Market value and trade value can differ

In a trade, both parties may assign their own item a value higher than what they would accept in an immediate cash sale.

It is therefore useful to distinguish:

• market value: a realistic range observed for comparable items;
• asking price: the amount published in a listing;
• trade value: the figure the parties decide to use as a reference in the exchange.

A trade value is not automatically wrong because it differs from a cash-sale value, provided that both sides of the deal are assessed using consistent criteria.