Our price guide in its current form provides guidelines for prices that have been achieved at auction. Although this might seem irrelevant it is a particular beast that should be viewed in context. As such, here is some context.

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Auction estimates are the price guidelines provided by auctioneers that reflect what a particular piece is likely to fetch at auction in the experience of a particular auction house. It follows that two different auction houses may value the same piece differently based on unique experience in purchases by the particular auction house's client base. The same logic flows to the realised values that are achieved at auction. We only display realised values as a closer approximation of current value. As our search is refined, country and date will be added as auctions are much more likely to reflect economic cycles and trends compared to sale by private treaty despite the fact that a seller's minimum often mitigates this aspect.

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A further note is that CPI aside, standout pieces in whichever form are far less likely to be affected by trends and economic conditions as they have a very low price elasticity of demand.

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Lastly, auction prices are also in large part a product of who is buying; some people will pursue a piece no matter how high the price goes but

at other times, an item remains unsold and the price reflected is negotiated after the fact by the auction house between the buyer and seller. The latter is very often under estimate. You'll learn with experience and get a feel for your area of interest over time.

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Disclaimer: We do not own any of the information, the data base is compiled by extracting information from the most well known and longstanding auction houses that publish their results in the public domain, and reflects the sale price only.

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