Cardex
Quick answer: NM is Near Mint, LP is Lightly Played, MP is Moderately Played, HP is Heavily Played and DMG is Damaged. They describe how much wear a card has, from almost none to serious. NM is the price most guides quote. Across about 9,000 cards, a Lightly Played copy sold for a median of 76% of the NM price, Moderately Played 57% and Heavily Played 40%.
Know the condition? Now get the price. Scan the card with Cardex to see its near-mint market price, then adjust for wear. See how it works.
Get the free appPokémon card listings are full of two-letter codes. Most of them describe condition, and the difference between NM and MP can be half the price. This page explains every abbreviation you will see on TCGplayer, eBay and Cardmarket, what each one looks like in hand, and how much it changes the value.
Pokémon card condition abbreviations chart
| Abbreviation | Meaning | What it looks like | Typical price vs NM |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Mint | Flawless, as if never touched. Rarely used for raw cards in the US. | Usually priced as NM |
| NM | Near Mint | Crisp corners, clean surface, at most one or two tiny flaws under close inspection | 100% of NM price |
| LP | Lightly Played | Minor edge whitening, a light scratch or scuff, no bends | About 76% |
| MP | Moderately Played | Clear whitening on several edges, visible scratches, a light bend or crease | About 57% |
| HP | Heavily Played | Heavy wear across the card, creases, stains, but still whole | About 40% |
| DMG | Damaged | Tears, holes, water damage, writing, missing material | About 35%, often less |
The percentages are medians from real market prices, explained in the next section. For cheap cards condition barely matters; for a valuable card the gap between NM and LP can be a large amount of money, which is why buyers argue about the boundary. Our condition guide shows how to inspect a card properly before you pick a grade.
How much each condition sells for
We compared the market price of each condition with the near-mint price of the same card, for every English expansion card with prices in both (main printing, NM worth $1 or more, October 2026, from the market data the Cardex app uses). The table shows the median, with the middle half of cards in brackets.
| Cards | LP | MP | HP | DMG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All cards (about 9,000) | 76% (61 to 91%) | 57% (43 to 76%) | 40% (29 to 57%) | 35% (24 to 51%) |
| Cards worth $100+ in NM | 71% | 50% | 35% | 27% |
| Vintage, 1999 to 2003 | 65% | 48% | 36% | 27% |
Two patterns stand out. The more a card is worth, the more condition costs you: a Heavily Played copy of a $100+ card keeps only about a third of its NM value. And vintage cards lose more per grade than the average, likely because clean old copies are scarce and buyers pay up for them.
One caution for recent sets: played copies of Scarlet & Violet and Mega Evolution cards rarely sell, so their LP and MP prices rest on very few sales and often sit right next to the NM price. For a new card in played condition, check recent sold listings rather than trusting the percentage.
What does NM mean on a Pokémon card?
Near Mint is the standard for a card that looks unplayed. Corners are sharp, the surface has no scratches you can see under normal light, and the edges have no more than a speck of whitening. Most prices you see quoted online, including the market prices Cardex shows, are NM prices. Pack-fresh cards are usually NM, but not always: print lines, factory scratches and edge chipping straight out of the pack can drop a card to LP.
What does LP mean on a Pokémon card?
Lightly Played means the card has been handled but not abused. You will see slight whitening on one or two edges, a small scuff or a faint surface scratch. There are no bends or creases. An LP card is fine for playing and for most collections, and it is the most common grade for cards that have been in a binder for years. Expect to pay or receive roughly three quarters of the NM price (a median of 76% in our data).
What does MP mean on a Pokémon card?
Moderately Played is the point where wear is obvious without looking closely. Whitening on most edges, several scratches on the surface or holo, dinged corners, and possibly a light crease. TCGplayer's standard places any card with a crease at MP at best, no matter how clean the rest looks. MP cards sell for a little over half of NM (a median of 57%), and they are usually the right grade for cards that were played with as a child and stored loose.
What does HP mean on a Pokémon card?
This is the abbreviation that causes the most confusion, because HP means two different things.
- On the card: HP is hit points, the number printed next to the Pokémon's name that shows how much damage it can take. Every Pokémon card has an HP value.
- In a listing or price list: HP is Heavily Played, a condition grade. The card has major wear across multiple areas: heavy whitening, deep scratches, creases, stains or bends, but it is still in one piece.
If a listing says "Charizard 120 HP, HP condition", the first HP is the game stat and the second is the wear grade. Heavily Played cards sell for roughly a third to half of the NM price (a median of 40% in our data) and are bought mostly by players or as placeholders in a collection.
What does Damaged (DMG) mean?
