posted on July 23, 2001 05:18:43 AM
Near mint for me is when I am selling something with such a small defect that maybe noone would notice it. But when I send it out, some buyer is going to say, "there is a slight fleck here, that I found with my microscope. Now I can send it back and get my money back."
Near Minty: means someone packed it in mint herbs!
posted on July 23, 2001 05:37:37 AM
I only bid things with descriptions like that up to what I'd give for an "excellent" grade. When I sell, I tend to downgrade but might say "might be almost mint, but you be the judge".
posted on July 23, 2001 07:28:38 AM
It makes me think of mouthwash. (e.g., minty fresh) Anyway I looked it up in the dictionary. The word mint used as a noun is a plant,or a flavored piece of candy. Used as an adjective, the correct terminology is minty So unless they are using the word as an adjective, it is being used incorrectly.
posted on July 23, 2001 08:23:54 AM
Brooklyn is right- out of context it is a stupid description. But in the context of not wishing to overgrade, I downgrade and leave the grade decision up to the buyer. Nothing wrong with that, even though, TAKEN TOTALLY OUT OF CONTEXT, it sounds stupid.
posted on July 23, 2001 08:54:27 AM
I have some mint in my backyard ready to be thinned. Maybe I should sell it on ebay and then I can have a real minty auction! Here's my title: Minty Smelling Mint And of course in my description I would write "in mint condition."
posted on July 23, 2001 09:15:27 AM
I was looking through some past items last night, and saw two identical things up. One was MINT and one was MINTY. The Minty item sold for almost $15 more than the mint.
posted on July 23, 2001 09:19:25 AMkept2much - LOL! I think you should start an auction for your "minty mint in mint condition" - put it in the weird stuff category. I bet someone would buy it!
posted on July 23, 2001 12:11:27 PM
Well, your minty mint would only be mint until it was picked, then it would be less than mint because it would be limp.
Not my name on ebay.
posted on July 23, 2001 04:14:13 PM
Valleygirl-It would still be mint because it will smell like mint even though it's wilted.
Limp mint-now that sounds like a term to describe something not in mint condition.
posted on July 24, 2001 10:53:36 AM
Yep, it's a bandwagon far too many have jumped on.
I hate it!
It's like someone saying, "Well my window is in mint condition except for the hole in the middle of it."
I have collected old bottles for years & have so often seen this, it drives me up the wall, "Mint except for the 1/4" chip on the bottom".
Personally, I only use MINT if the item is unused & sealed in the original packaging as when it was issued.
Otherwise if it isn't but is in fabulous good condition, I will use words such as excellent, superb, near mint, near perfect, near to new condition, etc.
Wish more people would be somewhat more rigorous in their descriptions, they leave way too much room there for disappointment.
