General card valuation question

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by jimjim

Sorry for the confusion but I am not referencing buying an item at a show or in person. Just a general question on what others use to value or price an item when using old auction houses listings for comps. Hammer price or hammer plus fees.

That question becomes a lot more nuanced with your explanation.

For example, say you buy a card (completely made up amounts) for $500 and the BP is another $100, your total 'valuation' then obviously becomes $600. That's how it would be entered into a ledger (I'm not an accountant, just speaking colloquially).

However (this is a big HOWEVER), if you're using that same information to decide whether or not the price of a card is reasonable or 'worth it,' then that approach is no longer accurate.

Because if you decide to buy a card at that $600 valuation/hammer price, you're still going to have to add the additional BP of (say) $125 to the total. So you've now paid $725 for what you've determined to be a $600 card.
In that scenario, you mustn't include the BP in your valuation, just the original hammer price, so you would end up paying the 'right' total amount.

I guess what I am saying is it's very situational and highly dependent on whether your focus here is that of a buyer or only as a record keeper.