A Damaged card has a defect that changes its structure: a tear, a hole, water damage that warped the card, writing, or missing material. Damaged cards typically sell for about a third of NM or less, and some marketplaces don't accept them at all. Photograph the defect and describe it clearly if you sell one.
MP vs HP vs Damaged: where the lines are
The line between Moderately Played and Heavily Played is how much of the card is affected. The line between Heavily Played and Damaged is whether the card is still structurally whole. Work through it in this order:
- Missing material, a tear, a hole, writing or water damage that warped the card: Damaged, however clean the rest is.
- Wear almost everywhere, a hard crease, a bend or a stain, but the card is still in one piece: Heavily Played.
- Obvious wear in a few places and at most a light crease: Moderately Played. A crease of any kind means MP at best.
If you are unsure between MP and HP, hold the card at eye level and look along its surface: an HP card usually will not lie flat. Between two grades, list the lower one. At the price ratios above, calling an HP card MP overstates it by about 40% and invites a return.
How marketplaces name conditions differently
The abbreviations above are TCGplayer's scale, which is the one most US collectors use. eBay and Cardmarket use their own names, so the same card can carry three different labels:
| TCGplayer (US) | Cardmarket (Europe) | eBay (ungraded) |
|---|---|---|
| Near Mint (NM) | Mint (MT) / Near Mint (NM) | Near Mint or Better |
| Lightly Played (LP) | Excellent (EX) / Good (GD) | Excellent |
| Moderately Played (MP) | Light Played (LP) / Played (PL) | Very Good |
| Heavily Played (HP) | Played (PL) / Poor (PO) | Good / Poor |
| Damaged | Poor (PO) | Poor |
Note the trap: Cardmarket's LP means Light Played and sits below Excellent and Good, so a Cardmarket LP card is closer to a TCGplayer MP card. Cardmarket's EX means Excellent, not Pokémon-EX. Always check which scale a seller is using before comparing prices across sites.
Other abbreviations you will see in listings
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Raw | Ungraded, not in a slab |
| Slab | A graded card sealed in a plastic case |
| PSA 10, CGC 9.5, BGS 9 | Grade given by PSA, CGC or Beckett; 10 is the top score |
| Gem Mint | PSA's name for a 10 |
| NM-MT | Near Mint-Mint, PSA's name for an 8; in raw listings, NM-M means top-end NM |
| RH | Reverse holo, the frame shines instead of the art |
| 1st Ed | First Edition stamp on early Wizards of the Coast print runs |
| Unlimited | The later print run without the 1st Edition stamp |
| Pack fresh | Went straight from the booster into a sleeve; usually but not always NM |
| OBO | Or best offer; the seller accepts offers below the listed price |
| BIN | Buy It Now, a fixed eBay price rather than an auction |
How to pick the right abbreviation for your card
- Take the card out of its sleeve and tilt it under a bright light.
- Check all four corners and every edge for whitening. None or a speck: NM. One or two edges: LP. Most edges: MP or worse.
- Look across the surface and holo for scratches. Faint and few: LP. Obvious: MP.
- Look for bends, creases and stains. Any crease is MP at best; a hard crease or stain is HP.
- When in doubt, grade one step lower. Overgrading leads to returns and bad feedback; undergrading just leaves a little money on the table.
Once you have a grade, compare it against sales of the same card in the same condition, not the NM price. Cardex shows raw and graded prices side by side so you can see what a lower grade actually costs.
Price the card in its real condition
Scan the card with Cardex to identify it, then compare raw and graded prices and recent eBay sales before you list it or make an offer.
Condition abbreviation questions
Is LP worth a lot less than NM?
Usually about a quarter less: across the cards we checked, an LP copy sold for a median of 76% of the NM price. On a $2 card that is pennies; on a $300 card it is real money, which is why valuable cards get inspected so carefully.
Can an MP or HP card be graded?
Yes, but it will receive a low grade, often 4 to 7, and low-grade slabs are rarely worth more than the raw card plus the grading fee. Grading only pays off for clean cards. See is my Pokémon card worth grading.
What does NM-M or NM-MT mean?
In a raw listing, NM-M or NM/M means Near Mint to Mint: the seller is saying the card sits at the top of the NM range, so price it as NM. On a PSA slab, NM-MT is the name of grade 8 (Near Mint-Mint), one step below Mint 9 and two below Gem Mint 10.
Does a pack-fresh card count as NM automatically?
No. Print lines, factory edge chipping and holo scratches happen at the factory. Most pack-fresh cards are NM, but check before you list one as NM.
What does HP mean in a Pokémon card listing?
Heavily Played. The HP printed on the card itself means hit points. If a listing gives both, the one after the card name and number is the stat, and the one in the condition field is the grade.