Guide
Auction, retail and insurance value are three different numbers
The same object has three correct values at once. Auction value is what it realises at hammer, before commission — that is what a seller can expect. Retail value is what a dealer asks after research, restoration and the risk of holding it, typically two to three times higher. Insurance value is replacement cost, usually the highest of the three. Using the wrong one is how people feel cheated.
Auction value — what a seller gets
The hammer price is what the room paid on the day. It is the number published in results, and it is not what either party actually experiences: the buyer adds a premium of frequently 25% or more, and the seller has commission, photography and sometimes insurance taken off. A £1,000 hammer can be £1,250+ out of the buyer’s pocket and perhaps £800 into the seller’s.
It is also the most honest single figure available, because it is evidence rather than an opinion: somebody actually paid it. That is why grounded valuations are built from sold results rather than from asking prices.
Retail value — what a buyer pays
A dealer’s price includes what they did to the piece and the risk they took on it: buying it, researching it, cleaning or restoring it, photographing it, displaying it, and holding it for however long it takes — which can be a year or three. That is a real service and a real cost, and it is why the retail figure is commonly two to three times the auction one.
So a dealer offering you a third of their shop price is not insulting you. They are quoting a wholesale price, and the gap is their entire business.
Insurance value — what it costs to replace
Not what you would get for it; what you would have to pay to obtain another one, at retail, at short notice, today. It is usually the highest of the three and it is the only one insurers accept. It also needs to come from a qualified appraiser who has inspected the object — an estimate from photographs is not admissible, however good it is. See when you need a professional appraiser.
Which number you actually want
- Selling at auction or to a dealer: the auction range, minus commission.
- Buying in a shop: the retail range — and the auction range tells you what the dealer’s margin looks like.
- Insuring, or a probate valuation: a formal appraisal. Neither of the market figures is the right instrument.
- Deciding whether to bother: the auction range. If that is small, the other two do not matter.
Why Trove shows two of them
Because showing one would be a choice about who you are, and the app does not know. A seller reading a retail figure will be disappointed at the saleroom; a buyer reading an auction figure will think every dealer is robbing them. Two ranges, side by side, with the comparable sales behind them, is the honest shape of the answer — and the gap between them is information rather than noise.
Insurance value is deliberately not shown. It is the one that has to come from a person.
Common questions
Why will a dealer only offer a third of what they sell it for?
Because they are buying wholesale and selling retail, and the difference covers research, restoration, photography, display, and the months or years the piece sits unsold. It is the shape of the trade rather than a low opinion of your object.
What is the difference between hammer price and what I receive?
Commission, and sometimes photography, insurance and lotting fees. Published results are hammer prices, so a seller receives less than the figure they read and a buyer pays more than it once the premium is added.
Trove identifies antiques from photographs and gives an estimated value range, with the reasoning behind it. Every figure is an AI estimate, not a professional appraisal.
Last updated: 4 August 2026