Big purchases · 2 min
Every collectible purchase is quietly two decisions: buying the object, and moving capital out of the market into a position with insurance premiums, storage bills and a 12–25% exit toll. This instrument prices the position honestly — so the object can be bought for love with open eyes, or for return against a printed hurdle.
Fine-object cover typically runs 0.5–1.5% of value.
The vault, the movement service, the climate control.
The story the dealer told you, written down where you can see it.
Auction commission and seller's costs run 12–25%; dealer consignment similar.
Everything is calculated in your browser as you type. Nothing you enter is sent or stored, and no account is needed.
An expensive companion.
$108,823
what the decade costs against simply staying invested
| The capital's market path | — |
| The piece at your believed appreciation | — |
| Net of exit fees | — |
| Carry costs, compounded as paid | — |
| What the decade of ownership costs | — |
| If it appreciates at | Net exit value | Cost vs market |
|---|---|---|
| — | — | — |
| — | — | — |
| — | — | — |
Collectible indices are survivor stories: they track the pieces that stayed desirable. The variance around any believed appreciation rate is enormous, and the median piece underperforms its category's headline.
Liquidity is the position's worst term: selling well takes months, the right auction season, and fees at the moment you least control. A forced sale routinely surrenders 20–40%.
The dividend this table can't book is real: you wear it, hang it, drink it. If the joy per year exceeds the cost-per-year line above, the position pays — just in a currency only you can audit.
Everything below is calculated from your inputs. Appreciation and market return are assumptions you control — the point is to see them side by side.
market = price × (1+r)^n
piece = price × (1+a)^n × (1 − exit_fees)
carry = Σ (insurance + upkeep) compounded at r
cost = market + carry − piece
The gauge reads the piece's net exit value against the market path, parity at 1.0 — the appreciation story's hurdle, printed. Insurance and upkeep are charged annually and compounded, because money spent on the vault also missed the market.
Limitations. No tax treatment (collectible gains are often taxed worse than securities — locally specific), no authentication or restoration surprises, and no modelling of the joy. The instrument prices the position; the object is your department.