How We Grade: Condition Tiers With Example Photos

By the SellUsedRAM bench · Reviewed August 12, 2026 · About SellUsedRAM

We grade with published rubrics, not adjectives: four conditions for RAM, SMART-data grades for SSDs, and a cosmetic-times-battery matrix for laptops — the same tiers, with the same multipliers, on every quote we send. This page is the rubric in full, because "good condition" means nothing until someone defines it, and the definitions are where sellers usually get hurt.

RAM: four conditions, one honest ladder

• New sealed — intact factory retail seal or unopened anti-static packaging with its seal. Pays a 15% premium over the base. What qualifies (and what does not) has its own guide: why sealed RAM is worth more.
• Used, working — pulled from a running system, label intact, clean contacts. This is the base condition; every price on our sell pages quotes it. A used, working 64GB DDR5-4800 RDIMM, for example, pays $961–$1,174.
• Untested — you genuinely do not know. Quoted at 80% of the working price and revised up automatically when it passes the bench. Saying "untested" honestly costs you nothing if the module works.
• Damaged — gouged gold fingers, cracked PCB, burn marks, missing components. Declined politely; free return or free recycling, your choice.

SSDs: the drive grades itself

SSD grades come from SMART data, not from anyone's opinion. Grade A — 90% or more life remaining and zero reallocated sectors — pays full price. Grade B — 70 to 89% life, minimal reallocations — pays 75%. Grade C — 50 to 69% — pays 45% and is often declined for consumer drives, where remaining value does not survive the discount. Grade F — SMART warnings or under 50% life — is declined, with free return or recycling. The wear indicators behind these numbers, and how to read them yourself before quoting, are unpacked in enterprise SSD endurance explained. The practical effect: a datacenter pull like a Samsung PM893 usually grades A or B, because enterprise workloads rarely dent enterprise endurance. A Grade A pull like the Kioxia CM6-R 3.84TB NVMe pays $296–$385.

Laptops: cosmetic × battery

Two axes multiply. Cosmetic A (clean, minor wear at most) through C (dents, worn keyboard, heavy scuffing) crosses with battery health A (strong health, low cycle count) through C (heavily cycled, reduced capacity), producing a multiplier from full price down to roughly 0.6. Cracked screens, liquid damage, and board faults exit the matrix entirely and get a by-hand salvage quote. A MacBook Air M2 with a pampered battery and a MacBook Pro 14" that lived on a charger at max cycles are different machines, and the matrix says so before you ship rather than after.

The number that keeps us honest

Rubrics are only as good as their enforcement, so we publish the enforcement: the share of orders paid exactly as quoted, updated monthly on how it works. When the bench disagrees with a description, the revision email includes photos and both options — revised offer or free return — and the published rate is what makes "we rarely revise" a checkable claim instead of a slogan. Current ranges for every grade tier sit on each sell page and roll up on the Payout Index. A used, working 128GB DDR4-3200 LRDIMM, for instance, pays $459–$535 there.

FAQ

What does "used, working" mean exactly?

Pulled from a system that ran, with an intact label and undamaged contacts. It does not require original packaging, matched sets, or recent use — a module that worked when the server was decommissioned two years ago still describes as used, working.

What happens if you disagree with my condition description?

You get photo evidence of what the bench found and a choice: accept the revised number or take everything back with return shipping on us. Nothing changes silently, and the monthly paid-as-quoted rate is published so you can judge how often this happens at all.

Do bent or damaged contacts mean my RAM is worthless?

For our purposes, yes — physical damage is a decline, not a discount, because a damaged module cannot be resold with a straight face. You choose free return or free recycling; what we will not do is quote it low and hope.

Why is untested RAM quoted at 80%?

Because a fraction of untested modules fail, and the discount prices that risk transparently instead of burying it in a lowball. The other side of the deal is automatic: pass the bench, get revised up to the full working price.

Know your grade before you ship: check your item's tier pricing on its sell page, then lock the number through the quote form.