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An item reaches its review date without selling. Recent comparable sales are $96, $99, and $102. Your target is $99, your cost-derived floor is $88.89, and the cash has a possible next use. Should you wait, move the target toward $96, accept an offer, or exit below the floor? There is no useful answer until you separate two boundaries. The comp range describes current buyer evidence. The floor describes what the sale must leave under your cost policy.

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Build a defensible range

Use completed sales for the exact product or printing, relevant condition, and venue you could actually use. Prefer several recent transactions when they exist. Note how many sales support the range, reject obvious anomalies rather than letting one unusual result set the target, and record the date checked. The range is not automatically the lowest and highest number on screen. It is the set of comparables you can defend after matching the item and removing results that do not belong. Active asking prices can provide context, but they do not show what a buyer completed. Current comps are an input, not a permanent fact. Rebuild the range at each pricing review if the evidence has changed.

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Give the floor one job

The target is a price you ask within buyer reality. The floor is the smallest price that clears the minimum contribution required by your policy. It does not tell you what a buyer owes you or guarantee that the item will sell. For the simple case where the price-linked selling cost is a rate applied directly to the sale price:
  • P — sale price under consideration;
  • Q — inventory acquisition cost;
  • v — verified price-linked cost rate;
  • d — modeled dollar costs that do not change with P;
  • G — minimum dollar contribution required by your policy.
Then: Modeled contribution(P) = P − (v × P) − d − Q Floor = (Q + d + G) ÷ (1 − v) Use this shortcut only when the rate really applies to P and 0 ≤ v < 1. If the fee base includes shipping or other amounts, use the complete cost function from Chapter 2.2 and solve from that model instead. For this hypothetical item: Q = $60 d = $10 v = 10% G = $10 Floor = ($60 + $10 + $10) ÷ (1 − 0.10) = $80 ÷ 0.90 = $88.89 after rounding up to the nearest cent Rounding up rather than down protects the $10 minimum: at $88.89, the unrounded contribution is $10.001, displayed as $10.00. Every amount is invented for teaching; the 10 percent rate is not a current venue charge.

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Decide what speed is worth

The example comp set—$96, $99, and $102—supports a hypothetical range of $96 to $102. A $99 target sits inside it. At that target: Modeled contribution = $99 − $9.90 − $10 − $60 = $19.10 At $96: Modeled contribution = $96 − $9.60 − $10 − $60 = $16.40 Moving from $99 to $96 surrenders $2.70 of modeled contribution. It may improve the chance of an earlier sale, but it cannot guarantee one. Name the next use of cash, then compare the $2.70 given up with the expected benefit, urgency, and evidence for that use. A destination for the cash is not enough by itself. Waiting can also be rational. If the comp range and costs still support the target, cash has no better use, and replacing the item would be difficult or materially more expensive, age alone does not force a markdown. Replacement cost is a constraint, not permission to ignore what buyers are paying.

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Review the item in order

At the date you chose:
  1. Rebuild the comp range if needed. Check the product match, condition, venue, date, sales volume, and any anomalies. If the evidence changed, replace the range before making another price decision.
  2. Recalculate the floor. Update the cost function before treating the old floor as valid. If the new floor changes what the policy permits, use the new number.
  3. Correct an unsupported target. If the target sits outside the defensible range, move it inside the range without crossing the floor. Time does not make an unsupported price valid.
  4. Price for faster cash only when the trade is justified. Calculate the contribution at a lower in-range price, record the amount surrendered, and compare it with the expected benefit, urgency, and evidence for the next use of cash.
  5. Wait when the evidence still supports waiting. Keep the target when cash has no better use, or when selling would create an important stock gap or materially higher replacement cost. Keep any target inside buyer reality.
  6. Escalate a below-floor exit. If buyer evidence sits below the floor, use the exception rule: name the contribution shortfall, the risk being reduced, and the person authorizing it. Do not hide the decision by changing the cost basis.
The last branch is not normal markdown math. It is a deliberate exception for changed demand, new condition information, capital protection, or another named risk.

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Write the pricing policy

Product/version/condition and venue: ___ Comp transactions used, anomalies excluded, and date checked: ___ Defensible comp range: $___ to $___ Acquisition cost Q: $___ Current price-linked rate v and fixed modeled costs d: ___ Minimum contribution G and calculated floor: $___ Initial target and reason: $___ because ___ Next review date or interval: ___ Markdown or offer rule: When ___ occurs, I may move the target from $___ to $, provided the modeled contribution remains at least $ and the price remains at or above the floor. Fast-sale rule: If cash can be used for ___ by , with an expected benefit of ___ based on , I may accept $ after recording $ of modeled contribution surrendered and deciding the trade is worthwhile because ___ Replacement condition: ___ Below-floor exception: ___ may authorize it when ; record a contribution shortfall of $ and the risk being reduced: ___ The policy turns age and cash need from Chapter 2.3 into a pricing decision without confusing a faster sale with a better sale.