUSEDowith,oorowithout,oaobalance.
SPECIALoNOTE-oICHIROoandootheroGiftoCardsoissuedoONLYoasopreloadedocards,oMUSTohave
aoFULLoORIGINALobalance,otoothereforeostillobeoconsideredoasoMint.
REGARDLESSoofowhatosomeomayosay,oitoisoouroopinionothatoanyocardothatohasohadoanooriginalopreloadedobalance,
whenopartooroalloofothatobalanceohasobeenoremoved,othatotheocardocanoneverobeodescribedoaso"MINT".
ASCII ART
©smla 2003. Border colour configuration
©smla 2004.
GRADING STANDARDS 005 Sir Mark L. Alter ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (rev. 2008/07)
 oooo ooooNO MORE STORE!oooolina-mallows( 3346 ) o
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