There is no recommended retail price for antiques - by definition they are used goods and subject to current market forces. However, here are a number of pointers that will help give you a guide to value.

Valuing Antiques with Roy Dennis

Age: Just because an item is old does not automatically make it worth a lot.

Competition: Market forces, supply and demand, keeping up with the Joneses ... Who was there at the time and point of sale?

Condition: A very variable circumstance.

Decorative Value: Interior decorators and current fashions often create inflated values.

Fashion: Current desirability/collectability.

Function: Will it still do a job? Sometimes an item can still be used, but not for its original purpose. If not, then fashion and decorative or historical value take over.

Location: Often another reflection of fashion but can also indicate rarity and greater desirability in a given geographic location. That's why I love the international aspect of eBay.

Maker/designer: Silver by Paul Storr commands 10 times the price of his contemporaries. Clarice Cliff pottery commands prices totally out of tune with real values.

Medium: What was it made of? Silver, gold, platinum ... pine, mahogany, rosewood ...

Perceived value/comparability: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Provenance: Designer, maker, owner, previous owner(s), history.

Quality: Looks, design, craftsmanship, material content.

Rarity: Adds value only if someone want it.

Replacement value: What did it cost to produce then and to reproduce now?

Sentimental value: Something valueless in the commercial open market may be priceless to an individual.

Size: Small is beautiful, large is impressive. Unusually small or large examples of an object can often command a premium.

One item can have 8 or more different prices - all correct.

Retail - Marked ticket price in shop centre or fair.

Asking - Sometimes higher than the expected retail price or what an individual actually anticipates achieving - gives rise to haggling.

Trade - Traditionally 5 - 10% below ticket price, often very negotiable particularly between dealers. If no price is indicated, especially when selling to the trade, offers are invited. The vendor will have a price in mind.

Estimated - Auctioneer's opinion of bidding level expected.

Reserve - Figure agreed with vendor as the lowest price an auctioneer may sell. This should not be disclosed to the bidding public. Estimates must always be above the reserve and are published to the bidders.

Hammer - Auction price achieved, excluding buyer's premium.

Insurance - Replacement or compensatory value. Usually at the highest end of the range.

Probate - Usually set very low to reduce inheritance tax liability.

Modern Collectables

Some manufacturers produce items specifically for collectors and create a market for them. They are usually readily available and subject to strict price guides. However, such items are frequently difficult to sell and suffer huge price drops when offered in the second hand market, especially if the items are still available new. Condition is usually much more critical than for older items. Original packaging can often inflate prices.

One final rule

"The value of anything is exactly what one particular person will pay for one particular item at one particular time and place." Change any one of those variables and the price and value will also change - often dramatically so.