I'd grade those records G+ and note that there is occasional but not constant distortion with your set up. That opens the door for someone to further inquire if it is indeed a rare record that someone might still want despite it's flaws. Calling a record VG or better with distortion from groove damage wouldn't be accurate in my opinion.
I agree, VG should be a decent copy that is listenable, with some minor surface noise or scuffing. Unfortunately not everyone else would agree. It's still nuts to me after several years of buying records online that VG typically means junk. I definitely don't want to be one of those sellers though because half if these records came from someone who overgraded them to begin with.
So the record is G+ and the jacket is G+. I don't care about the visual grade for the vinyl if there is a play grade. Play grade nullifies any visual grade significance. And secondly, in general the sleeve should be cause for a significant reduction in price. I think the best course of action would be to send the darn thing back and get a full refund.
Just bought a VG+ Jazz record, sounds VG at best to me with lots of noise. Sent it back and the seller said it plays perfect for him.
Different stylus maybe? I had a similar experience with what was suppose to be VG+ except for a 5 sec or so bit of noise on the first song. When I played it that little bit of noise was pretty much throughout both sides of the album. It took a bit of back and forth to get an adjustment on the price. It might be a good idea for both of us to do a needle drop recording when / if this happens again. Then send it to the seller before sending it back.
Could be styli. Although you wouldnt need to record it. If its not for you just return it, you dont need to justify it much really.
VG+ is my min but will always by an NM when possible (meaning available for not a significant amount more). I have some VG+s that don't look great and have had some NMs that look great and sound like crap. For some of the more rare records a VG+ may be all that is available for quite a while - and may sound near perfect.