Value of an item won in an auction?

[classic33]

Whats the value of an item won in auction.
Me, I'd say what the winner was willing to pay/had paid. I've to put a value on an item, bought at auction. However the value of the item is being questioned. Worth more than what was paid.
I paid less than I may have done if bought on the high street. But high street prices vary by over £40 for the same item. Different shops, different prices.

So, other than the answer above has anyone else got a better answer. Or, is the one given above as good as any other answer to this question?

 

[simon.r]

Something's worth what someone is prepared to pay for it, surely?

 

[Trembler49]

+1

 

[ASC1951]

Whats the value of an item won in auction.
Me, I'd say what the winner was willing to pay/had paid.

And I would say you are correct, provided it is a properly set up and properly run public auction.

The law would agree with you, too. One of the reasons that banks and building societies often sell repossessed properties at auction is to prevent any claim by the defaulting owner that they sold it too cheaply. Provided it has been correctly described etc, there is a legal assumption that the price an item fetches at auction is its true market value on the day.

 

[Arch]

Perhaps it depends to some extent on why you have to value it. If it's for insurance, then it has to be what you'd have to pay to replace it. If you got it cheaper than retail, then that could be a fluke, and the retail price should be a guide. How you decide between the various retail prices I dunno.

Personally, I'd say a thing is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

 

[Cubist]

As Arch says, it depends on why you are having to put a value on it. To insure something you should quote retail replacement price. To pay tax on it it's the auction value.

 

[Archie_tect]

I don't think the true value is what someone's prepared to pay on the day because people can get carried away with acquiring things at any cost. The value is a subjective thing determined by how much someone wants something instead of needing something. Put 2 or more people in an auction who want something and the realistic value of it is irrelevant. The price people pay for objects is based on their rarity which is stupid really- perhaps that's the 'value' in art rather than say, mass produced TVs or leather sofas- it's rarity makes it desirable so people, who can afford to, try to out-bid each other to own it; for it to become a possession which other people then covet.
.

 

[biggs682]

insurance value should be cost of replacing like for like , but it never works that way with car insurance

 

[Archie_tect]

Ah, art insurance.... paying over the odds to try and replace the irreplaceable.

 

[accountantpete]

In accounting practice it is valued on the basis of cost to you - unless you are a bank in which case the thing will be worth much more and bonuses will have to be paid on the profit.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

£3.74, is that the right answer?

 

[Archie_tect]

Including or excluding VAT?

 

[Profpointy]

If you buy something in an auction,you have paid slightly more than anyone else thought it was worth :-)

 

[asterix]

I've never heard of a professional auction where the sellers could complain the item was worth more than the winning bid!

If the seller wants a certain price normal practice is to put a reserve on beneath which the auctioneer cannot sell.

If you buy something in an auction,you have paid slightly more than anyone else thought it was worth :-)

That's very logical. Of course the auctioneer might be criticised for not publicising the sale and there are shady practices where bidders agree to abstain in order to get the item at the lowest possible price and then hold an auction between themselves to decide who gets the loot. This is illegal so I am the OP wasn't doing that!

 

[Crankarm]

This question is useless without the context as there is surely one.

Did the OP win a pile of junk at auction?

One person's junk is another's treasure.