Why UGP

Grades do not travel

Device grading is scattered. Each source uses its own words:

• Wholesale price sheets use A, B, C and D, and "+" and "−" mean different things on different sheets.
• CTIA uses a vector of letters and digits.
• Consumer marketplaces use praise words in no fixed order. "Excellent" is the second tier on one site and the top on another. "Good" reads to most buyers as the most worn.

So a buyer cannot compare one source's grade with another's, and a "B" bought from one supplier is not the "B" sold to the next customer. §0

What UGP changes

One record, several views

UGP describes each device once, on separate axes: appearance, function, battery, locks, data, parts and accessories. A buyer's grade name, a wholesale code, a machine-readable core code and a mapping to other systems are all read from that one record, so they cannot disagree. §4

The grade, the status and the core code are computed from the record, never typed in. A grader records what was observed; the rules do the rest. §4.4

A grade means ready to resell

Most grading scales mix looks and faults: a cracked or locked phone can still get a letter. Under UGP, a device gets a grade only when it is fully functional, has no cracks anywhere, holds at least 80% battery health, carries no account or management lock and has been wiped. The grade then describes appearance only. §11.3

A device that falls short is still recorded, with a status instead of a grade: Repair, Parts, Encumbered, Unsanitized, Prohibited or Not graded. A status is never shown as a grade. §11.1

Plain words in a fixed order

New Sealed, New Open Box, Like New, Very Good, Good, Acceptable. Each name has a short code (NS, OB, A, B, C, D), a one-line test anyone can repeat at arm's length and with a fingertip, and a precise defect table behind the test. The names have official Canadian French equivalents. §11.2

What UGP is not

• Not a certification. Grading to UGP does not certify a device, and UGP does not warrant anything for the grader. §1.3
• Not a price list or a listing policy. Marketplaces and businesses that adopt UGP set their own prices, terms and listing rules. §1.3
• Not CTIA, and not any marketplace's scale. UGP maps to them, and says where it is stricter or looser. §15

Who it is for

• Buyers read one name and one test, whoever sold the device.
• Refurbishers and graders follow one inspection protocol and record raw observations once.
• Marketplaces and wholesalers get comparable grades from every supplier, and a clear test for a misgrade. §14.3
• Software vendors implement one schema, one core code and one derivation, checked against published golden files. Annex E

Using the standard is free: grading to it, showing its names and implementing it in any product need no permission. §17.2