Comps — short for comparables — are the recent selling prices of similar items, used to gauge what a piece is actually worth. Resellers check comps before bidding at an auction and before pricing a listing, reading sold prices (not asking prices) for the same maker, model, era, and condition.
The discipline of comps is what separates a priced item from a guessed one. For one-of-a-kind vintage and antique goods there is no catalog price, so the market's recent behavior is the best available signal — and the difference between sold and merely listed comps is the difference between what people pay and what sellers hope for.
Comps feed directly into cost-basis decisions: the price you are willing to pay at acquisition should leave room beneath the comps for fees and profit, and the comp range is what you price your own listing against.
Related terms
Cost Basis
The total amount invested to acquire an item — purchase price plus associated costs — used to calculate profit and cost of goods sold when it sells.
Specific Identification
An inventory accounting method that tracks the actual cost of each individual item, rather than averaging or formula-based costs — ideal for one-of-a-kind goods.
Deadstock
Inventory that is not selling and ties up cash without turning over — old materials or finished goods that have stalled on the shelf.
Buyer's Premium
A percentage fee an auction house adds on top of the winning bid (the hammer price) that the buyer must pay, raising the real cost of every lot won.